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Frankie Howerd
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Frankie Howerd OBE (born Francis Alick Howard, 6 March 1917 – 18 April 1992), was a distinctive English comedian and comic actor whose career spanned six decades.
rd was born the son of a soldier, Francis A. W. Howard in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). He was educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, London. His first appearance on stage was at age 13 but his early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA.
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Frankie Howerd OBE (born Francis Alick Howard, 6 March 1917 – 18 April 1992), was a distinctive English comedian and comic actor whose career spanned six decades.
Biography
Howerd was born the son of a soldier, Francis A. W. Howard in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). He was educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, London. His first appearance on stage was at age 13 but his early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA. He got into entertaining during World War II service in the army. Despite suffering from 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 début opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus, which had been written for his specific comic talents, but he never became a major film presence. The film was so low budget that because they could not afford scenery, background and such, they used a fog generator so that little was visible other than what was being filmed. The film was an immediate hit.
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 in London. 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 (1963–1965), which led into regular television work. In 1966 and 1967, he did a 90 minute xmas show called The Frankie and Bruce Christmas Show with Bruce Forsythe, featuring many top acts of the day. He was awarded an OBE in 1977.
Through the 60's and 70's, Howerd did a number of shows for BBC and Thames (as well as Frankie Howerd Reveals All for YTV in 1980). Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote for him from 1964-1966 when he worked for the BBC and also for a one-off show for Thames: Frankie Howerd meets The Bee Gees (shown 20th Aug 1968). 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 but a later sale of his scripts showed that the seemingly off-the-cuff remarks were all planned. Another feature of his humour was to feign innocence about his obvious and risqué 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 was cast in the big-budget Hollywood musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band playing Mean Mr. Mustard, 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 a one man show at universities and in small theatrical venues, although some were offended by his inclusion of a small number of racist jokes in his act. 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 of heart failure at home two weeks after leaving hospital in London. Two hours before Frankie died, he was speaking on the telephone to his TV producer about new ideas for his next show. Howerd died one day before fellow comedian Benny Hill. News of the two deaths broke almost simultaneously, and some newspapers ran a canned obituary of Howerd in which he was quoted as regretting Hill's passing, saying "We were great, great friends."
The song "Sects Therapy" from the CD Freudiana (released 1990) featured lead vocals by Howerd.
A BBC TV biography about Frankie Howerd—Rather You Than Me—has been produced and was broadcast by BBC Four on 9 April 2008. The script was written by Peter Harness, after extensive interviews with Howerd's partner, Dennis Heymer. Comedian David Walliams was cast as Howerd.
David Benson is currently touring with his one man show "To Be Frank".
Personal 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 more than thirty years, as lighting operator, manager and partner, until Howerd died.
Backstage, 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. Howerd's uncomfortable relationship with his sexuality—he once said to Cilla Black, "I wish to God I wasn't gay"—as well as his depressive mental state, led him to seek resolution through a series of different methods. Heymer would often drop Howerd off on Friday at his psychiatrist, who would ply him with LSD over the weekend.
Frankie Howerd lived for about the last 20 years of his life in Wavering Down, a house in the village of Cross, Somerset by the Mendip Hills.
Howerd collapsed and died on the morning of 18 April 1992. He was 75 years old.
Dennis Heymer continues to live in the house, which is a tourist attraction, and in the summer hosts concerts and opens regularly as a museum of Howerd's collection of memorabilia to raise funds for charities. Howerd's grave is at St. Gregory's Church in Weare, Somerset.
Howerd also lived at 27 Edwardes Square, Kensington, London W8 6HH. The house bears a blue plaque erected by the Dead Comics' Society.
Works
Television
Selected filmography
Selected bibliography
- On the Way I Lost It by Frankie Howerd (1976). ISBN 0-491-01807-X.
- The Complete Frankie Howerd by Robert Ross (2001). ISBN 1-903111-08-0.
- Frankie Howerd: Stand-Up Comic by Graham McCann (2004). ISBN 1-84115-310-9.
External links
- Detailed information on the Carry Ons
- From Fyne Times Magazine
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