Mike Yarwood leaves a great impression

[The Stoat]

RIP https://news.sky.com/story/comedian-and-impersonator-mike-yarwood-dies-royal-variety-charity-says-12957577

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Pinned at the top of this Board is an Anxiety/Depression thread. Would that people back in the day could have been more aware and more understanding about these issues like this Board’s posters demonstrate. I know someone who in their younger days worked closely with Yarwood and he described the bloke as being full of anxiety, self doubt and as someone that nowadays experiences imposter syndrome. By the early eighties Yarwood was coming off the rails and he virtually disappeared from the public notice for years. The sad thing is that because of lack of understanding Yarwood was viewed as a piss head when in fact the drinking was a symptom of a mental condition and not the cause. In his day he was quite simply unmatched, working hard at getting the characterisations of well known political and show biz targets down to a T.

[Billy Blagg]

I always feel really bad when this happens, but I thought he'd passed before! Obviously dated and didn't have the skill later shown by Bremner and Sessions etc. but a pioneer of the Saturday Night TV format.

[Mike Oxsaw]

We're probably going to be at loggerheads here, Coffee, me old china, but I think that in his use of the English language as a comedic weapon, Benny Hill was only ever bettered by Ronnie Barker. Spike Milligan was the epitome of linguistic anarchy; by the time people worked out that he'd cracked a funny, he was already delivering the joke three steps down the line. Fast forward and Ben Elton gets a nod, but his lines are best delivered by another. It's a revelation in itself to watch Benny Hill and his support in the early shows trying to not corpse as they delivered a sketch, and the out-of-synch audio on the slap-head sketches is still side-splitting.

[Coffee]

Benny Hill. Funny, yes. Quality TV? Nope.

[J.Riddle]

Mike Yarwood Dick Emery Stanley Baxter Benny Hill The Sweeny Minder It's a Knockout Quality TV

[zico]

Manuel - Must confess I found myself thinking watching Bless This House "that's my mum's old kitchen utensils hanging from the wall!"

[Matthew Holmes]

RIP Mike Yarwood sah Remember his shows being hilarious, but it was the 70s (80s). I'm of similar vintage as many others who've posted. Big name back in the day. Hope he enjoyed his post stardom years too.

[Manuel]

Zico - Funny enough I started to watch the Bless this house film on YT myself for a it of nostalgia too, but only lasted 5 mins, it's just too old and dated now for me, I couldn't watch a carry on film now either, but each his own etc. I've been watching the 80's sitcom again Just good friends as I really liked it when it originally aired. It still stands up, just.

[Mike Oxsaw]

That Bob Monkhouse documentary is called "The Last Stand" - I think it was the last of a series of 6 he made about comedy, but I only have that one - probably got it from The Pirate Bay, however they may now all be on YouTube.

[zico]

Coffee 8:14 Sat Sep 9 You are right, it may have something to do with how certain generations like mine sat down around the box and watched with the family. I remember watching stuff like All Creatures Great and Small or The Onedin Line when mum was up and when she went to bed dad and I would watch Sherlock Holmes Hound of the Baskervilles with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. So as kids we were watching 70's programmes that we remember now but also programmes/films from the 40's, 50's and 60's which we also remember now. Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films were typical Summer holiday morning fare for instance. I've been watching old films like the Carry On's again recently for a bit of nostalgia and I watched The Bless This House film. Janet Brown was in that before she became famous as an impressionist She was married to Carry On actor Peter Butterworth. I thought Mike Yarwood was very good for his time but as the 80's drew in I think he got caught up in the new era of comedians that were coming through. RIP

[Side of Ham]

Ahh shame, thought he might of managed to not do that….I am one of those who weren’t into to his show mainly due to my young age at the time and my parents preferred the two Ronnies….

[Mike Oxsaw]

Was a part of my late youth. Last I saw of him was on a Bob Monkhouse documentary made just before he died himself'. Yarwood opened up about the shock of suddenly losing virtually all of his source material virtually overnight and turning to the bottle as a solace. Monkhouse clearly (still) had a lot of respect for him.

[onsideman]

I'm not sure that's quite how it played out. I understand he was far from happy, quite embittered and found comfort in drink

[Side of Ham]

I liked the way he had his moment that moment faded and he didn’t try a reinvent himself and had the dosh to walk away at a decent age to enjoy it all which I hope he did Not many get to do that.

[Far Cough]

His impression of Patrick Moore from the Sky at Night was absolutely on point, even including the dodgy eye RIP Mike Yarwood

[Roby]

Being born in 78 I can remember his name from the 80s but back then there were only 4 TV channels so anyone even half decent on the box became a household name. Russ Abbot for example.

[Manuel]

Yep, Very true. People of a certain age can remember Minder well, but not so much The Sweeney. Very vague memories of the 78 world cup, but remember the 82 one quite clearly.

[Coffee]

Manuel, it's strange how just three or four years difference in age makes such a difference in people's memories. Yarwood was massive in the 70s, but he was cast into the wilderness after Callaghan and particularly Thatcher became PM. He did OK with Callaghan, but that lasted only a couple of years. Then Janet Brown became big for a few years. I doubt many people born in the 80s onwards would know who Janet Brown is/was. And then of course Spitting Image came along.

[Manuel]

Coffee - A big name yes, but not sure if he was everyone's cup of tea though, I don't remember too much about him. I read the other week that he has spent the last decade or so in a fancy retirement home for actors in West London, Richard O'Sullivan also lives there - now there is a TV legend.

[Coffee]

As for most on here, he was a real star in my formative years. Harold Wilson will have been waiting for him RIP