Editing Charlie Drake

{{Short description|English comedian, actor, singer and writer (1925–2006)}}
{{Other people|Charles Drake}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Charlie Drake
| image       = Charlie_drake_1986.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = Charles Edward Springall
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=y|1925|06|19}}
| birth_place = [[Elephant and Castle]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Southwark|Southwark]], [[London]], England
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|df=y|2006|12|23|1925|06|19}}
| death_place = [[Brinsworth House]], [[Twickenham]], [[London]], England
| years_active = 1954–2004
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Heather Barnes|1953|1971|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Elaine Bird|1976|1984|reason=divorced}}
}}
| children         = 3
}}

'''Charles Edward Springall''' (19 June 1925 – 23 December 2006), known professionally as '''Charlie Drake''', was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer.

With his small stature ({{cvt|5|ft|1|in|cm|disp=or}} tall), curly red hair and liking for [[slapstick]], he was a popular comedian with children in his early years, becoming nationally known for his "Hello, my darlings!" [[catchphrase]].

==Early life==
Born '''Charles Edward Springall''' in the [[Elephant and Castle]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Southwark|Southwark]], [[south London]], he took his mother's maiden name for the stage and, later, film and television, achieving success as a comedian. Aged eight, he won a chorus place in a [[Harry Champion]] music hall production. He left school and home aged fourteen to become an electrician's mate while attempting to break into showbusiness.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-12-26 |title=Charlie Drake |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/charlie-drake-429830.html |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Drake made his first appearance on stage at the age of eight, and after leaving school toured [[working men's club]]s. After serving in the [[Royal Air Force]] during the [[Second World War]], Drake turned professional and made his television début in ''The Centre Show'' in 1953. He then joined his wartime comrade Jack Edwardes to form a [[double act]], named 'Mick and Montmorency'. In 1954 he appeared with [[Bob Monkhouse]] and [[Denis Goodwin]] in their [[BBC One|BBC Television Service]] sketch comedy show, ''Fast and Loose''.

He appeared in the television shows ''Laughter in Store'' (1957), ''[[Drake's Progress]]'' (1957–58), ''[[Charlie Drake (TV series)|Charlie Drake In…]]'' (1958 to 1960) and ''[[The Charlie Drake Show]]'' (1960 to 1961), being remembered for his opening [[catchphrase]] "Hello, my darlings!" The catchphrase came about because he was short, and so his eyes would often be naturally directly level with a lady's bosom. Because of this and because in his television work he preferred appearing with big-busted women, the catchphrase was born.

===Bookcase incident===
In 1961, the later series was brought to an abrupt end, however, by a serious accident which occurred during a live transmission. Drake had arranged for a [[bookcase]] to be set up in such a way that it would fall apart when he was pulled through it during a slapstick sketch.

It was later discovered that an overenthusiastic workman had "mended" the bookcase before the broadcast. The actors working with him, unaware of what had happened, proceeded with the rest of the sketch which required that they pick him up and throw him through an open window. Drake fractured his skull and was unconscious for three days. It would be two years before he returned to the screen.<ref>{{cite news |title=ATV bring in four new series |work=The Stage |page=9|date=3 October 1963 |access-date=5 June 2018 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19631003/062/0009| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Comeback===
Drake returned to television in 1963 with ''The Charlie Drake Show'', a compilation of which won an award at the [[Rose d'Or|Montreux Festival]] in 1968. The centrepiece of this was an extended sketch featuring an orchestra performing the 1812 Overture, in which Drake appeared to play all the instruments; as well as conducting and one scene in which he was the player of a triangle waiting for his cue to play a single strike – which he subsequently missed.

Through the series he played a gymnast doing a single arm twist from a high ring while a commentator counted eventually into the thousands and by the end of the series, Drake's arm appeared to be {{convert|20|ft|0|abbr=on}} long. Other shows included ''[[Who Is Sylvia? (TV series)|Who Is Sylvia?]]'' (1967) and ''[[Slapstick and Old Lace]]'' (1971), but it was ''[[The Worker (TV series)|The Worker]]'' (1965 to 1970) that gained most acclaim.

Television fame led to four films, none of them successful{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} — ''[[Sands of the Desert]]'' (1960), ''[[Petticoat Pirates]]'' (1961), ''[[The Cracksman]]'' (1963) and ''[[Mister Ten Per Cent]]'' (1967).

