No one wore silly costumes or did dangerous stunts like Tim. I know it hurt...because he used to cry a lot
– GOODIE BILL ODDIE’S TRIBUTE YESTERDAY
ONE of life’s true goodies, Tim Brooke-Taylor always went the extra mile to raise a laugh in a brilliant comedy career spanning over half a century.
After he died aged 79 yesterday after being diagnosed with Covid-19, friends and colleagues mourned the loss of a kind and lovable man as well as a devastatingly witty one.
Bill Oddie, 78, who starred alongside Tim and Graeme Garden, 77, in classic comedy series The Goodies, said: “Fifty years and he only got cross with me once... well maybe twice... no quite a lot actually!
“No one could wear silly costumes or do dangerous stunts like Tim.
“I know it hurt cos he used to cry a lot. Sorry Timbo. A true visual comic and a great friend.”
Graeme, who along with Tim was also a regular on long-running Radio 4 comedy show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, added: “He was a funny, sociable, generous man who was a delight to work with.”
ADORABLE
He added: “Audiences found him not only hilarious but also adorable. His loss at this dreadful time is particularly hard to bear.”
Tim took his first major steps into comedy with the prestigious Footlights at Cambridge University – dealing a blow to hopes that he would follow his solicitor father into the legal profession.
Tim was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, in 1940, a third child, born as his father served in the Home Guard – and once said he was “a mistake, as far as I can gather”.
His father died when Tim was 13 and his mother, in her 40s, got a job as a school matron before Tim went to the posh Winchester boarding school.
He read law at Pembroke College, Cambridge, but his true talent emerged with the Footlights, of which he eventually became president.
Fellow members of the dramatic society included Bill and Graeme, and future Monty Python stars John Cleese and Graham Chapman.
In fact, the much-loved Four Yorkshiremen made famous years later by Monty Python was co-written by their old Cambridge pal Tim.
Years later he teamed up with the Pythons including Michael Palin and
Peter Cook for a series of fundraisers for Amnesty International in 1978.
After Cambridge, Tim collaborated with Bill and Graeme on BBC radio comedy I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again before creating The Goodies.
With Tim playing the posh “establishment” figure in a Union Jack waistcoat, the show made the trio among the biggest TV stars of the 1970s.
They wrote and starred in the show which combined surreal sketches, slapstick and sitcom, attracting a global following.
A 1963 tour won them legions of fans in Australia and New Zealand, and they conquered America the next year with a stint on Broadway.
The Goodies ran for a decade on BBC2, then switched to ITV in the early 1980s. The three stars even made the charts with songs including Funky Gibbon.
Tim also appeared on stage, in films such as 1971’s Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory and on TV shows such as Me And My Girl, Heartbeat, One Foot in the Grave, and Agatha Christie’s Marple. But perhaps his longest association was with I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, where he appeared regularly since its conception in 1972.
He was still working on the show, recorded in theatres around the country, this year.
Pointless host Richard Osman, who appeared alongside him, said: “He was on such terrific form on the I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue tour in January. We had such fun. God bless you Tim.”
Comedian Stephen Fry said of Tim: “A hero for as long as I can remember, and – on a few golden occasions – a colleague and collaborator on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. Gentle kind, funny, wise, warm, but piercingly witty when he chose to be.”
Rory Bremner, who also worked on the show, said: “Always a Goodie, his modesty belied a huge legacy in British comedy.
“His huge list of credits is testament to his humour, his ability and timing, his kindness and dependability – a true team player – and a funny, lovely man to boot.
“We were doing Clue together in January. Big theatres, huge laughs, such joy and affection for Tim. He was an absolute delight.”
Despite always being in-demand,
modest Tim joked in 2012: “After-dinner speaking pays well, but I have made myself so expensive now that they don’t ask any more.” That was the year after he received an OBE in 2011 – despite The Goodies having poked fun at the awards. He said of the award at the time: “I’m very, very pleased and not to say a little surprised – but very pleasantly so. At first I thought it was my son trying to con me. “We used to send up the honours, the OBE in particular. It was back in the 60s and Harold Wilson was giving them away like sweets to anyone he ever met.” Comedian David Mitchell said: “He was a wonderful comedian and a really lovely man, and I feel honoured to have known and worked with him. The world has been robbed – he had years more joy to give.”
Sioned Wiliam, Radio 4’s commissioning editor for comedy, said: “Tim Brooke-Taylor had a long and distinguished career in comedy. He was charming, quickwitted and a hugely skilful comic.
“He was much loved both by our listeners and by his colleagues, and he will be sorely missed by all at Radio 4.”
Tim also wrote several books during his career in comedy, including Tim Brooke-Taylor’s Cricket Box.
Britain’s Got Talent judge David Walliams said: “I was obsessed with The Goodies as a child, the first comedy show I really loved. I queued up to get the Goodies’ autographs as a grown-up, and got to meet Tim Brooke-Taylor more recently at a party. I was in total awe, but he was so kind and generous..”
Tim is survived by wife Christine and sons Ben and Edward. Announcing his death yesterday, Tim’s agent said: “He had, of course, many fans whom he always treated cheerfully even after long and exhausting rehearsals and recordings. He was an exceptional client and a pleasure to represent. We’re grateful that we have so much of his work to view, read and listen to.
“In all his showbiz work, he has been supported by Christine, his wife.”