RIP Ronnie Barker

[Dogg Thang]

I don't know how big Ronnie Barker was outside the UK but he was my favourite comedian ever. Today he died, aged 76. It's a sad day for me.

[Space Cowboy]

Poor old Ronnie :( He's a comedy legend.
I used to love Porridge and Open all Hours. The two Ronnies was also a fav of mine.

All the best Ronnie.

[infoxicated]

A sad day indeed. :(

Remember when he retired from TV and became an antique dealer? Then The Sun tried to stitch him up by sending some young girl in with a silver plate that was worth quite a bit of money, but Ronnie said he wouldn't give her much for it because he figured there was something fishy going on, and sent her on her way. The Sun tried to make out that Ronnie had tried to rip the girl off and slapped it on their front page.

Terry Wogan did the gentlemanly thing and cleared the guests from his chat show the same night and got Ronnie on to clear his name. Tabloid scum - I bet the Sun have a tribute to him, too.

[Lance]

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i remember many years ago that i saw 'The Two Ronnies' on local tv here in the USA. Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Hazlitt [?]. entertaining stuff. i am always grateful to comedians who can make me laugh. i also missed Benny Hill when he left us.
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[Jittery-Joe]

RIP, ronnie...

[Hyper Shadow]

It was Ronnie Corbett Lance.

Ronnie Barker, great comedian, lets send him on his way with fork 'andles (doesn't translate very well into text :P)

[Lance]

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heh. well, i got the two ''t''s right anyway it was only on for about a quarter of a year here, but i wish it had been on longer. yikes. it was probably back in the early 80s when i saw it, though possibly a bit later
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[Hellfire_WZ]

I always said it would be a sad day for the world of comedy when Ronnie Barker passed away. One of the classics, and easily among the best. He will be sorely missed. :(

[stin]

Yes he will be sorely missed! I used to love "Open All Hours" especially the Till thingy and it is soo funny with Sir David Jason.

stevie

[Lance]

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[slaps self on forehead] 'Open All Hours'! damn, i forgot that i've seen that one, too. again it was only on locally for a short time, but it was great, too. Roy Clarke was the writer. this was not the only fine series he wrote. we often give too little credit to the writers, directors, and producers, like Gareth Davies, for instance, who did a lot of the British comedies i favour.
.

[rageagainstgeorge]

The "Fork Handles" sketch still makes me chuckle, even though I've seen loads.

[Damon]

The other absolute classic sketch is the parody of Mastermind, in which Ronnie Corbett's specialist subject is 'answering the question before last'. That is just sublime. Their comic timing is awesome to behold.

What always amazed me about Ronnie Barker was the way he played Fletch in the series Porridge. Fletch was such a blokey, masculine character, yet the real Ronnie Barker was an extremely mild, shy and quietly spoken chap - he sometimes came across as resembling a polite little old lady. The transformation from one to the other was incredible - so much so that it's hard to believe they were the same person. And it wasn't a transformation brought about by loads of make-up or costumes or anything - it was all in the voice, the manner, the general bearing of the man.

Shows what a very fine actor he really was I think.