Charlie Drake (19 June 1925 – 23 December 2006) was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer.
With his small stature, curly red hair and liking for slapstick he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally-known for his "Hello, my darlings" catchphrase. The catchphrase came about due to him being small in height and therefore his eyes would often be naturally directly level with a lady's bosom. Because of this and because in his work he preferred working with the fuller, bigger busted lady so the catchphrase was created/born.
Biography
Born Charles Edward Springall in the Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, he took his mother's maiden name for the stage and, later, television and film, achieving success as a comedian.
Drake made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured working men's clubs. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Drake turned professional and made his TV debut in The Centre Show in 1953. He then joined his wartime comrade Jack Edwardes to form a double act, named "Mick and Montmorency". In 1954 he appeared with Bob Monkhouse in the film "Fast and Loose". Drake was just 5' 1" tall, which lent itself to the stage persona he developed.
He appeared in the television shows Laughter in Store (1957), Drake's Progress (1957), Charlie Drake In… (1958 to 1960) and The Charlie Drake Show (1960 to 1961), being particularly remembered for his opening catchphrase "Hello, My Darlings!" Filming of the Charlie Drake Show by the BBC was cut short, however, by a serious accident that occurred in 1961, during a live transmission. Drake had arranged for a bookcase to be set up in such a way that it would fall apart during a slapstick sketch in which he was pulled through it. It was later discovered that an over-enthusiastic workman had "mended" the bookcase before the broadcast. The actors working with him, unaware of what had happened, proceeded with the rest of the sketch which required that they pick him up and throw him through an open window. Drake fractured his skull and was unconscious for three days. It was two years before he returned to the screen.
TV fame led to four films, none of them successful — Sands of the Desert (1960), Petticoat Pirates (1961), The Cracksman (1963) and Mr Ten Percent (1967). He returned to TV in 1963 with The Charlie Drake Show again, a compilation of which won an award at the Montreux Festival in 1968. (The centrepiece of this was an extended sketch featuring an orchestra in which Drake appeared to play all the instruments, as well as conducting and one scene in which he was the player of a triangle waiting for his cue to play a single strike - which he misses!)
Through the series he played a gymnast doing a single arm twist from a high ring while a commentator counted eventually into the thousands and by the end of the series, Charlie's arm was about 20 ft long! Other shows included Who is Sylvia (1967) and Slapstick and Old Lace (1971), but it was The Worker (1965 to 1970) that gained most acclaim.
The Worker
In The Worker (ATV/ITV) he played a perpetually unemployed labourer who, in every episode, was dispatched to a new job by the ever-frustrated Mr. Pugh (Henry McGee) at the local labour exchange. All the jobs he embarked upon ended in disaster, sometimes with a burst of classic slapstick, sometimes with a bewildered Charlie himself at the centre of incomprehensible actions by the people employing him. Bookending these sequences were the encounters between Charlie and Pugh which were often funnier than the core of the episode. Running jokes included Charlie's inability to manage Mr Pugh's name, his mispronunciations ranging from a childish "Mi'er Poo" to "Peeyooo". Charlie sang the theme song himself, using an old music hall number which naturally became famous in its own right.
He recorded a remarkable number of records, most of them produced by George Martin for the Parlophone label, (see Discography), the first of which, Splish Splash, a cover version of a rock and roll number originally recorded by Bobby Darin, got into the UK Top 10, but the rest were mostly novelty songs. One of these, My Boomerang Won't Come Back, became a modest hit in the United States, where for the most part his work was otherwise not known.
Peter Gabriel, after leaving Genesis in late 1975, produced a single "You Never Know" for Charlie (UK Charisma), which was not a chart success.
Later career
Drake turned to straight acting in the 1980s, winning acclaim for his role as Touchstone in Shakespeare's As You Like It (at the Ludlow Festival), and an award for his part in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. Drake also starred as Smallweed in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House (1985), and Filipina Dreamgirls, a TV movie for the BBC. His final appearances on stage were with Jim Davidson in his adult adaptation of Cinderella which was spelt and written as SINderella, as Baron Hard-on. A live recording of one of the dates on the tour of the pantomime was later adapted and edited for video and put out for sale nation wide. During rehearsals and filming it became clear to staff and actors that he had turned heavily to alcohol. Although it affected his work greatly he was kept on.
Retirement
Drake suffered a stroke in 1995 and retired, staying at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers, run by the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, until his death on 23 December 2006, after suffering multiple strokes the previous night.[1][2]
Discography
- Splish Splash / Hello My Darlings (1958) #7
- Volare / Itchy Twitchy Feeling (1958) #28
- Tom Thumb's Tune / Goggle Eye Ghee (1958)
- Sea Cruise / Starkle Starkle Little Twink (1959)
- Naughty / Old Mr Shadow (1960)
- Mr Custer / Glow Worm (1960) #12
- My Boomerang Won't Come Back / She's My Girl (1961) #14 ;#21 U.S.; #1 Australia
- Tanglefoot / Drake's Progress (1962)
- I Bent My Assegai / Sweet Freddy Green (1962)
- I've Lost The End Of My Yodel / I Can, Can't I (1963)
- I'm Too Heavy For The Light Brigade / The Reluctant Tight-Rope Walker (1964)
- Charles Drake 007 / Bumpanology (1964)
- Only A Working Man / I'm A Boy (1965)
- Don't Trim My Wick / Birds (1966)
- Who Is Sylvia / I Wanna Be A Group (1967)
- Puckwudgie / Toffe And Tears (1972) #47
- You Never Know (1976) (produced by Peter Gabriel)
- Super Punk spoof record, 1976)
- It has been claimed that Drake was also responsible for Gimme That Punk Junk (also 1976), recorded under the name The Water Pistols), but this may be due to confusion between the two records; Dave Goodman's website refers to the two titles as separate entities. [1], two-thirds of the way down the page
Theme Tune from The Worker
Drake sang the theme song himself, using an old music hall number which naturally became famous in its own right:
- I gets up every mornin' when the clock strikes eight
- I'm always punctual, never never late
- With a nice cup of tea, a little round of toast
- The Sporting Life and the Winning Post.
- I gets all nice and cozy, then I toddles off to work
- I do the best I can
- Cos I'm only a-doin' what a bloke should do
- Cos I'm only a workin' man!
The song, "Only A Working Man" (written by Herbert Rule & Fred Holt in 1923), was featured by Lily Morris on the Music Hall stage and in the 1930 film "Elstree Calling" - the original lyric being HE's only a workin' man!
References
External links
