Ronnie Barker

Ronald William George Barker was born on 25 September 1929 in Bedford and died of heart failure on 3 October 2005 at the age of 76. He worked as an English actor, comedian, and writer, best remembered for his appearances in British comedy television programmes including *The Frost Report*, *The Two Ronnies*, *Porridge*, and *Open All Hours*.

Barker left school early and trained briefly as an architect before quitting after six months. He then took a job as a bank clerk at the Westminster Bank, replacing his sister Vera, who had left to become a nurse. While still at the bank, he began acting in amateur dramatics in Oxford, initially viewing the hobby as a way to meet women. After 18 months of balancing acting and stage management with his banking work, he quit to become a professional actor, a decision his father opposed.

He failed to gain entry to the Young Vic School but joined the Aylesbury Repertory Company, starting as an assistant to the assistant stage manager on a wage of £2.10s a week. His professional debut came on 15 November 1948, playing Lieutenant Spicer in J. M. Barrie’s *Quality Street*. By his third role, as the chauffeur Charles in *Miranda*, he realised he wanted to focus on comedy, later stating that his mission was to make people laugh rather than take on serious parts like Hamlet or Richard II. The Aylesbury company eventually closed, and after a brief stint in Rhyl, Barker worked as a hospital porter at Wingfield Hospital, where he adopted the persona of “Charlie” to cope with the distress of caring for polio patients. He also performed comedy routines with a male nurse for the patients. He later joined the Mime Theatre Company, which folded in Penzance, before returning to Oxford and working in Bramhall for the Famous Players.

Barker found his first real success at the Oxford Playhouse and in West End productions, including Tom Stoppard’s *The Real Inspector Hound*. During this period he appeared in several BBC radio and television comedies, most notably the radio sitcom *The Navy Lark*. His television breakthrough came with David Frost’s satirical sketch series *The Frost Report* (1966–67), where he worked alongside John Cleese and Ronnie Corbett, the latter becoming his long-time comedy partner. He joined Frost’s production company and starred in several ITV shows in the late 1960s.

After returning to the BBC in the early 1970s, Barker and Corbett found major success with the sketch show *The Two Ronnies* (1971–87). Barker also maintained a solo career, starring as inmate Norman Stanley Fletcher in the sitcom *Porridge* (1974–77) and its sequel *Going Straight* (1978), and as shopkeeper Arkwright in *Open All Hours* (1976–85). He wrote comedy under his own name, but after 1968 he often used pseudonyms—most notably “Gerald Wiley”—to avoid having his writing talent judged prematurely. He won a BAFTA for best light entertainment performance four times, received other awards, and was appointed an OBE in 1978.

Later sitcoms, such as *The Magnificent Evans* (1984) and *Clarence* (1988), were less successful, and Barker retired in December 1987. The following year he opened an antiques shop with his wife, Joy. After 1999, he took on smaller, non-comic film roles. He died of heart failure on 3 October 2005, aged 76.

Barker was born at 70 Garfield Street, Bedford, the only son of Leonard William Barker (known as “Tim”) and Edith Eleanor Carter (known as “Sis”). His elder sister Vera was born in 1926, and his younger sister Eileen in 1933. His father worked as a clerk for Shell-Mex, and when Barker was four the family moved to Church Cowley Road in Cowley, Oxfordshire. Biographer Bob McCabe described Barker’s childhood as happy, with no family tensions beyond the occasional wet sock. As a child, Barker enjoyed dressing up—especially in his father’s pierrot outfit—and loved films, comics, and animals. He developed a passion for theatre, often attending plays with his family. The first play he saw was *Cottage to Let*, and he once skipped school to see Laurence Olivier in *Henry V*. He frequently waited outside stage doors for autographs, his first coming from actress Celia Johnson.

He grew up in the Florence Park area of Oxford, attending Donnington Junior School and then the City of Oxford High School for Boys. His chemistry textbook had previously been used by T. E. Lawrence. He discovered his talent for humour at school and developed his musical ability singing in the choir at St James’s, his local church. He entered the sixth form a year early after gaining the School Certificate, but left as soon as he could, feeling the material would be useless to him later.