LEGEND BEFORE TONIGHT’S TRIBUTE SHOW
Tarby still tearful for his old pal
COMEDIAN Jimmy Tarbuck fought back tears as he told how is still struggling to cope with Sir Bruce Forsyth’s death.
Tarby, 78, said: “Bruce has left a giant hole in my life – he influenced my career tremendously and was a dear friend. I still can’t believe he has gone.
“I often go to pick up the phone to call him and then I remember he’s not there. When you lose a friend, you miss them and you miss the phone going.
“I loved hearing his stutter at the end of the phone and he would say: ‘Hello, love, it’s me – Bruce’.
“I would reply: ‘Well it couldn’t be anyone else could it!’ And he would say: ‘I don’t talk like that’ – and I would reply: ‘Yes, you bloody do talk like that!’
“Bruce was a giggler and many times we had to stop what we were doing because we couldn’t stop laughing. Our birthdays were only two weeks apart and we’d celebrate with a game of golf followed by two fingers of Bourbon and no ice... I felt terribly sad we didn’t get to do that this year.”
Jimmy has an upcoming UK tour with fellow veteran Des O’Connor, 86, and adds: “What keeps me going is I still enjoy what I do. Bruce never wanted to give it up either.” The pals met in 1963 at the London Palladium. Jimmy appears in a segment filmed at Wentworth Club – the golf course they both loved – for tonight’s BBC1 tribute to Brucie. He goes on: “It was hard going back to Wentworth as it brought back so many memories. But it also made me smile as he was so competitive and a bloody moaner. According to him he was the unluckiest golfer in the world and I will never forget one day he lost a ball in the ball wash and he couldn’t get over that. The last time I ever saw we sat there for an hour-anda-half and just talked about the fun times. He was still cracking jokes and was on great form.
“I will watch the show tonight with a Bourbon – no ice – in my hand and I will raise a toast to him... Brucie, you may be gone but you will never be forgotten.”