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' on two occasions, in December 1961 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] in a rehearsal room at the [[London Palladium]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} and in November 1995, when [[Michael Aspel]] surprised him at the curtain call of the comedy play ''[[Funny Money (play)|Funny Money]]'' at the [[Playhouse Theatre]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===''The Worker''===
In ''[[The Worker (TV series)|The Worker]]'' ([[Associated Television|ATV]]/[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], 1965–70) he played a perpetually unemployed labourer who, in every episode, was dispatched to a new job by the ever-frustrated clerk (firstly Mr Whittaker in series one, played by [[Percy Herbert (actor)|Percy Herbert]], and from series two onwards Mr Pugh, played by [[Henry McGee]]) at the local [[labour exchange]]. All the jobs he embarked upon ended in disaster, sometimes with a burst of classic slapstick, sometimes with a bewildered Drake himself at the centre of incomprehensible actions by the people employing him. Bookending these sequences were the encounters between Drake and the labour exchange clerk. Running jokes included Drake's inability to manage the name of the clerk, with Mr Whittaker rendered as Mr Wicketer and then Mr Pugh variously mispronounced from a childish "Mi'er Poo" to "Peeyooo". Drake sang the theme song himself, using an old music hall number. The series was briefly revived by [[London Weekend Television]] in 1978 as a series of short sketches on ''[[Bruce Forsyth's Big Night]]'', with Drake and McGee reprising their roles.

=== Recording career ===
Drake made a number of records, most of them produced by [[George Martin]] for the [[Parlophone]] label.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years">{{cite book
| first= John
| last= Tobler
| year= 1992
| title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years
| edition= 1st
| publisher= Reed International Books Ltd 
| location= London
| page= 69
| id= CN 5585}}</ref> The first, "Splish Splash", a [[cover version]] of a [[rock and roll]] song originally recorded by [[Bobby Darin]], got into the [[Top 40|Top 10]] of the [[UK Singles Chart]], reaching number 7 in 1958.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 167}}</ref> In 1961, "[[My Boomerang Won't Come Back]]" became a mid-chart UK hit (No. 14) and an edited, more politically correct, version (with one word overdubbed) was a No 21 US hit, a follow-up to "[[Mr. Custer]]" (No. 12 UK charts).

In 1972 Drake recorded a spoof song called 'Puckwudgie' on Columbia records. It referred to a 2-or-3-foot-tall (0.61 or 0.91 m) being from the [[Wampanoag]] folklore. It reached number 47 in the BBC Top 50 in early 1972.

[[Peter Gabriel]], after leaving [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] in late 1975, produced a single "You Never Know" for Drake (UK Charisma), with [[Sandy Denny]] on backing vocals and [[Phil Collins]] on drums. It was not a [[record chart|chart]] success.

===Later career===
Drake turned to straight acting in the 1980s, winning acclaim for his role as [[Touchstone (As You Like It)|Touchstone]] in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[As You Like It]]'' (at the [[Ludlow]] Festival), and an award for his part in [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[The Caretaker (play)|The Caretaker]]'' at the [[Royal Exchange, Manchester]], along with [[Michael Angelis]]. Drake also starred as Smallweed in the BBC adaptation of ''[[Bleak House (1985 TV serial)|Bleak House]]'' (1985), and ''Filipina Dreamgirls'', a TV film for the BBC. His final appearances on stage were with [[Jim Davidson]] in ''Sinderella'', his adult adaptation of [[Cinderella]], as Baron Hard-on. A live recording of one of the dates on the tour of the pantomime was later adapted, and edited for video, and put out for sale nationwide.

==Personal life==
Drake was married twice. He was married to Heather Barnes from 1953 until 1971, and they had three sons. In 1976, Drake married his second wife, Elaine Bird, but the marriage was dissolved in 1984.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1537814/Charlie-Drake.html Obituary] in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' 26 December 2006, accessed 15 June 2010</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,1979054,00.html Obituary] in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 28 December 2006, accessed 15 June 2010</ref>

===Retirement===
Drake suffered a stroke in 1995 and retired, staying at [[Brinsworth House]], a retirement home for actors and performers, run by the [[Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund]], until his death on 23 December 2006, after suffering multiple strokes the previous night.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6207585.stm | work=BBC News | title=Slapstick comic Drake dies at 81 | date=24 December 2006}}</ref><ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1245168,00.html Warm Tribute To Last Slapstick 'Great']  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824195626/http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0%2C%2C30000-1245168%2C00.html |date=24 August 2007 }}</ref>

