Latest news with #MorecambeandWise
BBC News
23-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Really lucky' museum puts Eric Morecambe items on show
Eric Morecambe's school reports and licence to perform as a child entertainer have gone on display after a "really, really lucky" museum secured them at auction.A lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal items was put up for sale after the comic's widow Joan died in March star Robbie Williams bought Morecambe's trademark glasses and TV presenter Yvette Fielding got his desk and typewriter, but Lancaster City Museums also manged to secure some items with its £2,000 City Councillor Nick Wilkinson said the fund came from generous donations from locals and the council was proud to lay on a space where people could connect with "the man behind the laughter". A council representative said the successful bids meant it now owned two of Morecambe's school reports from 1936 and had also secured Morecambe's licence to perform as a child entertainer - issued by the Morecambe and Heysham Local Education Authority in 1939 - and "a whole pile of handwritten sketches and jokes, which include the opening sketch for Morecambe and Wise season six in 1971".Museums manager Mel Cookson-Carter said they had been "really, really lucky and we are so happy with what we managed to get hold of".She said it was "fantastic" to have items from Morecambe's school days and "some incredible sketches from the peak of Morecambe and Wise from the 70s"."The two school reports are so funny," she said."In 1936, he's been absent 20 times, he's missed most of his exams and he only scored 55 out of 240."His mum wrote on the back, 'I am disgusted with this report and would be obliged if you would make him do more homework as I would see he did it here'." Morecambe was born John Eric Bartholomew in 1926 in the Lancashire resort he took as his stage Cookson-Carter said his mother, Sadie Bartholomew, was "the real driving force" in his childhood and early career and may have been instrumental in improving his grades."You see from his 1939 school report that he was only absent twice [and] he's done really well in his exams," she said."I'm wondering if his mum had a bit of a talking to him and said 'there's no way you're going into entertainment unless you do a bit better at school'." 'Very strict' She said the licence also offered a glimpse into the past."It is very strict," she said."He can't do any work after 10 o'clock, he can't do any work on school days, he has to leave whichever theatre he's working in 15 minutes after his act finishes."The comedian died of a heart attack aged 58 in 1984 and is celebrated by a statue in his former council said the licence and one of the school reports were now on display at the Lancaster Maritime Museum and it was hoped the remaining items would be exhibited in the said the council was "delighted to welcome Eric Morecambe's treasured objects back to his hometown, where they will take pride of place in our museum"."These items, deeply rooted in his legacy, offer a unique glimpse into the life of a comedy legend who brought joy to millions and we are proud to provide a space where visitors can connect with the man behind the laughter," he added. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
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 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 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 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 was about the time Morecambe met comedy partner Ernie Wise, aged 14, and despite a wartime separation they formed an enduring 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 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 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." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
