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Morecambe and Wise were a famous British comic Double Act comprising Eric Morecambe OBE and Ernie Wise OBE. The act lasted four decades until Morecambe's retirement, shortly before his death in 1984 . HISTORY Eric and Ernie first joined forces in they were offered a spot in the Winifred Atwell show with material written by Johnny Speight and this was a success. They had a series of shows over twenty years:
During the 1960s the pair starred in three feature films (''The Intelligence Men'' ( 1965 ), ''That Riviera Touch'' ( 1966 ), and ''The Magnificent Two'' ( 1967 )) but these are not generally considered a great success. In 1976, they were both awarded OBEs . COLLABORATORS In the later and most successful part of their career, which spanned the 1970s , they were joined behind the scenes by Eddie Braben , a script writer who generated almost all their material (Morecambe and Wise were also sometimes credited as supplying "additional material") and defined what is now thought of as typical Morecambe and Wise humour. Together Morecambe, Wise and Braben were known as "The Golden Triangle". Morecambe and Wise are considered by many to be one of the UK's all-time favourite comedy acts. John Ammonds was also central to the duo's most successful period in the 1970s. As the producer of the BBC TV shows, it was his idea to involve celebrity guests. He also came up with the duo's familiar dance. THE SHOW A typical Morecambe and Wise show, as scripted by Braben, was effectively a sketch show crossed with a Sit-com , although shows could also include the duo appearing "as themselves" on a mock stage in front of curtains emblazoned with an M and W logo (this was usually to open the show). Braben gave the duo characterisations—Wise egotistical but naive, Morecambe child-like and cocky—although at other times they relied on their acting ability to appear as characters in sketches. Wise was essentially the 'straight man' of the duo, with Morecambe usually given the funnier lines, usually bouncing them off Wise. Wise's contribution to the humour is a subject of an ongoing debate (to the end of his life he would always reject interviewers' suggestions that he was 'the straight man', preferring to call himself 'the song-and-dance man'); but as the manager of the duo he worked hard to ensure their success. A central conceit was that the duo lived together as close, long-term friends (references to a childhood friendship were legion) who shared not merely a Flat but also a bed -- although their relationship was innocently platonic and merely continued a tradition of comic partners sleeping in the same bed that started with Laurel And Hardy (Morecambe, one gathers, was initially uncomfortable with the bed-sharing sketches, but changed his mind upon being reminded of the Laurel-and-Hardy precedent). The front room of the flat and also the bedroom were used frequently throughout the show episodes, although Braben would also transplant the duo into various external situations, such as a health-food shop or a bank. Another conceit of the shows during the 'Braben era' was Wise's utterly confident presentation of amateurishly inept plays. This allowed for another kind of sketch: the staged 'historical drama', which usually parodied genuine historical television plays or films (such as Stalag 54, ''. Morecambe and Wise would often pretend not to have heard of their guest, or would appear to confuse them with someone else (Former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson returned the favour, when appearing as a guest at the duo's 'flat', by referring to Morecambe as 'Mor-e-cam-by'). Also noteworthy was the occasion when the respected BBC newsreader Angela Rippon was induced to show her shapely legs in a dance-number, and when Richard Greene of 'Robin Hood' fame played a lost aviator called 'Miles Behind'. Braben later said that a large amount of the duo's humour was based on irreverence. As a carry-over from their music hall days, Morecambe and Wise sang and danced at the end of each show (poignantly, this tradition was abandoned when Eric's heart condition prevented him dancing: the comic solution was to present him walking across the stage with coat and bag, ostensibly to 'wait for his bus', while Ernie danced by himself). Their peculiar skipping dance was an improvised form of the Groucho Marx walk that involved putting alternate hands behind the head. Their signature tune was ''Bring Me Sunshine''. They either sang this at the end of each show or it was used as a theme tune during the credits. During a theatrical tribute to the duo, ''The Play What I Wrote'', many members of the audience wept when the tune was played. This indicates the popularity and special place Morecambe and Wise hold in the hearts of many British people. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 , voted for by industry professionals, ''The Morecambe and Wise Show'' was placed 14th. CHRISTMAS SPECIALS The show had end-of-year Christmas specials, which became such an institution during the 1970s that few British families would dream of missing them. Braben would comment that people judged the quality of their Christmas experience on the quality of the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special. Classic sketches from such shows revolved around the guest stars, such as Andre Previn (referred to as "Andrew Preview", and leading to the classic line from Morecambe when Previn complained he was playing the wrong tune on the piano: "I am playing all the right notes... but not necessarily in the right order.") CATCHPHRASES AND VISUAL GAGS Some of the duo's catchphrases include:
Additionally, there were many repeated visual gags:
FAMOUS GUEST STARS Guest stars who took part in comedy sketches
Guest stars - singers
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