Eric Barker

At 78 years old, Eric Barker has this physical status:

Eric Leslie Barker (12 February 1912 – June 1990) was an English comedian.

He is best known for his appearances in the famous British Carry On films, but he appeared in the early films in the series, apart from appearing in Carry On Emmannuelle in 1978.

Personal life

Barker married Pearl Hackney (28 October 1916 – 18 September 2009), with whom he frequently worked, though she also had a comedy career of her own. Petronella Barker, their daughter, was born in 1942 and appeared in films and television from 1964 to 1983.

Barker was the star of British television show This Is Your Life in 1971.

Barker died in Canterbury, Kent, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Stalisfield Green, near Faversham, where he had lived for many years.

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Career

Eric Barker was born in Thornton Heath, London, on February 20, 1912, the youngest of three children. He was born in Croydon, Surrey, and was educated at Whitgift School. He joined his father's newspaper dealers' business in the area but then had to concentrate entirely on writing. When he was eighteen, his first book, The Watch Hunt, was published. He wrote and performed short stories and plays, appeared in the latter himself, and then moved to writing and performing lyrics, revues, and sketches for stage and radio.

He later became one of the most well-known faces in British comedy in his time. Barker got his second shot at show business after being part of the armed forces radio show Merry Go Round, which he helped write. After the war, the display continued, alternated between Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy shows. With Barker and his partner, actress Pearl Hackney, the Navy show was called Waterlogged Spa. Audiences were taken aback by his "Steady Barker" catchphrase and verbal stumbling over words beginning with the letter "h". Barker's popularity culminated in his appearance in other radio shows, where he gained a large following thanks to his versatility at doing voices.

He migrated to television and films in the 1950s. He wrote and appeared on television in The Eric Barker Half-Hour, a comedy sketch comedy on BBC, from Eric Barker's show. Nicholas Parsons and Deryck Guyler, as well as his wife, appeared on the show. Between 1951 and 1953, the show ran for three series (21 episodes) and was broadcast on Wednesdays around 9.00 p.m. Barker's success was sorely that it led to him writing his autobiography Steady Barker in 1956.

He had already appeared in nine films, including Carry On London, a 45-minute crime short of 1937, when he was named "Most Promising Newcomer" for his role as a barrister's clerk in the film Brothers in Law (1957). The award earned more film work over the next 20 years, including three St Trinians films and four in the classic Carry On British comedy film series. He found his niche in playing variations on the busybody sticking his nose in everyone's company, or as some authority figure, Carry On Constable (1960) being a good example. He was the first actor to appear in Carry On Sergeant, 1958, and Carry On Films' last film, Carry On Films, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor. In Carry On Spying (1964), Barker's other Carry On Spying appearance was made.

He appeared in the ITC's film "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" in the same year (1964). Barker stretched his "authoritarian busybody" persona to the extreme, with the added bonus that Mr. Lovegrove was solely interested in spy John Drake's semi-unconscious mind after crash causing one of the first ambulance crews attending Drake's death.

Barker wrote Sea Breezes and Day Gone By under his own name in 1933, as well as Golden Gimmick, which were both published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1958. Barker had "a natural gift for humour writing," P. G. Wodehouse writes.

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