Les Dawson

With his deadpan delivery, gurning face, endless mother-in-law jokes and off-key piano playing, Les Dawson was one of the nation’s favourite comedians from the late sixties through to his death in 1993.

He was born in Collyhurst in Manchester in 1931, and his fame came comparatively late. There was the odd radio appearance and the northern club circuit alongside a series of jobs, as varied as being  a trainee newspaper reporter, selling vacuum cleaners and playing the piano in a Paris bordello. But it wasn’t until after an appearance on Opportunity Knocks at the age of 36 that he hit the big time.

It wasn’t long before he was on our screens in the panel game Jokers Wild and his own show on ITV, Sez Les..where we were introduced to the Cissie and Ada routines, featuring Les and Roy Barraclough.

A transfer to the BBC saw Les again with his own variety show - famously featuring the dancers the Roly Polys,  and a six-year stint as host of Blankety Blank.

Always in demand for tv guest appearances, notably on the Good Old Days, together with summer seasons and panto he was one of our foremost comedians of the seventies and eighties..and his death from a heart attack at the age of 62 was mourned by millions.

He’s remembered as a true master of comedy, the king of deadpan and the scourge of mothers-in-law everywhere.