Showbiz legend who carried on working until the last Minute
The kindest and most generous person I’ve ever worked with
had to be sharp and funny to get on. He did just that and stayed in Glasgow throughout the Second World War, his attempt to join the Merchant Navy thwarted by ill health.
While in Scotland he auditioned on the Carroll Lewis Discovery Show, a radio talent contest, and his impressions got him small gigs in Glasgow.
After the war, he left his job and announced to his family that he was going to be an actor. He recalled: “They said I was mad. But I bought a copy of The Stage and wrote to everyone. One or two little jobs came in and then I got my first part in a West End show.”
That was in 1945 and after performing with a touring theatre company he became resident comedian at the risque Windmill Theatre in London, while still taking on other parts in the West End.
Dyslexic, he had an impressively good memory, which helped as he took on dozens of acting roles. He said: “I had to learn a part in a new play each day during the week, before doing another play that night.”
He starred as a straight man with comic Arthur Haynes in his ITV show in the early 1960s, and had regular skits on The Benny Hill Show.
He appeared in many British
GRAHAM NORTON CHAT SHOW PAYS TRIBUTE
With Denise & Suzy
AWARD With wife Ann and OBE in 2004 comedy films in the 1950s and 60s, and returned to the West End in 1967, this time as the star of Boeing-Boeing.
It was a role that he first declared a “disaster” which would be the one that made him a national treasure.
In 1967, Nicholas agreed to chair the pilot of new Radio 4 panel show, Just A Minute, created by Ian Messiter, but only on the understanding that, if the BBC decided to commission it, he would join the panel.
He said the pilot “just fell apart”, and was amazed when BBC
FINAL PHOTO bosses decided to give it a go, but only if Nicholas stayed as host.
He later said: “They said the only thing they liked about the pilot was me. I said, ‘But I was awful’. But you don’t turn down a good job in showbusiness, so I said OK.”
From 1971 to 1983, he hosted the Sale of the Century game show.
With its opening line, “And now from Norwich... it’s the quiz of the week”, it was initially intended only for the Anglia region, but by 1975 it was being broadcast nationally by ITV with ratings of 21 million viewers.
Nicholas, who wed second wife Ann Reynolds in 1995, and has two children Suzy and Justin from his first marriage to Denise Bryer, also had guest roles in Doctor Who, children’s series Bodger and Badger, as well as a cross-dressing role in a touring production of The Rocky Horror Show.
He was made an OBE in 2004 and promoted to a CBE in 2014.
Last year, he was still chairing Just A Minute, keeping up with comics Paul Merton and Stephen Fry. He said:
“It’s why I’m still going strong – I’m using my brain actively all the time.”
He also performed his Happy Hour show at the Edinburgh Festival last year – for the 17th year running.
He was given a Broadcasting Press Guild award for his outstanding contribution to broadcasting.
Stephen Fry, 62, paid tribute, tweeting: “He ruled Just A Minute for Just a Lifetime. A stunning achievement: never scripted, always immaculate.” Gyles Brandreth, 71, another Just A Minute panellist, said: “He was simply the best.”
And chat host Graham Norton, 56, said: “Nicholas Parson was truly the kindest and most generous person I’ve ever worked with. His continued delight at being part of showbusiness should be an inspiration to us all.”
BBC director general Tony Hall said: “No one deserves to be called a broadcasting legend more. His charm, inventive intellect and ability to create laughs were unsurpassed.”