Eddie Large, best known as one half of the comedy duo Little and Large, has died aged 78 after contracting coronavirus.
The Glasgow-born, Manchester-raised comedian who had been in hospital with heart failure, found huge fame alongside Syd Little in the 1970s and 80s. Millions of TV viewers watched the pair.
Large had the comic talent -Sid was the straight man and got most the jokes at his expense. It was inevitable he would get fed up at some point.
Morecambe and Wise ( and the comparisons should end there ) could have also gone that way but were smarter. Eric was the natural comic but Ernie got his fair share by creating various bits of business –the “wig” , the plays wot he wrote , his comedy avarice and vanity. Also Earnie got his own back from time to time and both of them participated equally in certain foolery–both them comedy slagging Des O’Connor while he is standing behind them. That made them more of a double act rather than a comic and straight man.
Speaking of comics and Covid-19, anyone else in stitches at our Health Secretary’s regular daily news briefings – working title “Hancocks Half Hour”?
Paul Chuckle of the Chuckle Brothers has it too.
Are Cannon and Ball still OK or is this really the funnycaust
I was listening to David Spiegelhalter’s podcast yesterday and he had an interesting stat, with all the usual caveats at this stage, he reckoned that when you catch the virus you’re 15x more likely to die during the infection period than you would be under normal circumstances. That’s why we’re seeing the age related curve we are seeing.
Don’t worry, I’m still here.
. . . or is this really the funnycaust
You left out an “un” there.
Ok, I’ll rephrase that:
Is this really the funnycaustun?
Steve–one of the Chuckle Brothers already died last year I think.
“one of the Chuckle Brothers already died last year I think.”
Barry in Aug ’18 (the one you’re probably thinking of)
Jimmy in Jul ’19
Brian and Paul (the other one you’re probably, now, thinking of) are still alive.
We’re talking about comedians, Marcus. You can sit this one out.
CV might have pushed him over the edge. Might not. Hyper media makes it difficult to decipher. Coronavirus is today’s focus. Had Mr Large died from his heart condition, it likely would not have been reported. I.e., Guardian doesn’t care about Little, they care about all things coronavirus.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/01/nyc-health-department-overwhelming-majority-of-coronavirus-deaths-involve-underlying-conditions/
He was 78, fat and with a bad heart. Likely with rather than from coro.
@Marcus Brigstocke: time to fuck off, then.
Talking about comdey, Shooting Stars and Roxy Music. Their Sunderland Film Review is very good too.
https://youtu.be/88am-ZnQ5Yc
https://youtu.be/AZzaYz80QDA
BBC target their comedy for the Finnish market, Jussi? I’d always wondered. It’s certainly not for domestic consumption.
In Finland we had them all BBC comedies, London Weekend Television, etc,but not the most Northern ones because of regional accents and translation into subtitles difficulties. But we had Auf wiedersehn and Bread. Del boy stuff I can’t remember so probably not. Hale and Pace, not 9 o’clock, etc, we had all of them with a few exceptions. Non-comedy too: Onedin line, Makepeace, Cracker, Polark, even Follyfoot and Saphire and Steel.
And we had Bouquet of barbed wire (very risque!), Pennies from heaven and lipstick in your collar.
Talking about late Frank Finlay, one of my top 5 actors, we also had Casanova. And I, Galigula.
Frank Finlay was exceptional, nice documentary here.
https://youtu.be/cfcIOxjBgz4
Sorry for inflicting Dempsey and Makepiece on you Jussi.
Thanks for the Frank Finlay programme.
I think I saw Ken Russell in the titles so perhaps he was in another show. I once was in a pub and he was at the bar. I thought about going up and pitching him my idea for a Ken Russell martial arts movie. But I decided to let him have his pint in peace.
I think that it was TV critic Nina Myskow who called D and M “Whoopsie and Dingbat”. Glynis Barber also used to be in Blakes 7, lucky that it was still low-res telly in those days. She had terrible skin that had to be caked in make-up.
It’s remarkable to day to think how much shagging there was on 1970s TV. Amazingly Bouquet of Barbed Wire was watched by my whole family, usually to catcalls at poor old Frank Finlay’s befuddled character, who was endlessly trying to top himself with booze and sleeping tablets.
“Ken Russell martial arts movie”
It could have one of those massive gang fights in it with one gang naked and the other dressed as women. A transvestite kung fu film….
To recycle a Goodies joke it could be called
Enter with Drag on
Apparently Oliver Reed in his naked persona once climbed up a Fullers pub chimney in Dorking at Christmas day.
BraveFart
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases….
Jussi
When I lived in Finland they were showing The Fast Show. My younger colleagues would quote catchphrases at me and get disappointed when I hadn’t a clue what they were on about.
Brilliant by Jussi
And I, Galigula.
I remember Dr. Finlay’s Book Case, but that might have been on the radio.
“With, not of” seems to be the norm. The vast majority of deaths so far are people who already had pretty serious problems before the WuFlu came along.
Top 5 British actors?
I like Michael Rennie, Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Laurence Olivier.
Given he’d had heart problems for nearly 30 years and had a heart transplant 18 years ago, the media should really be celebrating that he lived so long thanks to medical successes rather than dwelling on the nature of his death.
Odd that no one mentions Faulty Towers, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Yes, Minister….