Barry Cryer I Remember

At 83, comedy legend Barry Cryer has been in showbusiness for six decades. Here he looks back on a life of love, loss and laughter.

- Geraint Lewis

…ALWAYS WANTING COMPANY, PEOPLE AND NOISE.

It was just me and my mother when I was growing up in Leeds, because my dad died when I was five, leaving me without a father figure. I have the odd memory, like him buying me an Airfix model aeroplane. We assembled it together in the front room and when I flew it, it landed straight in the fire. But there’s a single photo of him in a room upstairs and I look at it now and think, I never knew you.

…WINING AN ACTING PRIZE FOR PLAYING FALSTAFF IN A SCHOOL PRODUCTION OF HENRY IV.

It was a joint award with my friend John Gledhill, who played Hal. At the ceremony, I took the cup, and handed John the base. It got a big laugh. Even then I had the instinct, “Oh, this will be funny.” But I had no real performing ambitions at that time. I had a half-baked idea of becoming a journalist, but none of entering showbiz, even though I loved comedians like Tommy Handley and Max Miller.

…I WAS A UNIVERSITY DROP-OUT.

I studied English Literature at the University of Leeds, but I was in the bar chasing girls, not concentrating. My first-year results showed it. But I was in a student show at the old Empire Theatre. This guy had come from London to watch someone else but saw me telling jokes and offered me work. My first week as a professional was at the Leeds City Varieties in 1956. I’ve been back a lot of times since, appearing in The Good Old Days, and this year we recorded an edition of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue there. It’s been refurbished and got a glass lift now. It was a tip backstage years ago…

…LEARNING TO DIE WITH DIGNITY AT THE WINDMILL THEATRE IN LONDON’S PICCADILLY.