Ronald Balfour Corbett, OBE (born December 4, 1930 in Edinburgh), is a comedian
and actor who is best known as one of legendary double act The Two Ronnies.
His first job was with the Ministry of Agriculture which was followed by his stint of
National Service with the RAF. After completing his national srvice he moved to London
to pursue his ambition to be on the stage.
Starting Out
He appeared in Crackerjack in its early days during the 1950s and played a minor part
in the original version of the James Bond film "Casino Royale".
During the 1960s he appeared in cabaret at Winston's, Danny La Rue's Mayfair nightclub.
This was very much the 'in' place at the time and it was here that Corbett was first seen
by David Frost who asked him to appear in The Frost Report.
The Frost report
It was in The Frost Report (1966-1967) that Corbett first worked with Ronnie Barker.
The show was a combination of satirical monologues, sketches and music.
The two Rons, Corbett and Barker appeared with John Cleese in one of the most famous comedy sketches in British television history
, repeated to this day. Cleese, Barker and Corbett are standing in line abreast facing
the camera with Cleese (tall, leftmost) representing the Upper Class, Barker (average height,
in the middle) representing the Middle Class and Corbett (short, rightmost) representing
the Working Class. Each of them relates what they think of the other classes, starting each part "I look down on him" "I look up at him"
and what they get out of the class system while turning their head to look at the object
of their remark. Corbett got the punchline: "I get a pain in the back of my neck".
Continuing his work with Frost, Corbett starred in No - that's me over here,
a sitcom written by fellow Frost Report refugees Barry Cryer, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle
(ITV 1967-1970).
Cryer and Chapman then wrote two follow-up series: Now Look Here (BBC 1971-1973) and
The Prince of Denmark (BBC 1974).
Corbett also appeared in Frost on Sunday (ITV 1968) and hosted The Corbett Follies (ITV 1969).
Then came the show that made Ronnie Corbett a household name (if he wasn't already) and the inspiration of many modern comedians.
The Two Ronnies
His BBC television comedy sketch show partnership with Ronnie Barker, The Two Ronnies, lasted from 1971 to 1987.
This show saw both Barker and Corbett performing various comedy sketches and musical numbers and was much loved by the British public.
Some sketches ran into mini series of their own such as the "Phantom Raspberry Blower" and "The Worm that Turned".
In the middle of the show, Corbett would present a lengthy monologue.
He sat (and figetted) in a large leather chair (emphasising his small size), usually wearing
a golfing V-neck sweater, he took several minutes to tell a simple joke, often going of on tangents allowing himself to lose
his train of thought.
Although seemingly improvised, these were tightly scripted affairs and included many laughs of their own.
After the Two Ronnies
His best known role away from The Two Ronnies is as Timothy Lumsden in the sitcom Sorry,
with its catchphrase "Language Timothy!".
He also hosted the quiz show Child's Play and played Griselda in a television production
of Cinderella in 2000.
His armchair monologue routines were revived for a weekly guest appearance in a stand-up show hosted by Ben Elton, a lifelong fan.
At 5'1" tall (1.53m) Corbett's lack of height frequently crop up in his self-depreciating humour, he is though a comedy Giant!
Recent Ronnie
In 2005 Corbett was re-united on screen with Ronnie Barker for a series of shows called The Two Ronnies Sketchbook,
comprising selections of classic comedy sketches from their original series with original
linking material. Also in 2005 Corbett appeared with comedian Peter Kay,
another huge fan, in the spoof music video for the number 1 single 'Is This the Way to Amarillo?'
. Corbett infamously falling over in the video.
He recently performed in Childrens Party At The Palace as Mr. Tibbs, the Queens butler,for Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday.
In 2006, he played a starred as hyper-realised cocaine fiend version of himself in Ricky Gervais's "Extras",
caught taking drugs at the BAFTA Awards. He also appeared in "Little Britain Abroad" being molested by Bubbles.
Off Stage Ronnie
Corbett married the actress and dancer Anne Hart in 1965 with whom he has two children, the actresses Emma Corbett and Sophie Corbett
and has lived for many years in Shirley, Croydon.
Ronnie likes to play golf, and is friends with Alice Cooper (the odd couple appeared in Television advert together).
