Very,very sad news.

For our younger members- Ronnie Barker formed one half and Ronnie Corbett was the other half.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles...e_7776575.shtml

Mr Barker was a highly intelligent,witty,multi-talented and very clever fellow indeed.

A sad loss

Will always remember the famous Fork Handles / Four Candles sketch, and of course Ronnie B in Porridge and Open All Hours.

Yes a very talented man

Yes and the brilliant Mastermind sketch. This also shows his amazing sense of humour:

That article was so funny. Such a sad loss.He will be greatly missed.

RIP,Ronnie.

Brilliant brilliant guy, and so versatile and unassuming.
I'm really sad. He was a shining light among tv actors and comedians.

I loved him in just about anything he did.

Great link Boo.

Had to laugh at this one!

"There was a strange happening during a performance of Elgar's Sea Pictures at a concert hall in Bermuda tonight, when the man playing the triangle disappeared."

Who could forget the Phantom Raspberry blower? I think Spike Milligan did the honours....another sadly missed gentleman.

Hehe, quite amusing!
Did you see this one: "We'll continue our investigation into the political beliefs of nudists. We've already noticed a definite swing to the left."

This has to be my favourite line of that Pismronounciation article: "Sometimes, you get stuck on one letter, such as wubbleyou. And I said, 'Well, I've got a tin of woup, a woucumber, two packets of wheese and a walliflower'.

Thanks Boo! It's a good one.
I'm sitting here laughing and crying all at the same time.

I've got a couple of videos - and the book of Ronnie's scripts, which I was given as an (inspired) pressie a few Christmases ago. They are all there - Minister for Communications, Dr Spooner, Fork-'andles, The Optician sketch etc etc.

Sigh.

Yes Maggie I'm shedding a few tears too.

well im a younger member and I know who he was - he's a legend! Two Ronnies used to be really funny when they put repeats on TV!




i loved that one so much!!

I very much doubt that anyone who saw it will ever remember the sheer oddness of a grown man running around walls blowing rasberries....

Very sad news, Ronnie was an absolute legend...all i can hope is that they continue to show two ronnie's sketches on TV so that the humour will still reach people

Here is another link with tributes from various members of the public

... Ronnie as the news reader battling with reading the news from a document typed with a faulty typewriter - all the E's came out as O's...

the Quoon ... a Scotsman with a wooden log who had a sox-change operation ...

Thats really sad news. I liked him in Open All Hours - he was so f-f-f-f-funny!

Spike certainly wrote it.

Ronnie Barker did the right thing and retired at the height of his career. The two Ronnies were probably one of the best (if not the best) double acts of the 60's/70's/80's my childhood is disappearing!

I am starting to feel so old.

Who remembers "Going Straight"!

and it's goodnight from him...

Yes, he was a good comedian. A very talented performer and writer.

Well said, and very true!

I love those sketches!!

did anyone see the repeats a few months ago on the TV?

"Best not get the hiccups or they'll fall out!"

"What?!"

"I said I've just got the cricket score, they're all out!"

Heard it on the radio before...



Such sad news though he will be missed.

I remember the Four Candles sketch but when I read the script below it still makes me laugh every time. So here it is. I know it's long but I think it's brilliant.


Comedy classic: The Four Candles sketch

An old ironmonger’s shop. A shop that sells everything — garden equipment, ladies’ tights, builders’ supplies, mousetraps — everything. A long counter up and down stage. A door to the back of the shop up left. The back wall also has a counter. Lots of drawers and cupboards up high, so that Corbett has to get a ladder to get some of the goods that Barker orders. RC is serving a woman with a toilet roll. He is not too bright.

Ronnie Corbett: There you are. Mind how you go.

(Woman exits. RB enters — a workman. Not too bright either.) Yes, sir?

Ronnie Barker: Four candles?

RC: Four candles? Yes, sir. (He gets four candles from a drawer.) There you are.

RB: No, fork handles.

RC: Four candles, That’s four candles!

RB: No, fork handles — handles for forks.

RC: Oh, fork handles. (He gets a garden fork handle from the back of the shop.) Anything else?

RB: (Looks at his list.) Got any plugs?

RC: What sort of plugs?

RB: Bathroom — rubber one.

(RC gets box of bath plugs, holds up two different sizes.)

RC: What size?

RB: Thirteen amp!

RC: Oh, electric plugs! (Gets electric plug from drawer.) What else?

RB: Saw tips.

RC: Saw tips? What you want, ointment?

RB: No, tips to cover the saw.

RC: Oh. No, we ain’t got any.

RB: Oh. Got any hoes?

RC: Hoes? Yeah. (He gets a garden hoe from the garden department.)

RB: No — hose.

RC: Oh, hose. I thought you meant hoes. (He gets a roll of garden hose.)

