I interviewed Eric Sykes, who has died aged 89, in 2001 and the first thing the subeditor who received my copy said was: "I didn't know he was still alive." The legendary comedian had just filmed a straight role alongside Nicole Kidman in The Others, which demonstrated that his range was wider than people perhaps thought. But it is for comedy that Sykes will be remembered, and here is why.
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Sykes started out after the second world war writing for Frankie Howerd and the Goons but by 1960 he had his own sitcom vehicle, Sykes and A …. His unmarried twin sister was played by Hattie Jacques, but perhaps the most memorable episode was more of a solo turn, with the bumbling star getting his toe stuck in the bath tap.
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In 1967, Sykes teamed up with chum Tommy Cooper to play two incompetent workmen in The Plank, an almost wordless slapstick special. A loving homage to the silent movie era, it was also up there with the work of the French physical clown Jacques Tati. So good they made it twice, doing it all again, grunt for grunt, for Thames Television in 1979.
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Sykes also had a film career in the 1960s, appearing in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), The Spy With a Cold Nose (1966) and the Boulting Brothers' caper Rotten to the Core (1965), with a very young Charlotte Rampling.
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In a career packed with hits, Curry and Chips was Sykes's only real miss. He co-starred with former Goon Spike Milligan in this 1969 ITV sitcom, which attempted to tackle the issue of racism but came in for flak because of bad language and Milligan blacking up to play the Irish-Pakistani Kevin O'Grady. The series, written by Johnny Speight, was cancelled after six episodes.
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In 1972, Sykes returned to more familiar terrain, reuniting with Jacques for Sykes. The format was similar to Sykes and A …, but the show was in colour and featured bigger stars. In one famous episode, another old Goon, Peter Sellers, had a scene-stealing cameo as an escaped convict. The series ran until 1979.
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Sykes kept working when others would have retired. Despite progressive blindness and deafness he not only appeared in The Others but also on stage, in the BBC's TV version of Gormenghast in 2000, and as Frank Bryce in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Even the younger generation may remember him for saying "Teletubbies!" during the credits of the children's programme.
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