Comedian and actor, born in London, UK. He made his debut at the Stage Door Canteen, Piccadilly, London, in 1946, and appeared in revues in London during the 1950s, including Out of This World (1950), Pardon My French (1953), and Way Out In Piccadilly (1960). He occasionally acted in plays, and gave a notable performance in Sondheim's musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in 1963. He appeared regularly on television and in films, his most famous role being that of a Roman slave in the television series Up Pompeii (19701), a series drenched in sexual innuendo. His films include The Ladykillers (1956), Carry On Doctor (1968), Up Pompeii (1971), and Up the Chastity Belt (1972). His brand of humour became increasingly appreciated in the 1980s, and he presented several successful television series, including Frankie Howerd on Campus (1990).
Frankie Howerd OBE (born Francis Alex Howard in York, England, 6 March 1917 — not 1922 as he claimed;
Biography
Lightly educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School (later to become Eaglesfield School) in Eltham, London, his early hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA.
He soon started working in radio, making his debut at the start of December 1946 on the BBC Variety Bandbox programme with a number of other ex-servicemen.
He was famous for his seemingly off-the-cuff remarks to the audience, especially in the show Up Pompeii!, which was a direct follow-up from Forum.
Howerd's face was a gift to comedy but a testament to tragedy. When a reporter wrote that he had a face like "a landslide of sadness", Howerd got in touch with him to say how right that was.
After five years without a regular television show (though he had hosted a one-off UK version of The Gong Show for Channel 4, which was critically panned and was not commissioned for a full series), Howerd returned to the TV screens in 1987 in the Channel 4 show Superfrank! scripted by Miles Tredinnick and Vince Powell. In the last years of his career, Howerd developed a cult following with student audiences and performed at universities.
Howerd often worked with Sunny Rogers who was his accompanying pianist from 1960 onwards.
Howerd suffered respiratory problems at the beginning of April 1992 and died in hospital of heart failure on April 19.
Howerd died one day before fellow comedian Benny Hill. However the news of the two deaths broke almost simultaneously, and some newspapers ran a canned obituary of Howerd in which Hill was quoted as regretting Howerd's passing, saying "We were great, great friends".
The song "Sects Therapy" from the CD Freudiana featured lead vocals by Howerd.
Private life
Throughout his career, Howerd hid his potentially career-destroying homosexuality (which had been illegal in Britain until 1967) from both his audience and his mother.
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