Well-loved comedian, gag-writer and panel game stalwart
Barry Cryer 1935-2022
As well as appearing on countless TV and radio panel games, Barry Cryer, who has died aged 86, wrote jokes for almost every British comedian who came to prominence in the second half of the 20th century. Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd, Dick Emery, Jasper Carrott, Mike Yarwood and Kenny Everett were just some of the comics made funnier by Cryer’s wit and invention. One of his own favourite sketches was for an episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show featuring a guest appearance by Dame Vera Lynn, said The Times. When Ernie Wise gave the Forces Sweetheart an effusive introduction and asked her what she planned to sing, Cryer had her reply: “Sing? I thought I was just a guest.” A panic-stricken Ernie then turned to Eric Morecambe. “Vera doesn’t know we want her to sing. How can we get her to sing?” “Short of starting another war, I’ve no idea, sunshine,” came Eric’s perfectly timed, but also perfectly scripted retort.
A fixture in the comedy world for decades, Cryer was loved and admired by young comics as well as those from his own generation. Yet “in looks and offstage manner”, he was the kind of “nondescript bloke you might find behind the counter at a DIY centre”, said The Guardian. He would recall that after he’d started to appear on TV, a man had come up to him and asked for his autograph. “Of course,” he replied. “Leave it out,” said the man. “You didn’t think I was serious?” Cryer then got into a taxi and told the cabbie what had transpired. “Oh dear,” the driver chuckled. “Imagine that happening to someone well known!”
Barry Cryer was born in Leeds in 1935. His father John, an accountant, died when he was five, leaving him to be brought up by his mother, Jean. He started performing at school, where his leaving report read: “He must learn that glibness is no substitute for knowledge.” He then studied English literature at Leeds University, but he spent more time on student theatricals than on his studies, and after a year he dropped out to work in revue. In 1957, he moved to London and was given a slot at the Windmill Theatre in Soho, telling jokes between the nude acts. It was a tough gig, made worse by his eczema, which became so severe he was frequently hospitalised.
In 1960, he decided to focus on writing. He started out supplying gags to Danny La Rue for his nightclub. Then in 1964, he met David Frost, and started work on The Frost Report.
In the next 20 years, he wrote (usually with a partner) for almost all the comedy stars of the era. He devised the news desk format for The
Two Ronnies, and wrote two of Morecambe and Wise’s Christmas specials. In 1977, he began his four-decade-long stint as a panellist on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue .On TV, he was a regular on Blankety Blank, and in 1991 he went on a sell-out tour with Willie Rushton with a show called Two Old Farts in
the Night. More recently, he had become a stalwart of The Oldie magazine’s lunches. Affable, generous and entirely un-starry, Cryer loved to entertain anyone: he was just as happy to chat to the staff at events as he was mingling with the other celebrities.
Cryer was married for 60 years to Theresa “Terry” Donovan, a singer, with whom he had four children. She was, he admitted, often infuriated by his “comedy reflex” – the instinct to crack jokes to avoid discussing serious issues. He claimed that it was having little in common that had kept them together. “I once said to her, ‘We disagree about everything,’ and she replied, ‘No, we don’t!’”. His family reported that as he lay dying in hospital, he told his final joke to a nurse.