Goodnight from him

[altariel]

Ronnie Barker has died :-(

ETA: Surfing around, there are various links to best lines and memories, but this made me cry laughing: "Still remember my father's horrified face as Ronnie Barker and Corbett, dressed as Mandarins, sang "Over China, over China, over China - Town". I was JUST old enough to realised that this was very naughty indeed."

Comments

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

So sad... he was so wonderful in Porridge especially, one of the great comedies.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think I liked him best in that. He was a brilliant comedian, and also a great character actor. I'm sorry he's gone.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Fletch was an amazing creation.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He was. I bought the Porridge DVDs a while back. It's genius.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Nearly all the Porridge team are dead now... is Brian Wilde still alive? And now I'm feeling upset over Richard Beckinsale all over again.

Yes, a sad loss. My impression was of a very hardworking craftsman of an actor. And he looked lovely in drag.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Nearly all the Porridge team are dead now... is Brian Wilde still alive?

I can't find a date of death online for him. Peter Vaughan is still going strong.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Some of the Porridge team are stil around; at least they were last year. When I was in the UK after Star One, I managed to catch a special one-off following them up in which Fletcher ends up running a pub. Ronnie Barker wasn't in it much (Fletch's daughter Ingrid was the main character as we followed what had happened to Fletch and the others) but they got some of the old lags back again. The illiterate one he used to write letters for was a road marker who couldn't spell 'STOP'. :-) I saw Peter Vaughan in something just last week; he hasn't changed at all.

Ronnie Barker looked amazing in drag. It must have been the body language, but I could totally accept him as a woman; Ronnie Corbett didn't have whatever it was. I watched a lot of those old (and very sexist) Two Ronnies shows last year and marvelled at Barker's talent.