Age, Biography and Wiki

Harry Secombe (Harry Donald Secombe) was born on 8 September, 1921 in Swansea, Wales, is a Welsh entertainer. Discover Harry Secombe's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 80 years old?

Popular As Harry Donald Secombe
Occupation Actor · comedian · singer · presenter
Age 80 years old
Zodiac Sign Virgo
Born 8 September, 1921
Birthday 8 September
Birthplace Swansea, Wales
Date of death 11 April, 2001
Died Place Guildford, Surrey, England
Nationality United Kingdom

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 8 September. He is a member of famous Actor with the age 80 years old group.

Harry Secombe Height, Weight & Measurements

At 80 years old, Harry Secombe height is 5' 8" (1.73 m) .

Physical Status
Height 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Harry Secombe's Wife?

His wife is Myra Atherton (m. 1948)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Myra Atherton (m. 1948)
Sibling Not Available
Children 4; including Andy

Harry Secombe Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Harry Secombe worth at the age of 80 years old? Harry Secombe’s income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. He is from United Kingdom. We have estimated Harry Secombe's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Actor

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Wikipedia Harry Secombe Wikipedia
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Timeline

1921

Sir Harry Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter.

1937

After leaving school in 1937, Secombe became a pay clerk at Baldwin's store.

1938

With war looming, he decided in 1938 that he would join the Territorial Army.

Very short sighted, he got a friend to tell him the sight test, and then learnt it by heart.

He served as a Lance Bombardier in No.132 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery.

He referred to the unit in which he served during the Second World War in the North African Campaign, Sicily, and Italy, as "The Five-Mile Snipers".

While in North Africa Secombe met Spike Milligan for the first time.

In Sicily he joined a concert party and developed his own comedy routines to entertain the troops.

1944

He made his first radio broadcast in May 1944 on a variety show aimed at the military services.

Following the end of fighting in the war but prior to demobilisation, Secombe joined a pool of entertainers in Naples and formed a comedy duo with Spike Milligan.

1946

Secombe joined the cast of the Windmill Theatre in 1946, using a routine he had developed in Italy about how people shaved.

An early review said that Secombe was "an original humorist of the infectious type and is very funny in a series showing how different men shave and in an impression of a vocalist."

Secombe always claimed that his ability to sing could always be counted on to save him when he bombed.

1951

Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show (1951–1960), playing many characters, most notably Neddie Seagoon.

After a regional touring career, his first break came in radio in 1951 when he was chosen as resident comedian for the Welsh series Welsh Rarebit, followed by appearances on Variety Bandbox and a regular role in Educating Archie.

Secombe met Michael Bentine at the Windmill Theatre, and he was introduced to Peter Sellers by his agent Jimmy Grafton.

Together with Spike Milligan, the four wrote a comedy radio script, and Those Crazy People was commissioned and first broadcast on 28 May 1951.

1955

In 1955, whilst appearing on The Goon Show, Secombe was approached by the BBC to step in at short notice to take the lead in the radio comedy Hancock's Half Hour.

The star of the show, Tony Hancock, had decided to take an unannounced break abroad, on the day before the live airing of the second season.

Secombe appeared in the lead for the first three episodes and had a guest role in the fourth after Hancock's return.

1958

In 1958 he appeared in the film Jet Storm, which starred Dame Sybil Thorndike and Richard Attenborough and in the same year Secombe starred in the title role in Davy, one of Ealing Studios' last films.

The power of his voice allowed Secombe to appear in many stage musicals.

1960

Produced by Dennis Main Wilson, this soon became The Goon Show and the show remained on the air until 1960.

Secombe mainly played Neddie Seagoon, around whom the show's absurd plots developed.

1963

This included 1963's Pickwick, based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers, which gave him the no. 18 hit single "If I Ruled the World" – his later signature tune.

1965

In 1965 the show was produced on tour in the United States, where, on Broadway, he garnered a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

1967

Secombe scored his biggest hit single in 1967 with his version of "This Is My Song", which peaked at no. 2 on the charts in March 1967 while a recording by Petula Clark, which had hit no. 1 in February, was still in the top ten.

He also appeared in the musical The Four Musketeers (1967) at Drury Lane, as Mr. Bumble in Carol Reed's film of Oliver! (1968), and in the Envy segment of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971).

1968

An accomplished tenor, he also appeared in musicals and films – notably as Mr Bumble in Oliver! (1968) – and, in his later years, was a presenter of television shows incorporating hymns and other devotional songs.

Secombe was born in St Thomas, Swansea, the third of four children of Nellie Jane Gladys (née Davies), a shop manageress, and Frederick Ernest Secombe, a commercial traveller and office worker for a Swansea wholesale grocery business.

From the age of 11 he attended Dynevor School, a state grammar school in central Swansea.

His family were regular churchgoers, belonging to the congregation of St Thomas Church.

A member of the choir, from the age of 12 Secombe would perform a sketch entitled The Welsh Courtship at church socials, acting as "feed" to his Sister Carol.

His elder brother, Fred Secombe, became the author of several books about his experiences as an Anglican priest and rector.

He went on to star in his own television show, The Harry Secombe Show, which debuted on Christmas Day 1968 on BBC1 and ran for 31 episodes until 1973.

1982

When Secombe visited the Falkland Islands to entertain the troops after the 1982 Falklands War, his old regiment promoted him to the rank of sergeant – 37 years after he had been demobbed.

2017

All four episodes are lost, but following the discovery of the original scripts, the episodes were rerecorded in 2017, with his son, Andrew Secombe performing the role held by his late father.

With the success of The Goon Show, Secombe developed a dual career as both a comedy actor and a singer.

At the beginning of his career as an entertainer, his act would end with a joke version of the duet Sweethearts, in which he sang both the baritone and falsetto parts.

Trained under Italian maestro Manlio di Veroli, he emerged as a bel canto tenor (characteristically, he insisted that in his case this meant "can belto") and had a long list of best-selling record albums to his credit.