Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett began his successful show business career in the early 1950s. Amongst many other things he performed on stage with Danny La Rue in a cacophony of well received variety and cabaret shows. It was whilst performing in these shows that Corbett attracted the attention of several top TV producers and executives who were impressed with his abilities as a stand up comedian, compare and all round entertainer. Before too long Corbett found himself being offered roles in various sitcoms, films and family shows.

On television he provided light hearted comedy in Crackerjack! (1955) for many years.

His big break came during the 1960s when he was asked to join the cast of the hugely popular The Frost Report (1966) which included the likes of John Cleese and of course David Frost. The show also saw him performing alongside Ronnie Barker for the very first time. All aspects of "The Frost Report" were very funny but some of the most enjoyable involved Barker and Corbett who shared a rare comic chemistry between each other. TV producers recognized this chemistry and there were talks of giving the pair their own comedy series.

He was the father of Emma Corbett, Sophie Corbett and Andrew Corbett (b. March 1966, d. April 1966).

His varied film roles include "Polo" in the spoof Bond film Casino Royale (1967), "Drooby" in Mad Little Island (1958) and finally the hapless "Chumleigh" in Fun at St Fanny's (1955).

Corbett had numerous projects in the late sixties including the enjoyable The Corbett Follies (1969) and No, That's Me Over Here! (1967).

In the 1970s, Corbett and Barker were two of the highest-paid performers in British television. In 1979, he and Barker took their families to Australia for a year which enabled them to exploit a tax loophole and avoid paying the year's income tax, which then stood at 83% in the UK for top earners. Many film stars and rock stars also left the UK in the 1970s for the same reason.

Then in 1971 Barker asked him to star in the comedy sketch series The Ronnie Barker Yearbook (1971). The rest is history - the Two Ronnies had arrived together - it was simply comic genius, Barker and Corbett were made for each other, a pairing that was just destined to be.

Later on that year The Two Ronnies (1971) show was born on BBC 1 and remained incredibly popular well into the late eighties when Barker sadly announced his retirement from television. There is no doubt that Ronnie Barker is the best comedy actor of his generation, but over the years many critics have unfairly overlooked the brilliant talents of Corbett - he is a fantastically versatile comedy actor in his own right. He was an equal part in the relationship - put simply he complemented Barker and Barker complemented him. As well as being a wonderful comedy actor Corbett is also an accomplished after dinner speaker and of course a very very funny stand up comedian. During the filming of the "Two Ronnies" Corbett found time to branch off into a whole host of other projects as did Ronnie Barker.

There were also films such as No Sex Please - We're British (1973). Ronnie Corbett has enjoyed continued success in both film and television.

First there were his own shows such as The Saturday Special: All This and Ronnie Corbett Too (1975), The Prince of Denmark (1974) and The Ronnie Corbett Special (1979).

He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1978 New Year's Honours List for his services to entertainment.

Then came his excellent sitcom Sorry! (1981) which ran for over seven years.

He was a guest at the Royal Variety Performance in 1986.

He starred alongside old friend John Cleese, and Jamie Lee Curtis in the film Timbuctoo (1998), has done numerous pantomimes with Frank Skinner and Paul Merton and is one of the stars in The All Star Comedy Show (2004) with Steve Coogan, Vic Reeves, Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

He tells a story in his autobiography of how Stanley Kubrick wanted him for a part in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - as an alien.

He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year's Honours List for his services to entertainment and charity.

He was on a tribute show to mark the BBC Television Centre's closure, which was called Goodbye Television Centre (2013).

A memorial service was held for him at Westminster Abbey, London on 7 June 2017.