Ronnie
Barker
Ronald William George Barker OBE (b. September
25, 1929), more popularly known as Ronnie Barker is a British comic
actor. His best-known appearances were as Ronnie Corbett's partner
in the long-running TV variety show The Two Ronnies, and as Fletch
in the sitcom Porridge. His skills as a character actor, his love
for and facility with the English language, and his gift for comedy
have made him a well-loved performer.
His began his showbusiness career when he left his safe job in an
Oxford bank to join the city's Playhouse Theatre, then under the
actor-management of Frank Shelley. The two appeared together there,
in Ben Travers's A Cuckoo in the Nest and, subsequently, in a number
of other venues and roles. In 1993 Barker dedicated his autobiography
to Shelley, whom he called one of the "three wise men who directed
my career; without men like these, there would be no theatre."
He then worked as an actor and assistant stage manager with the
Manchester Repertory Company, but was soon spotted by Sir Peter
Hall who gave him a West End role. His first radio appearance was
in 1956; he went on to play a variety of minor characters in The
Navy Lark, a navy based sit-com on the BBC Light Programme (still
available on tape and frequently rerun on BBC 7). On television,
he wrote and performed many satirical skits in The Frost Report,
and starred with David Jason as a bumbling aristocrat in the sit-com
Hark at Barker. Both he and Jason are widely recognised as having
an excellent sense of comic timing and delivery, which accounts
for their enduring popularity. Jason apeared in several episodes
of Porridge, and co-starred as the assistant to Barker's stuttering
shopkeeper in the sitcom Open All Hours, written by Roy Clarke (who
also wrote Last of the Summer Wine). Both Porridge and Open All
Hours originated as part of the Seven of One series.
He is also an accomplished comedy writer. He provided a good deal
of the sketches and songs for The Two Ronnies, and contributed material
to many other radio and TV shows - often under a variety of assumed
names (most famously 'Gerald Wiley'), so that his work would be
considered on merit. His other credits include the (almost) silent
films Futtock's End, The Picnic and By The Sea, the sit-coms His
Lordship Entertains and Clarence, the plays Rub A Dub Dub and Mum,
and the LP A Pint of Old and Filthy.
Barker has made occasional TV appearances since his retirement,
most notably to play Winston Churchill's butler - a 'straight' role,
but with opportunities for comic asides - in the BBC drama The Gathering
Storm 2002. This was followed up by a role in the film My House
in Umbria 2003. In 2004, he was given a special BAFTA award and
announced that he would make new episodes of The Two Ronnies with
Ronnie Corbett.
Further Reading
Barker,Ronnie (2001). All I Ever Wrote: The Complete Works of Ronnie
Barker. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0283073349
Barker,Ronnie (1994). Dancing in the Moonlight: My Early Years.
Trafalgar Square Publishing. ISBN 0340591048
McCabe, Bob (1998). Ronnie Barker: The Authorised Biography. Andre
Deutsch LTD. ISBN 0233993827
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