By: Simon Edge From Daily Express UK

To mark the 30th anniversary of Eric Morecambe’s death we look at how he influenced some of Britain’s favourite entertainers.

 

ANT AND DEC

The inseparable presenters are a double act in the tradition of Abbott and Costello and Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, but they cite Morecambe and Wise as their number one influence.

Ant reveals: “We used to come in, sit in our pyjamas on a Saturday night and laugh our heads off watching them.”

The pair chose not to follow in Morecambe and Wise’s footsteps in that they haven’t divided their roles into funny man and straight man but their guiding principle is still clearly derived from their heroes.

As Ant puts it: “For a double act to work well you shouldn’t have egos.

“You shouldn’t worry about who gets the funny line, just that you are being funny.”

 

VICTORIA WOOD

The writer and comedian who made her name as part of a double act with Julie Walters once lived in Eric’s home town Morecambe (his real name was Bartholomew) and went on to write a Bafta-winning TV biopic about the early years of Morecambe and Wise in which she played Eric’s mother.

“I really like what they did and the more I learn about them, the more I admire them.

“I find their work ethic really appealing.

“They were working every night of the week in different theatres before they were on TV, so they had honed their act to perfection.

“It’s such a great story.

“They were together for such a long time and they didn’t fall out.

“It’s something which other double acts couldn’t seem to manage.

“It’s not one of those sad stories where you find out that in fact they hated each other.”

She met Eric one night in a lift at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in 1978.

She had been drinking in the bar and the only thing she could think of to say to him was: “Oh, it’s Eric Morecambe.”

“He said, ‘You’re that girl from Morecambe.’

And that was the end of our conversation.

“I never saw him again.

“I wish we’d had a proper chat.”

I think Bob and I get likened to Morecambe and Wise because I’m tall and wear glasses and Bob’s a short-****

Vic Reeves

VIC REEVES

The comedian who hit the big time with comedy partner Bob Mortimer played Eric’s father in the same biopic.

Surprisingly, he came to Eric and Ernie fairly late, having grown up in a home where TV was strictly rationed.

“I think Bob and I get likened to Morecambe and Wise because I’m tall and wear glasses and Bob’s a short-****,” he explains.

“Also we’re a stand-up double act as opposed to an acting double act like Armstrong and Miller and Mitchell and Webb.

“Having more or less missed Morecambe and Wise at the time, I caught up with them on videos.

“It’s their naturalness I love.

“What’s great about double acts like Eric and Ernie is that they’re idiots.

“One of them is only slightly smarter than the other.

“You know they’re not really like that but they’re grown men behaving like children and that’s very endearing.”

 

MIRANDA HART

The comedy actress, who last year made a three-part documentary about Eric called My Hero and chose the Morecambe and Wise theme song Bring Me Sunshine as one of her Desert Island Discs, first saw the duo when she was six.

She says: “Eric did one of those long looks down the lens and he moved to adjust the camera and just looked and stared and I thought, ‘I love that guy. He’s just looking at me.’

“I wanted to jump into the television and muck about with them.”

She adds: “There’s a brilliant aside he does.

“He says to Ernie, ‘It was obviously my imagination,’ then turns to the audience and says, ‘It wasn’t.’

“That’s where I got the inspiration for that camera thing where I say ‘Yes’, cut to camera – ‘No.’

“All my looks to camera in Miranda I got from him.

“I wanted to do a show that honoured his tradition.”

 

SEAN HUGHES

The Irish stand-up says Eric Morecambe is an absolute hero and one of the reasons he does comedy.

“He is one of the few people that can say so much with just a look, which is an outstanding skill, to make everyone feel better without saying anything.

“His very aura is comedy.

“Another skill was that he was an all-round entertainer, a maligned characteristic that he pulled off with much aplomb.

“One of my favourite bits is when he pretended to go home and Ernie would do that big song.

“I could relate to the fella who felt that things were happening once he left, behind his back.”

 

BARRY CRYER

The veteran comedy writer was a friend of Eric’s before he joined the team crafting scripts for Morecambe and Wise.

It was he who first showed Eric the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup in which the Bring Me Sunshine dance first appeared.

“Eric and Ernie are timeless, deliberately so.

“They avoided any topical jokes.

“I worked on one Christmas show and Eric’s instructions were: no reindeer, no tinsel, no Christmas trees.

“I asked why and he said, ‘Because otherwise it won’t be repeated.’

“He got it right. It was shown again at Easter.”

 

DAVID BADDIEL

The writer who made his name as a stand-up with Rob Newman notes comedy is much more of a young man’s game than it was in Morecambe and Wise’s day, but that doesn’t necessarily make it funnier.

“When I was growing up, Eric Morecambe was in his golden years.

“That’s what I thought a comedian was, a 54-year-old bald bloke who was absolutely hilarious.

“Now I think of a comedian as a 28-year-old bloke in a T-shirt.”

 

LEE MACK

The star of Not Going Out chose Eric as his specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind.

“I’m a massive fan. He is the funniest British comic of all time.

“Eric is the comedian’s comedian.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like him.

“It’s the timeless thing and there’s nothing cynical about him.”

 

MEERA SYAL

The star of Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No 42 has said of Eric: “I liked his innocence.

“He was like a toddler.

“There was an energy about him that was completely infectious – and really unfashionable now that we have post-modern comedy of cruelty.

“There was something kind and silly about Eric and Ernie.”

 

BEN MILLER

As one half of a successful double act with Alexander Armstrong, he says the audience felt a connection with Morecambe and Wise because it could sense there was a real relationship.

“What we love about them is something that’s not there on the page.

“It’s something about two people finding each other very, very funny and also having a lot of time and affection for each other.

“To begin with, Ernie Wise was billed as Britain’s answer to Mickey Rooney, a dancing phenomenon who was destined for great things.

“He came across Eric Morecambe, who was then unknown, and they began doing an act together.

“Apparently they were dreadful.

“In those days Eric was the straight man and Ernie was the funny man.

“And Ernie, bless him, had such love and faith in Eric, he put his career on hold and reversed the roles.”

PHOTOS:

Eric Morecambe had an instinct for comedy [GETTY]

With Glenda Jackson, 1972, in Eric’s hit show Morecambe and Wise in Pieces [BBC]

Eric with his double act partner Ernie Wise [GETTY]

For more on this story go to: http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/478651/Eric-Morecambe-30th-anniversary-of-his-death