Arthur Askey

Comedian, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He made his professional debut in 1924, and became a leading comedian in summer seasons at British seaside resorts, achieving national recognition on radio with Band Wagon (from 1938). He used his smallness of stature (1.6 m/5 ft 2 in) in his humour, and cultivated a cheery manner. His twangy pronunciation of ‘I thank you!’ became a catchphrase.

Arthur Bowden Askey was born in Liverpool and attended the Liverpool Institute school. It had begun as a variety show, but had been unsuccessful until Askey and his partner, Richard Murdoch, took on a larger role in the writing. Askey's humour owed much to the playfulness of the characters he portrayed, his improvising and his use of catchphrases, as parodied by the Arthur Atkinson character in The Fast Show.

His catchphrases included "Hello playmates!", "I thank you" (pronounced "Ay-Thang-Yew"), and "Before your very eyes".

In the early 1930s, Askey appeared on an early form of BBC television — the spinning disc invented by John Logie Baird that scanned vertically and had only 30 lines.

During World War II, Askey starred in several Gainsborough Pictures comedy films, notably The Ghost Train (1941), as well as Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt, I Thank You, Back Room Boy, King Arthur Was A Gentleman, Miss London Ltd., and Bees in Paradise. In 1957 writers Sid Colin and Talbot Rothwell revived the Bandwaggon format for Living It Up, a series that reunited Askey and Murdoch after an absence of 18 years.

His recording career included "The Bee Song" and his theme tune, "Big-Hearted Arthur", (which was also his nickname). During the 1950s and 1960s he appeared in many sitcoms including Love and Kisses, Arthur's Treasured Volumes and The Arthur Askey Show.

He continued to appear frequently on television in the 1970s, notably as a panellist on the ITV talent show New Faces, where his usually sympathetic comments would offset the harsher judgements of fellow judges Tony Hatch and Mickie Most.

His last film was the British softcore porn film Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (1978), starring Debbie Ash.