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BBC News
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Eric Morecambe's joke books acquired by University of York
Comedy legend Eric Morecambe's notebooks containing his handwritten jokes will be made available for people to look through after being acquired by a nine notebooks, dating back to the 1960s and 70s, were auctioned in January alongside items such as the desk and signature glasses once owned by the comedian, who died in books, featuring jokes, one-liners and ideas for sketches for the hit Morecambe and Wise TV show, have now been archived by the University of Yeoman, from the university, said: "It's going to take some deciphering to work out exactly what he is saying in some cases, but it shows how he was operating in the moment as things were coming to mind." A lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal items from the comedian's former home went on sale at the auction earlier this year. It took place 10 months after the death of his widow, Joan, at the age of 97, and more than 40 years after the comic died of a heart attack, aged notebooks have all the hallmarks of being stuffed into a suit pocket and contain scribbled material for Morecambe and Wise's 1977 BBC Christmas show attracted 28 million viewers at a time when there were only three TV channels in Yeoman, access and digital engagement archivist at the university's Borthwick Institute for Archives, said some of the jokes in the books were scored out, some had lines and crosses next to them, and the university team was figuring out what Morecambe's system was."We do see across the books, he comes back to the same themes and topics again and again. He refines those jokes down as well," she explained. The team managed to get their hands on two of the five lots up for auction, Ms Yeoman said."I think Robbie Williams ended up with the famous glasses for about £20,000 and I think Yvette Fielding got his desk. So, there were a number of high profile people bidding on some of the lots, too," she Yeoman said the material was acquired thanks to funding from Friends of the Library and Archives and the Friends of the Nation's see the notebooks, people could contact the library to book an appointment, she added. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How much did Robbie pay for Eric's glasses?
The singer Robbie Williams has revealed he cried "happy, childlike tears" after making the winning bid for comedy legend Eric Morecambe's glasses and pipe at auction. A lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal items from the comedian's former home, Brachefield in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, were sold in January. The imitation tortoiseshell Metzler glasses and pipe went for far in excess of their £2,000 to £4,000 estimate - fetching £20,000. In a post on social media, Williams said he treated himself to the items ahead of his 51st birthday. "I guess we all need friends-we-never-meet from off the telly. Eric has always been mine. An uncle of sorts," he said in the post. Williams, who has spent recent months publicising his new semi-autobiographical film Better Man, said he appointed one of his team to be "chief bidder", as he was in Los Angeles and about to board an aeroplane when the bidding began. He managed to watch a lot of the auction online, spurred on by his wife Ayda Field Williams who told him to "keep bidding" when he had doubts. He admitted to crying "happy, childlike tears" when he won the bidding war. Williams continued: "Eric, you were and are the very best of the very best. "That sunshine you asked for, you gave to me." Morecambe met comedy partner Ernie Wise in 1940, aged 14, and despite a wartime separation 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 his family home's contents were put up for sale after his widow, Joan, died aged 97, in March. Their daughter Gail Stuart, who lives in Northamptonshire, said she and her brothers Gary and Steven decided to give fans the opportunity to own some of his belongings, more than 800 of which went under the hammer. Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Justin Dealey after the auction, she said: "When mum died, it felt like an end of an era and we decided it could be the start of a new era - and I've had so many fans message me with what they'd got at auction and it's just fabulous." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'I had a number one and nobody knows who I am' Eric Morecambe's glasses sold for £20,000 Robbie Williams on why he's played by a chimp in new film Morecambe and Wise 'bored stiff' by Monty Python 'I'm really proud to be returning to Eric'
