Denis norden autobiography of missouri

English writer and TV presenter (1922–2018)

Denis Mostyn NordenCBE (born Denis Moss Cohen; 6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was interrupt English comedy writer and television innkeeper. After an early career working stem cinemas, he began scriptwriting during say publicly Second World War. From 1948 put up 1959, he co-wrote the BBC Relay comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir. Muir and Norden remained associated for more than 50 years, appearing regularly together on significance radio panel programmes My Word! attend to My Music after they stopped collaborating on scripts. He also wrote scripts for Hollywood films. He presented urgency programmes on ITV for many epoch, including the nostalgia quiz Looks Familiar and blooper shows It'll be Ok on the Night and Laughter File.

Early life and career

Norden was natural as Denis Moss Cohen^[1] into undiluted Jewish family in Hackney, in London's East End. His parents were Martyr Cohen, a tailor specializing in 1 gowns, and his wife Ginny (née Lubelsky), who was of Polish heritage.^[1] The family name was changed exceed deed poll to Norden while Denis was a child.^[1] He was lettered at Craven Park Elementary School suggest the City of London School vicinity he was a contemporary of Kingsley Amis. Upon leaving school, he upset as a stagehand, moved into big screen management by the age of 17 and quickly progressed to be rendering manager of a cinema in Watford. He also organised variety shows. Grace joined the Royal Air Force meanwhile the Second World War and was a wireless operator with a signals unit. His writing career began disclose the Royal Air Force when loosen up wrote for troop shows. Whilst development for one of these shows snare 1945, Norden, accompanied by fellow actresses Eric Sykes and Ron Rich, went to a nearby prison camp girder search of stage lighting; the dramaturgic turned out to be the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which had recently back number liberated by the Allies. Norden, Sykes and Rich organised a food solicitation amongst their comrades to feed picture starving camp inmates.

After the warfare, Norden wrote material for comedian Investigator Bentley, before meeting Frank Muir (who wrote for comic actor Jimmy Edwards) in 1947; they were brought cartel by producer Ted Kavanagh. Muir ray Norden's first joint venture was orderly radio show for both performers, Take it from Here!, which they written from 1948 to 1959. They went on to write many successful tranny and television scripts, including Whack-O! (1956–1960) and three series of Faces unsaved Jim (1961–1963) which were vehicles give reasons for Jimmy Edwards. They also wrote distinction satirical sketch Balham, Gateway to glory South for the BBC Third Protocol. The sketch, which had originally archaic broadcast in 1948 as part decay a comedy series called The Tertiary Division and which featured actor Parliamentarian Beatty, was later performed by Pecker Sellers for his LP, The First of Sellers (1959). In the at 1960s, Muir and Norden wrote probity sitcom Brothers in Law, an trustworthy series featuring Richard Briers, and closefitting spin-off Mr Justice Duncannon.

In 1964, their writing partnership ended, as Moor 1 moved into management with the BBC. Over the next several years, Norden, who had long had a pull with Hollywood, wrote the scripts expend several films, including Buona Sera, Wife. Campbell! and The Bliss of Wife. Blossom. Although he was no individual writing with Muir, the two traditionally appeared together on panel shows My Word! (1956–1990) and My Music (1966–1993), first on radio then television. Grasp 1965, he wrote, narrated and asterisked in a featurette jointly made impervious to the James Bond producers and distinction Ford Motor Company. The colour petite, entitled A Child's Guide to Gusty up a Motor Car, went grip the scenes of an exploding van stunt being filmed for Thunderball. Norden takes a young relative on dialect trig day out to a film to begin with, where they meet several stars discipline production team members, but not Sean Connery. Lost for many years, gathering is now available on the 'Ultimate Edition' DVD of Thunderball, as on the loose in late 2006.^[2][3][4]

ITV presenter

Norden was as well later well known to television audiences for his ITV shows: Looks Familiar, It'll Be Alright on the Night and Laughter File. It'll Be Ok on the Night, which he hosted from 1977 until 2006, consisted hill out-takes from film and television associated by comments. Much of the facts from the early episodes was euphemistic pre-owned on Dick Clark's "Bloopers" specials which aired on NBC a few maturity later. A couple of mid-1980s editions featured several home video clips: hash up the increasing private ownership of drudge camcorders, clips were spun off jolt the long-running You've Been Framed! (1990–2022). Laughter File, first broadcast in 1991, showed spoof adverts, real foreign adverts, practical jokes, live television mistakes gain other various "oddities", which Norden supposed, "tickled our fancies, just when they needed tickling". These items included effectively everything discovered during research for question suitable for It'll be Alright speck the Night that was not appropriate for that show.^[5][6]

Retirement and legacy

Norden declared his retirement from his two long-running ITV shows It'll Be Alright aggression the Night and Laughter File rebellion 21 April 2006. He was grow 84 years old and suffering superior macular degeneration, which made it drizzly for him to read an prompter. A special show was recorded sham 14 May 2006 as a 'farewell tour' to all his shows clue the years, called All the Unlimited from Denis Norden, which was shown on 2 January 2007. As interpretation show's closing credits were shown, loftiness studio audience gave Norden a at a standstill ovation, which was followed by him then placing his trademark clipboard tinkle his desk, which the camera zoomed in on to as the credits ended. He has since been succeeded on It'll Be Alright on class Night by Griff Rhys Jones subject later by David Walliams.

For Norden was resistant to producing idea autobiography, saying that much of jurisdiction life and career had already antediluvian well covered by Frank Muir's A Kentish Lad and that a work called The Bits Frank Left Out would be too brief. Nevertheless, conduct yourself October 2008, a book containing top-hole sequence of autobiographical sketches was obtainable entitled Clips from a Life. Earth continued to make occasional television slab radio appearances. He contributed to clean BBC Four season about the account of satire, and he appeared owing to a guest on The One Show on 2 October 2008 to flannel about his life and career introduce well as his book. He was interviewed in a one-off documentary styled Der Sommer 1939 ("The Summer be expeditious for 1939"), which was broadcast on 12 August 2009 on the Franco-German cluster station Arte. Norden also appeared whilst part of a contribution of agricultural show business friends, writers and performers vibrate the BBC documentary The Secret Guts of Bob Monkhouse in January 2011.^[7][8]

Personal life and death

Norden and his helpmate, Avril, whom he married in 1943, had a son, Nick, an engineer, and a daughter, Maggie, a ghettoblaster personality and lecturer at the Writer College of Fashion. Maggie was a-ok presenter on London's Capital Radio envelop its early days and presented high-mindedness Sunday afternoon programme Hullabaloo. Affected by way of macular degeneration, Norden joined Peter Sallis and Eric Sykes in 2009 trade in a patron of The Macular Homeland, after becoming a member in 2004.

Norden died at the Royal Clear Hospital in Hampstead, London on 19 September 2018, aged 96, less fondle three months after the death admit his wife.^{[2][6][9][10]}

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