RB: No, hose.

RC: (Gives him a dirty look.) What hose? (He gets a packet of ladies’ tights from a display stand.) Pantie-hose, you mean?

RB: No, ‘O’s! — letter ‘O’s — letters for the gate.

RC: Why didn’t you say so? (He gets ladder, climbs up to cupboard high up on wall, gets down box of letters.) Now, ‘O’s — here we are — two?

RB: Yeah.

RC: Right. (He takes box back up ladder and returns.) Next?

RB: Got any ‘P’s?

RC: Oh, my Gawd. Why didn’t you bleedin’ say while I’d got the box of letters down here? I’m working me guts out here climbing about all over the shop, putting things back and then gettin’ em out again. Now then. (He is back with the box.) How many — two?

RB: No — peas. Three tins of peas.

RC: You’re having me on, ain’t yer? Ain’t yer! (He gets three tins of peas.)

RB: No, I ain’t. I meant tinned peas.

RC: Right. Now what?

RB: Pumps?

RC: Pumps? ’And pumps or foot pumps?

RB: Feet.

RC: Foot pumps. Right. (He goes off, returns with foot pump.) Right.

RB: No, pumps for your feet! Brown pumps, size nine.

RC: You are having me on. I’ve had enough of this. (He gets them from drawer.) Is that the lot?

RB: Washers

RC: (Exasperated.) Windscreen washers, car washers? Dishwashers? Hair washers? Back scrubbers? Lavatory cleaners? Floor washers?

RB: Half-inch washers!

RC: Tap washers! Here, give me the list. I’m fed up with this. (He reads list and reacts.) Right! That does it. That’s the final insult. (Calls through door.) Elsie! Come and serve this customer — I’ve had enough!

(RC stalks off. Elsie enters — a big, slovenly woman with a very large bosom. She takes the list. Reads it.)

Elsie: Right, sir — what sort of knockers are you looking for?

no-one can really beat that sort of humour. i was so very upset to hear of his death. watching him on tv brings back some really great memories for me when i was younger. the mastermind sketch was hilarious. and when they made breakfast in time to music!

or am i thinking of the right sketch about breakfast?

"The search for the man who terrorizes nudist camps with a bacon slicer goes on. Inspector Lemuel Jones had a tip-off this morning, but hopes to be back on duty tomorrow."

I think that might have been one of the news items, but that was him alright!

The breakfast sketch is probably from Morcombe and Wise. Another of the great acts from that era ...

One of my favourite news items was about the man who went to a naturists' Dickens weekend.

'He had Great Expectations, but it was a Bleak House because everyone laughed at his Little Dorrit.'

I remember the news items!

Breakfast to music was great, but yes, I'm sure it was morecombe and wise.

He will be sorely missed - he was very talented. I loved his stammer in 'Open All Hours'!!! Some wonderful half-innuendos there! And he was superb as Fletcher too. (And I loved the Phantom Raspberry Blower!! Do you remember the scene about the rock - or stone - watching? Or something like that - I can't remember clearly, but it was pretty funny at the time.) And didn't he do impressions of Patrick Moore?

I saw that sketch that della mentioned. It was sad that he died.

Car Expert

Just found some wonderful quotes from the bbc -
Last Updated: Tuesday, 4 October 2005, 16:59 GMT 17:59 UK

E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Ronnie Barker's best lines
A selection of the star's finest lines, from classic shows like The Two Ronnies, Open All Hours and Porridge.
The Two Ronnies:
On a packed show tonight, we'll be talking to an out-of-work contortionist who can no longer make ends meet

Porridge:
What have I learned, Mr Mackay? Three things. One - bide your time. Two - keep your nose clean. And three - don't let the b******s grind you down



Send us your favourite Ronnie Barker line
The Two Ronnies:
The man who invented the zip fastener was today honoured with a lifetime peerage. He will now be known as the Lord of the Flies


Porridge:
Doctor: I want you to fill one of those containers for me.
Fletcher (other side of the room): What, from 'ere?

Open All Hours:
Don't just crit there siticising!


The Two Ronnies:
The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on


The Frost Report:
I look up to him because he is upper class, but I look down on him because he is lower class


The Two Ronnies:
The search for the man who terrorises nudist camps with a bacon slicer goes on. Inspector Lemuel Jones had a tip-off this morning, but hopes to be back on duty tomorrow


Porridge:
(Playing Monopoly) Would you Adam and Eve it? Go to jail!


The Two Ronnies:
Ronnie Corbett (shop assistant): There you are, four candles.
Ronnie Barker: No, fork 'andles! 'Andles for forks!

The Two Ronnies:
Ronnie Corbett: So it's good night from me...
Ronnie Barker: ...and it's good night from him. Good night!

Goodnight, and a very Crappy Histmas to you all