==Discography==

===Singles===
* "[[Splish Splash (song)|Splish Splash]]" / "Hello My Darlings" (1958) [[UK Singles Chart|UK]] No. 7
* "Volare" / "Itchy Twitchy Feeling" (1958) UK No. 28
* "Tom Thumb's Tune" / "Goggle Eye Ghee" (1958)
* "Sea Cruise" / "Starkle Starkle Little Twink" (1959)
* "Naughty" / "Old Mr Shadow" (1960)
* "[[Mr. Custer]]" / "Glow Worm" (1960) UK No. 12
* "[[My Boomerang Won't Come Back]]" / "She's My Girl" (1961) UK No. 14 ; US #21; Australia No. 1
* "Tanglefoot" / "Drake's Progress" (1962)
* "I Bent My Assegai" / "Sweet Freddy Green" (1962)
* "I've Lost The End of My Yodel" / "I Can, Can't I" (1963)
* "I'm Too Heavy for the Light Brigade" / "The Reluctant Tight-Rope Walker" (1964)
* "Charles Drake 007" / "Bumpanology" (1964)
* "Only A Working Man" / "I'm A Boy" (1965)
* "Don't Trim My Wick" / "Birds" (1966)
* "Who Is Sylvia" / "I Wanna Be a Group" (1967)
* "Puckwudgie" / "Toffee and Tears" (1972) UK No. 47
* "Someone opened the Watergate and they all got wet" / "'Ello Erf" (1973)
* "You Never Know" / "I'm Big Enough for Me" (1976) (produced by Peter Gabriel)
* "Super Punk" (1976) ([[Parody|spoof]] record)<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref>[http://www.davegoodman.co.uk/Dave%20Goodman/Daves%20Book/1976/dec_1976.htm Davegoodman.co.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928013907/http://www.davegoodman.co.uk/Dave%20Goodman/Daves%20Book/1976/dec_1976.htm |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref><ref group="Note">Some sources claim that Drake was responsible for the spoof "Gimme That Punk Junk" (1976), recorded under the name [[The Water Pistols]], but this may be due to confusion with his "Super Punk" (1976) ([[Parody|spoof]]). Dave Goodman's website refers to the two titles as separate entities.</ref>

===Theme tune from ''The Worker''===
Drake sang the theme song himself, based upon an old [[music hall]] song
:''I gets up every mornin' when the clock strikes eight''
:''I'm always punctual, never never late''
:''With a nice cup of tea, a little round of toast''
:''The Sporting Life and the Winning Post.''
:''I gets all nice and tidy, then I toddles off to work''
:''I do the best I can''
:''Cos I'm only a-doin' what a bloke should do''
:''Cos I'm only a workin' man!''

The song, "Only A Working Man", [[songwriter|written]] by Herbert Rule and Fred Holt in 1923, was featured by [[Lily Morris]] on the music hall stage, and in the 1930 film, ''[[Elstree Calling]]'', the original lyric being "He's only a workin' man".

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1954|| ''[[The Golden Link]]'' || Joe ||
|-
|1960|| ''[[Sands of the Desert]]'' || Charlie Sands ||
|-
|1960|| Charlie Drake Stirs it Up|| Himself, with [[Cliff Richard]]|| [[Pathé News]] Film i.d.1698.22. 28/11/'60.
|-
|1961|| ''[[Petticoat Pirates]]'' || Charlie ||
|-
|1962|| What's Cooking || Himself, with Margaret Alden || [[British Pathé]], (film i.d. 2275.05/2275.06)
|-
|1963|| ''[[The Cracksman]]'' || Ernest Wright ||
|-
|1967|| ''[[Mister Ten Per Cent]]'' || Percy Pointer ||
|-
|1974|| ''[[Professor Popper's Problem]]'' || Professor Popper ||
|-
|1992
|''Burning Ash''
|Ethan Hawker
|Short film about practise of  'Skimington', a [[Charivari]] filmed in [[Copthorne, West Sussex]]
|-
|1995
|''Sinderella Live''
|Baron Hardon
|Video
|-
|2004
|''Sinderella Comes Again''
|Baron Von Hard-on
|Video
|}

