Frankie Howerd

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Frankie Howerd

Frankie Howerd in a publicity still for Superfrank!
Birth name Francis Alick Howard
Born March 6, 1917
Flag of England York, England, UK
Died April 19, 1992
Flag of England London, England, UK
Years active 1946 - 1993 (Posthumously in Then Churchill said to me
Notable roles Lurcio
in Up Pompeii!

Frankie Howerd OBE (Francis Alick Howard, March 6, 1917 — April 19, 1992), was a distinctive English comedian and comic actor whose career spanned six decades.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Howerd was born in York, England, in 1917 not 1922 as he later claimed. He was "lightly" educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School (later to become Eaglesfield School) in Eltham, London. His early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA. He got into entertaining during his wartime stint in the army. Despite suffering from appalling stage fright he continued to work after the war, beginning his professional career in the summer of 1946 in a touring show called For the Fun of It.

He soon started working in radio, making his debut at the start of December 1946 on the BBC Variety Bandbox programme with a number of other ex-servicemen. His fame built steadily throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s (aided by material written by Eric Sykes, Galton and Simpson and Johnny Speight). In 1954, he made his screen debut opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus, which had been written for his specific comic talents, but he never became a major film presence. When he began experimenting with different formats and contexts, including stage farces, Shakespearean comedy roles, and television sitcoms, he began to fall out of fashion. After suffering a nervous breakdown at the start of the 1960s, he began to recover his old popularity, initially with a season at Peter Cook's satirical Establishment Club in Soho. He was boosted further by success on That Was The Week That Was (TW3) in 1963 and on stage with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963–65), which led into regular television work. He was awarded an OBE in 1977.

With Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus
With Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus

He was famous for his seemingly off-the-cuff remarks to the audience, especially in the show Up Pompeii!, which was a direct follow-up from Forum. His television work was characterised by addressing himself directly to the camera and littering his monologues with verbal tics: "Oooh, no missus", "Titter ye not", and so on. Another feature of his humour was to feign innocence about his obvious and risque double entendres while mockingly censuring the audience for finding them funny.

Howerd's face was a gift to comedy but a testament to tragedy. When a reporter wrote that he had a face like "a landslide of sadness", Howerd got in touch with him to say how right that was.

In 1978, Howerd found himself cast in the big-budget Hollywood musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band playing Mean Mr. Mustard, he was acting alongside musical and film talent such as Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees, George Burns, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Steve Martin. He was cast by producer Robert Stigwood as Howerd was on Stigwood's record label at the time. The film was a critical and commercial flop, although now it has achieved cult status. Since Howerd was not well known to American audiences, this may have been his biggest exposure in the U.S.

After five years without a regular television show (though he had hosted a one-off UK version of The Gong Show for Channel 4, which was critically panned and was not commissioned for a full series), Howerd returned to the TV screens in 1987 in the Channel 4 show Superfrank! scripted by Miles Tredinnick and Vince Powell. In the last years of his career, Howerd developed a cult following with student audiences and performed at universities. He was also a regular and popular guest on the late night BBC Radio 1 programme Into the Night, hosted by Nicky Campbell.

Howerd often worked with Sunny Rogers who was his accompanying pianist from 1960 onwards. She appeared in his TV and live theatre shows including his last major West End appearance — his one-man show — at the Garrick Theatre in 1990.

Howerd suffered respiratory problems at the beginning of April 1992 and died in hospital in London, of heart failure. He posed for his last photograph with friend Cilla Black when she went to visit him.

Howerd died one day before fellow comedian Benny Hill. However the news of the two deaths broke almost simultaneously, and some newspapers ran a canned obituary of Howerd in which Hill was quoted as regretting Howerd's passing, saying "We were great, great friends".

The song "Sects Therapy" from the CD Freudiana featured lead vocals by Howerd.

[edit] Private life

Throughout his career, Howerd hid his potentially career-destroying homosexuality (which had been illegal in Britain until 1967) from both his audience and his mother. In 1955, Frankie met waiter Dennis Heymer, who later became his manager. Dennis was with Frankie for thirty years, both as lighting operator, manager and partner; until Howerd died.

Back-stage, Howerd was notoriously bold in his advances, and was known for his promiscuity. One of Howerd's former partners was comic actor Lee Young who created the TV sitcom Whoops Baghdad. His uncomfortable personal nature with his sexuality — he once said to Cilla Black, "I wish to God I wasn't gay" — and often depressive mental state led him to seek a series of resolutions through various methods. Heymer would often drop Howerd off on Friday at his psychiatrist, who would ply him with LSD over the weekend[1].

Frankie Howerd lived for the latter part of his life in the village of Cross, Somerset. His house there is still lived in by Dennis Heymer and nurse Chris Byrne, and is now a tourist attraction hosting concerts in the summer and opening regularly as a museum. Howerd's grave is at St. Gregory's church in Weare, Somerset.

[edit] Works

[edit] Television

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] Selected bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6480117.stm

[edit] External links

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Persondata
NAME Howerd, Frankie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Howard, Francis Alick (Birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH 6 March 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH York, England, UK
DATE OF DEATH 19 April 1992
PLACE OF DEATH London, England, UK
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