Barry Cryer
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Barry Charles Cryer (born 23 March 1935 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England) is a writer and comedian. He started at the Windmill Theatre in London, a club which showed comedy acts in between nude tableau shows.
Cryer has written for a long list of people, including:
- Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Richard Pryor, Mike Yarwood, The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise.
Cryer also wrote episodes for the Doctor in the House television comedy series.
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[edit] Career highlights
In 1958 Cryer had a Number 1 hit record in Finland, with the song Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley. For contractual reasons Wooley's song was never issued in Scandinavia so Cryer's was instead. The song spent three weeks at the top spot.
In the 1970s, Cryer appeared with Tim Brooke-Taylor and John Junkin in the BBC radio series Hello, Cheeky!, which essentially consisted of the three performers bouncing jokes off each other, as well as appearing in the comedy television series The Steam Video Company. He also hosted the ITV comedy panel game Joker's Wild, and had a role in All You Need Is Cash, a spoof documentary about the Beatles parody band the Rutles.
He toured with Willie Rushton in the show Two Old Farts in the Night, which was released on video, and That Reminds Me after Rushton's death. He is also famous for doing after-dinner speeches.[1]
After a brief stint as the chairman in the first series, Cryer has been one of the panellists on the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which began in 1972 and is still going strong. He also writes and stars in You'll Have Had Your Tea with Graeme Garden.
He has written an autobiography, That Reminds Me, as well as a book of miscellaneous anecdotes Pigs Can Fly.
In 2005 he toured the UK with Barry Cryer: The First Farewell Tour.
[edit] Trivia
- Cryer is a member of the entertainment charity the Grand Order of Water Rats
- He has an album with Ronnie Golden called Rock and Droll
[edit] Books
- You Won't Believe This But...: An Autobiography of Sorts (1996), ISBN 1-85227-682-7
- Pigs Can Fly (2003), ISBN 0-7528-5991-9
[edit] External links
- BBC News – "Barry Cryer: King of Comedy"
- Barry Cryer - Comedy Zone
| I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue |
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| Tim Brooke-Taylor — Barry Cryer — Graeme Garden — Humphrey Lyttelton — Willie Rushton — Colin Sell |
