Who is this at 0:40 in the video?

[JimN]

The confusion with Sam Costa is understandable.

I always thought that Tito Burns, Sam Costa (he had been a 1930s band singer and was by now a disc-jockey) and actor Mario Fabrizi looked very similar. They were clearly all seeking the same "look".

JN

[captainhaddock]

Yes it's Bernie Winters, one half of a comedy double act during this time with his brother Mike.
They used to run a market stall together on Norwich Market during the War.
Bernie is no longer with us, but I think Mike is....emigrated to the USA some time ago.

Kind Regards

Russ

My Mum remembers Mike Winters working on Norwich market around 1950 time. He tried to ask her out a time or two but she refused because he was a bit flash. Just think, if she had said yes, I could have been Mike Winters' son and possibly a bit better off than I am now !. Mind you, the thought of having Bernie Winters as my Uncle, I'm glad she said no.

[JimN]

This is interesting.

Donna's undoubted skill at tracking down these vintage videos (almost all of them from the ATV archive and certainly almost none of them from the BBC) must leave her bemused by the popular culture of the UK at the turn of the 1960s, and the various dramatis personae involved.

To some extent, it's possible to work some things out by intuition and logic (much as we might with things like "Hee Haw" or "Captain Kangaroo") but usually, the more esoteric references (Mike and Bernie Winters?) must stump almost anyone who wasn't there at the time. And believe me, you had to be there at the time...

JN

[donna plasky]

Thank you to everyone who replied...thanks both for sharing the information with me, and also for being so understanding. Jim, you explained my thoughts very well -- I could tell that the guy (Bernie Winters) coming through the door was someone that everybody recognised immediately, as the audience screamed with delight. But I didn't know who it was, and I didn't understand the "truck driver" reference.

Mike and Bernie Winters are names I'd heard before, but now I know who they are. In the US, we had several comedy duos like that, where one guy is the clown basically, and the other guy is the "normal" guy. There isn't much on YouTube with Mike and Bernie, but I did find the famous episode where the Beatles were on their show. Here it is, for anybody who likes the Beatles. Thanks again, everybody.

Kind regards,
Donna




Here's another one, the YouTube comments said it is Ken Dodd. I guess you'll know who that is (I'm learning).

[JimN]

Real blasts from the past.

"Big Night Out" was a Saturday evening variety show hosted by the Winters brothers (and featuring singer/dancer Lionel Blair). I think it ran intermittently for two or three years (1963/1964/1965). It was probably made at ABC Television's Teddington studios (the programme was certainly made by ABC), but in the summer, ABC also used to televise variety shows from Blackpool (a bit like the Ed Sullivan show sometimes coming from Miami) and the Beatles also appeared on that version. ABC were tethered to the north and the midlands by their two nights a week weekend television contract, despite their London roots.

The weekday provider in the north was Granada, and that clip featuring Ken Dodd is probably the oldest Beatles appearance they still have in their archive. If I recall correctly, it's from the same date that they performed (miming) in front of that Pentax camera mock-up set.

Ken was famous long before The Beatles and he continues to gig today, well into his 80s. He still lives in Liverpool and is a real hero of the area.

I saw him in pantomime at the Empire Theatre when I was about six years old. I vividly remember him singing the words of Paul Anka's Diana as "I'm so young and you're so old, All my chips are going cold".

Didn't see him again until last year, when his live stage show started at 19:00 and finished at 12:50 am...

[Iain Purdon]

Going off at a tangent. Morecambe and Wise were probably the top comedy duo of this era.

Wise: "What would we be if we weren't funny"
Morecambe: "Mike and Bernie Winters"

[Uncle Fiesta]

Till There Was You edited out George's brilliant guitar break - sacrilege.

[cockroach]

Hi Donna,

I tend to check YouTube for the reverse reason to you- I like watching clips from the old US TV shows- such as the Lawrence Welk Show- the ones featuring Neil LeVang and Buddy Merrill playing great electric guitar instrumentals on a range of Fenders!

We were quite lucky here in Australia in the past, as we had a very good selection of American and British TV shows as well as the locally produced Australian TV programmes..

Before we emigrated to Australia in 1963, I had seen most British TV and a lot of US programmes throughout the '50's and early '60's

I've had square eyes since watching the Coronation on TV in 1953!

[GoldenStreet]

Didn't see him again until last year, when his live stage show started at 19:00 and finished at 12:50 am...

Ken Dodd still has extraordinary energy and, at 85 (two weeks ago!), is more difficult to get off the stage than ever!

Still my favourite comedian.

Bill

[Moderne]

The Gee Whizz It's You clip with Mike and Bernie Winters was shown on Channel 4 in the mid 80s as part of a Cliff section edited into one of the Ready, Steady, Go repeats. I've still got it on a video somewhere in the garden shed! This was a golden era for 60s repeats on TV with The Human Jungle, The Edgar Wallace Mysteries and several old American shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Get Smart and The Fugitive plus all the mid-60s ITC shows like Randall and Hopkirk and The Champions making weekly appearances on our screens. Thousands more channels but not much on now except for The Saint on ITV4 and classy rockumentaries on BBC4.

Clive