Yvette Fielding 'thrilled' to win Eric Morecambe desk at auction
TV presenter Yvette Fielding has said she is "so honoured" to be the new owner of Eric Morecambe's writing desk.She said her husband, Karl Beattie, sat in front of his computer for two days during the recent auction of the comedian's items, to ensure he won the piece of furniture.They also bought some of Eric's pipes, typewriter and his first ever prop - a wooden lollipop."They came across as two loveable uncles that just made you roar with laughter and you felt so much love towards them, they were so different and wonderful and unique" Fielding said. "Just to be able to have pieces of them is brilliant."
A lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal items from the comedian's former home in Hertfordshire were sold in January, with singer Robbie Williams making the £20,000 winning bid for the comedy legend's iconic glasses.Fielding, who appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2023 with Morecambe and Wise as her specialist subject, said: "As soon as the auctioneer's hammer went down and we realised we'd got the desk, we both jumped up like England had scored in the World Cup and screamed with joy."And then I burst into tears because I was just so thrilled to have something so magnificent and wonderful. "It was like a dream had come true and you actually feel like you've got a bit of Eric in your house."
The couple also successfully bid on Morecambe's first prop - a wooden lollipop with a bite out of it, used by a young Eric Morecambe in his routine "Youth Takes a Bow" in about 1940.It was about the time Morecambe met comedy partner Ernie Wise, aged 14, and despite a wartime separation they formed an enduring double-act.They had many lean years touring theatres before they broke into TV, appearing on both ITV and the BBC, and by 1977 their Christmas BBC special was watched by 28 million viewers, at a time when there were only three channels in the UK.The comedian died of a heart attack aged 58 in 1984 and the contents of his family home were put up for sale after his widow, Joan, died aged 97, in March 2024.Ms Fielding said she grew up watching "these two amazing human beings that just made us laugh throughout our childhoods into our teens and beyond"."Especially Eric, there was something very, very special about that man," she said."Even now every Christmas without fail we have to have the Morecambe and Wise show on."
"When him and Ernie became huge, he must have sometimes looked at that wooden lollipop and thought 'I had no idea'," Ms Fielding said."It's the same with the desk."I sit at that desk and I have a picture of him sat at the desk, and then his hat to the right and some of his pipes and I just sit there and I say out loud 'go on Eric, give me some inspiration' when I'm writing my books."I'm just so honoured to have his stuff in our house."
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