== Television roles ==
Sources include ''The Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewisohn |first=Mark |title=The Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy |publisher=BBC Worldwide Ltd. |year=2003 |isbn=0563487550 |edition=2nd |location=London |pages=238–241}}</ref> the BBC programme index<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Drake |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=first&q=%22charlie+drake%22#top |access-date=17 September 2023 |website=BBC Programme Index}}</ref> and IMDB.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlie Drake |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236867/ |access-date=17 September 2023 |website=IMDB}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
!Company
|-
|1954–1955
|''Charlie Drake and Jack Edwardes''
|Montmorency
|Children's sketch show
|[[BBC Television|BBC]]
|-
|1955|| ''Fast and Loose'' || Performer ||Sketch show
|BBC
|-
|1955–1958|| ''Mick and Montmorency'' || Montmorency ||Children's sketch show
|[[Associated-Rediffusion|Associated Rediffusion]]
|-
|1956|| ''Tess and Jim'' || Performer ||Stand-up comedy
|BBC
|-
|1956|| ''Jim Whittington and His Sea Lion'' || Idle Montmorency ||Pantomime
|Associated Rediffusion
|-
|1956|| ''Beauty and the Beast'' || Wee Beastie (as Charles Drake) ||Musical
|BBC
|-
|1957
|''Laughter in Store''
|Self
|Sitcom
|BBC
|-
|1957–1958
|''[[Drake's Progress]]''
|Performer
|Sketch show, 2 series, 12 episodes
|BBC
|-
|1957|| ''Pantomania: Babes in the Wood'' || Sherrif ||Pantomime
|BBC
|-
|1958
|''[[The Charlie Drake Show]]''
|Charlie
|Sketch Special, 1 episode
|[[Associated Television|ATV]]
|-
|1958
|''The World Our Stage''
|Performer
|Variety, S1.E3: "The Driving Test"
|BBC
|-
|1958–1960
|''[[Charlie Drake (TV series)|Charlie Drake In...]]'' 
|Charles O'Casey Drake
|Sitcom, 4 series, 22 episodes + special
|BBC
|-
|1960–1961
|''[[The Charlie Drake Show]]'' 
|Charlie
|Sitcom, 12 episodes
|BBC
|-
|1963
|''The Charlie Drake Show''
|Charlie
|Sketch show, 6 episodes
|ATV
|-
|1964
|''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''
|Self
|Variety, Episode 18.8
|[[CBS]]
|-
|1965
|[[The Worker (TV series)|''The Worker'']]
|Charlie
|Sitcom, 2 series, 13 episodes
|ATV
|-
|1966
|''[[Armchair Theatre]]''
|Joey
|Play, Episode 6.9: "The Battersea Miracle"
|[[ABC Weekend TV]]
|-
|1967
|''[[Who Is Sylvia? (TV series)|Who is Sylvia?]]''
|Charles Rameses Drake
|Sitcom, 7 episodes
|ATV
|-
|1967–1968
|''The Charlie Drake Show'' 
|Various
|Sketch show, 11 episodes
|BBC
|-
|1969–1970
|''The Worker''
|Charlie
|Sitcom, 12 episodes + special
|ATV
|-
|1971
|''[[Slapstick and Old Lace]]''
|Various
|Sketch show, 7 episodes
|ATV
|-
|1972
|''The Charlie Drake Comedy Hour''
|Various
|Sketch Special, 1 episode
|Thames
|-
|1976
|''[[Meet Peters & Lee]]''
|Self
|Variety
|ATV
|-
|1979
|[[The Plank (1979 film)|''The Plank'']]
|The Delivery Man
|Short film
|[[Thames Television|Thames]]
|-
|1980
|''[[Rhubarb Rhubarb|Rhubarb, Rhubarb]]''
|Golf Club Pro
|Short film
|Thames
|-
|1985
|''[[Masterpiece (TV series)|Masterpiece Theatre]]'': ''[[Bleak House (1985 TV serial)|Bleak House]]''
|Smallweed
|Drama serial
|BBC
|-
|1988
|''Ten Great Writers of the Modern World'', [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]'s ''[[Crime and Punishment]]''
|Marmeladov
|Documentary
|[[London Weekend Television|LWT]]
|-
|1988
|''Mr. H Is Late''
|Short Delivery Man
|Short film
|Thames
|-
|1991
|[[Endgame (play)|''Endgame'']] by [[Samuel Beckett]]
|Nagg
|Play
|BBC
|-
|1991
|''[[Screen One]]'', "Filipina Dreamgirls"
|Lionel
|Play
|BBC
|-
|1995
|''[[99-1]]'', "Dice"
|Freddie Windsor
|Crime series
|[[Carlton Television|Carlton]]
|}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*{{IMDb name|0236867}}
*{{British Comedy Guide|people|charlie_drake}}
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1039164/index.html Bio at Screenonline.com]
*[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p186223/biography|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Charlie}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Southwark]]
[[Category:Butlins Redcoats]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
[[Category:20th-century English singers]]
[[Category:British novelty song performers]]
[[Category:English comedy musicians]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Southwark]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:People from Elephant and Castle]]