| Cyril Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 June 1913 Watford, Hertfordshire |
| Died | 2 January 2005 (aged 91) St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Comedian |
Cyril Fletcher (25 June 1913 – 2 January 2005) was an English comedian; his catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was most famous for his Odd Odes, which was a section of the television show That's Life!. Fletcher had first begun performing the Odd Odes in 1937, long before they first appeared on television (though he did appear on pre-World War II television).[1] He came up with the idea when he was short of material for a radio show. The first Odd Ode was a comic, yet sentimental, reading of Edgar Wallace's war poem Dreaming of Thee. Following this broadcast he was given a regular programme on Radio Luxembourg; it was this show that brought him to national attention.
He also appeared as a panellist on the popular UK BBC panel show What's My Line? that ran from 1951 to 1963.
Fletcher was born in Watford, the son of a solicitor, who was the Friern Barnet town clerk.[2] Following schooling at Friern Barnet Grammar School,[3] where he first began to entertain by composing witty poems about his schoolmasters,[4] he graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Fletcher was also a successful businessman, believing it to be important to diversify in such a fickle business as show business. He was the founder of Associated Speakers, an agency for after-dinner speakers, on whose books were the likes of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Longford, as well as himself.
His wife, Betty Astell, died in July 2005. They had a daughter, Jill Fletcher.