Cheesy chimp is champ of comedy
Richard: I’m more forgetful since accident
THIS close-up of a cheeky chimp is comedy gold.
The perky primate was just one of a host of hilarious creatures who feature in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2020. Also starring were a giraffe drinking water in Onguma, Namibia, and an upside down long-eared owl in Beemster, Netherlands.
ONE Foot in the Grave star Richard Wilson has opened up about his memory being “destroyed a bit” after a fall in which he nearly died.
The 84-year-old Scot described how he hit his head after suffering a heart attack in 2016 – and he is still suffering the after-effects now.
He said: “I do get quite tired about not being able to walk as I used to and having to use a stick but that is frustration more than grumpiness. The same goes for my memory, which has got worse since I had a heart attack four years ago in Hampstead, where I live.
“I fell off a small balcony while I was waiting to meet a writer for coffee. As I did so, I hit my head, which caused a bleed in the brain. That’s why my memory has been destroyed a bit. As a result, I’m more forgetful – but not more grumpy.”
Wilson, from Greenock, played the cantankerous Victor Meldrew in the popular show between 1990 and 2000, winning a Bafta for best light entertainment performance in 1992 and 1994.
But in real life, he says he has toned down his grumpiness after a run-in with youths in London’s Regent’s Park.
He told The Oldie magazine: “A couple of years ago, I pointed out to a young fellow on a bicycle that it was against the rules and he shouted, ‘Shut up, you old c***’. I was frightened. I said to myself, ‘I had better not do that any more’.”
In 2000, writer David Renwick killed off Victor in a hit and run.
Talking about getting killed off, he said: “David said he was thinking of killing Victor off and wondered how I felt about that.
“I said, ‘Yeah, kill him.’ I was fed up of thinking of new ways of being grumpy.”