Harry Secombe
Acting
Born September 8, 1921, Swansea, Wales, UK
From Wikipedia Sir Harry Donald Secombe, CBE (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian and singer. He played Neddie Seagoon, a central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show (1951–60). He also appeared in musicals and films and, in his later years, was a presenter of television shows incorporating hymns and other devotional songs. With the success of The Goon Show, Secombe developed a dual career as both a comedy actor and a singer. At the beginning of his career as an entertainer, his act would end with a joke version of the duet Sweethearts, in which he sang both the baritone and falsetto parts. Trained under Italian maestro Manlio di Veroli, he emerged as a bel canto tenor (characteristically, he insisted that in his case this meant "can belto") and had a long list of best-selling record albums to his credit. In 1958 he appeared in the film Jet Storm, which starred Dame Sybil Thorndike and Richard Attenborough and in the same year Secombe starred in the title role in Davy, one of Ealing Studios' last films. In 1963 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in 1981, and jokingly referred to himself as Sir Cumference (in recognition of his rotund figure). The motto he chose for his coat of arms was "GO ON", a reference to goon.
Filmography
- Chasing Rainbows - A Nation and Its Music
- Highway
- Friday Night, Saturday Morning
- 1972Sunstruck
- 1971The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins — Stanley (segment "Envy")
- 1970Doctor in Trouble — Llewellyn Wendover
- 1970Rhubarb — Rev. Rhubarb
- 1970Song of Norway — Bioernstjerne Bjoernson
- 1969Pickwick — Mr Pickwick
- 1969The Bed Sitting Room — Shelter Man
- 1968Oliver! — Mr. Bumble
- The Telegoons
- 1960Alice Through the Looking Box — Humpty Dumpty
- 1959Jet Storm — Binky Meadows
- The Bruce Forsyth Show
- Whicker's World
- 1958Davy — Davy Morgan
- The Harry Secombe Show
- 1954Svengali — Barizel
- 1953Forces' Sweetheart — Harry Llewelyn
- 1952Down Among the Z Men — Harry Jones
- 1951Penny Points to Paradise — Harry Flakers
- 1949Helter Skelter — Alf (uncredited)
- The Harry Secombe Show
Appearances as themselves (11)
- 2014Spike Milligan: Love, Light and Peace — Self (archive footage)
- 2010The Unforgettable Harry Secombe — Self (archive footage)
- 2001The Paranormal Peter Sellers — Self (Archive footage)
- 2000The Unknown Peter Sellers — Self
- 1996An Evening with Spike Milligan — Himself
- 1996Spike — Self
- 1994An Audience with Jimmy Tarbuck — Self - Audience Member
- 1989Just Like That! — Self
- Wogan — Self
- 1972The Last Goon Show of All — Self
- The Ed Sullivan Show — Self