Frankie Howerd

Francis Alick Howerd, OBE (6 March 1917 - 19 April 1992), known as Frankie Howerd, was a distinctive English comedian and comic actor whose career spanned six decades.

He made his debut at the start of December 1946 on the BBC Variety Bandbox programme. His fame built steadily throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s.  In 1954, he made his screen debut opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus. He was boosted further by success on That Was The Week That Was (TW3) in 1963.

He was famous for his seemingly off-the-cuff remarks to the audience, especially in the show Up Pompeii! His television work was characterised by addressing himself directly to the camera and littering his monologues with verbal tics: "Oooh, no missus", "Titter ye not", and so on. Another feature of his humour was to feign innocence about his obvious and risque double entendres while mockingly censuring the audience for finding them funny.

Frankie was in two Carry On film: Carry On Doctor and Carry On Up The Jungle.