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Sir Norman Wisdom, who became a worldwide star in the fifties thanks to his comedy films, died yesterday. He suffered a famously harsh childhood which informed his put upon comic persona, and after finding a talent for humour while in the Army, he began to make stage and screen appearances that led up to his lead role in Trouble in Store. The film was a sensation in Britain and hit after hit followed in his slapstick style: One Good Turn, Man of the Moment, Just My Luck, The Square Peg, The Bulldog Breed, On the Beat, A Stitch in Time, The Early Bird, and others.
He was much lauded for a dramatic role in The Night They Raided Minsky's, but soon after a more adult film, What's Good for the Goose, pretty much ended his screen career when it flopped. He returned to movies over twenty years later in Double X, but that too was a flop, although his status as a national treasure was sustained by regular appearances on the television and in person. Spare a thought for some of his biggest fans in Albania, where he was a huge star as the Communist authorities would only allow his films to be shown out of all those from The West. "Mr Grimsdale!" |
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