Maybe because one never finds the cultural icons of the previous generation relevant to one’s own but I’ve never found Norman Wisdom funny but thought I’d have a quick look at his career as other aspects of wisdom were not appealing. I’m glad I did.
Norman Joseph Wisdom was born on 4 February 1915 at 91 Fernhead Road, Maida Vale W9, London where his father, mother, brother and himself shared a single room. The brothers grew up in extreme poverty and were frequently subjected to violence by their alcoholic father, who would sometimes pick them up and throw them across the room. After being expelled from the home entirely by their father, Norman became homeless and was forced to sleep rough on the streets of London.
By the age of 13, he was working long shifts in a hotel. One of his fellow boy workers persuaded him to walk to Cardiff with hopes of becoming a miner. However, the boy’s family was unable to house him, and Norman found himself homeless again.
He later joined the Merchant Navy as a cabin boy, sailing to Argentina. During the voyage, he learned to box. In Argentina, he entered a prize fight, managing to last three rounds before being badly beaten. When he was 14 he was advised to join the British Army, which accepted band recruits at that age. Though he had no musical training, he tearfully persuaded the recruiting officer to let him join and was accepted.
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| Norman Wisdom, irrepressible comic |
In 1930, Wisdom was posted to Lucknow and during his time there, he learned to ride horses, became the flyweight boxing champion of the British Army in India and taught himself to play a wide range of instruments, including the piano, trumpet, saxophone, flute, drums, bugle, and clarinet.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Wisdom was assigned to a communications centre in a command bunker in London. There, he handled telephone connections between war leaders and the prime minister. He met Winston Churchill on several occasions while delivering updates on incoming calls.
In 1940, at the age of 25, during a NAAFI entertainment night, he spontaneously stepped out of the orchestra pit during a dance routine to perform shadow boxing. Hearing laughter from his fellow soldiers and officers, he added a duck waddle and a series of comic facial expressions. Reflecting on the moment, he recalled: "They were in hysterics. All the officers were falling about laughing."
Wisdom's ascent in the entertainment world was relatively swift. A highly successful run at the London Casino in April 1948 led to a summer season in Scarborough. He shared the stage with magician David Nixon which resulted in further variety performances together. That Christmas he appeared in the pantomime Robinson Crusoe at Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre.
He then starred in a series of low-budget comedies produced by the Rank Organisation, beginning with Trouble in Store (1953). The film earned him a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Film in 1954, and became the second most popular film at the British box office that year. Exhibitors also ranked him as the tenth biggest box-office star in Britain in 1954.
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| Norman Wisdom, National Portrait Gallery |
It was all the above which I found interesting and not really his film career afterwards except for the fact that he became a cultural icon in Albania, where his films were among the few Western imports permitted under the regime of Enver Hoxha. When he visited the country in 1995, he was astonished to find himself mobbed by fans, including then-president Sali Berisha.
He returned in 2001, coinciding with the England vs Albania match in Tirana. At the training ground, he drew more attention than David Beckham and delighted the stadium crowd by wearing a half-English, half-Albanian shirt and performing one of his signature trips before kick-off. In recognition of his enduring popularity, Wisdom was made an honorary citizen of Tirana in 1995.
Surprisingly, well to me, Wisdom was a lifelong supporter and former board member of Brighton & Hove Albion. He was knighted in 2000 for services to entertainment. The latter part of his life was spent on the Isle of Man where he died on the 4th October 2010. His funeral took place on 22 October in Douglas with an open invitation extended to all island residents.
As I’ve said, it wasn’t the films that I found interesting about him but the tough background he came from and how he succeeded against the odds.
Any excuse to get a bit of Dorothy Parker in the blog:
Wisdom
THIS I say, and this I know:
Love has seen the last of me.
Love’s a trodden lane to woe,
Love’s a path to misery.
This I know, and knew before,
This I tell you, of my years:
Hide your heart, and lock your door.
Hell’s afloat in lovers’ tears.
Give your heart, and toss and moan,
What a pretty fool you look!
I am sage, who sit alone;
Here’s my wool, and here’s my book.
Look! A lad’s a-waiting there,
Tall he is and bold, and gay.
What the devil do I care
What I know, and what I say?
Wisdom
THIS I say, and this I know:
Love has seen the last of me.
Love’s a trodden lane to woe,
Love’s a path to misery.
This I know, and knew before,
This I tell you, of my years:
Hide your heart, and lock your door.
Hell’s afloat in lovers’ tears.
Give your heart, and toss and moan,
What a pretty fool you look!
I am sage, who sit alone;
Here’s my wool, and here’s my book.
Look! A lad’s a-waiting there,
Tall he is and bold, and gay.
What the devil do I care
What I know, and what I say?
Dorothy Parker
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| Sir Norman Wisdom, his statue |
Thanks for reading, Terry Q.