British comedian Ronnie Barker, the big half of the famous duo
The Two Ronnies, died Monday, his agent said. Barker was 76.
Agent Rosalind Chatto said Barker died in the presence of his wife Joy Tubb after a long period of heart trouble.
Barker had a career on London's West End stage and in radio before moving into comedy as part of the classic 1960's tv shows
The Frost Report and
Frost on Sunday.
It was there he met Ronnie Corbett, and in 1971 the pair joined forces to become
The Two Ronnies.
Their BBC program ran for 98 episodes over 12 series between 1971 and 1987, and at its peak was watched by 18 million viewers.
"Ronnie was pure gold in triplicate: as a performer, a writer and a friend. We worked together since 1965 and we never had a cross word," said Ronnie Corbett. "It was 40 years of harmonious joy, nothing but an absolute pleasure. I will miss him terribly, but he went out on a lift."
"I seriously put him in the same league as Alec Guinness or Peter Sellers. If he had gone into film he would have been enormous in films as well," said comedy writer Barry Cryer, who worked with Barker for many years.
John Cleese began his comedy career with Barker in
The Frost Report. "I was very sad to hear of the death of Ronnie Barker, who was such a warm, friendly and encouraging presence to have when I started in television. He was also a great comic actor to learn from," said Cleese.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/nationa...r20051004.html
Barker was another great British comedian.
If you don't know who he is, then search Google for "Open All Hours" or "The Two Ronnies".
It's a shame how all the classic comedians are getting old and dying...
It's just a question of time before the Pythons die, or David Jason, or Eric Wise. It's sad that they were all in their peak before our time. What I'd give to have been alive when they were all making new shows on TV. To just see the first episode and wonder what it might escalate into.
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