Barry Took
Encyclopedia
Barry Took was an English
comedian
, writer
and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View
, a BBC
TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast. He also presented the BBC Radio 4
programme The News Quiz
for over a decade until 1995.
Took was born in Muswell Hill
, North London
and brought up there during the war, running away from the home in Wisbech
to which he had been evacuated. He attended Minchenden School. It was during his period of National Service that he began performing seriously, and it was also then that he met his first wife, Dorothy, known as Dot, with whom he had three children: Barry, Susan and David. He later worked as a stand-up comedian, eventually becoming a West End
revue
performer, working on For Amusement Only and For Adults Only
.
In terms of his comedy writing, Took was the writing partner of Marty Feldman
and wrote for several television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including The Army Game
and its spin-off Bootsie and Snudge
. He co-wrote Beyond Our Ken
for two seasons (1958–1959) with Eric Merriman
for BBC Radio before leaving after a disagreement with his fellow writer. With Marty Feldman
he wrote most episodes of Round the Horne
.
In the late 1960s, Took became Comedy advisor to the BBC and was responsible for bringing together the performers who formed Monty Python's Flying Circus
before moving to the USA to work briefly on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. He returned to the UK in early 1970, was involved in setting up the The Goodies
, but had returned to take up the position of Head of Light Entertainment at London Weekend Television
.
In 1977, Took hosted his own comedy sketch show, Took and Co. Also featuring Robin Bailey
, Chris Emmett
, Andrew Sachs
and Gwen Taylor
, the series ran for seven episodes late night on ITV
. In 1976, he created and wrote the innovative literacy programme On the Move which starred Bob Hoskins
and Donald Gee.
An image of Took was momentarily flashed on the screen during the BBC's introduction to its hit TV series Life on Mars
.
He died aged 73 on 31 March 2002 in a nursing home in Enfield
, Middlesex
, after suffering from cancer.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View
Points of View
Points of View is a long-running television show shown in the United Kingdom on BBC One, featuring the letters of viewers offering praise, criticism and purportedly witty observations on the television of recent weeks...
, a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast. He also presented the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme The News Quiz
The News Quiz
The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in...
for over a decade until 1995.
Took was born in Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
and brought up there during the war, running away from the home in Wisbech
Wisbech
Wisbech is a market town, inland port and civil parish with a population of 20,200 in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges...
to which he had been evacuated. He attended Minchenden School. It was during his period of National Service that he began performing seriously, and it was also then that he met his first wife, Dorothy, known as Dot, with whom he had three children: Barry, Susan and David. He later worked as a stand-up comedian, eventually becoming a West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
performer, working on For Amusement Only and For Adults Only
For Adults Only
For Adults Only is an album by Bill Cosby. The title "For Adults Only" was also used for a 1959 Pearl Bailey LP .-Track listing:#Las Vegas Mirror Over My Bed – 3:01#Why Beat on Your Wife – 4:33...
.
In terms of his comedy writing, Took was the writing partner of Marty Feldman
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
and wrote for several television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including The Army Game
The Army Game
The Army Game is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1957 to 1961. Made in black-and-white, it is about National Service conscription to the post-war British Army. It was created by Sid Colin...
and its spin-off Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge was a British television situation comedy series written, in the early days, by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, later writers were John Antrobus, Jack Rosenthal, ventriloquist Ray Alan and Harry Driver. The show featured Clive Dunn, more famous as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as...
. He co-wrote Beyond Our Ken
Beyond Our Ken
Beyond Our Ken was a radio comedy programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne . Both programmes starred Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, with announcer Douglas Smith. Musical accompaniment was provided by the BBC Revue Orchestra...
for two seasons (1958–1959) with Eric Merriman
Eric Merriman
Eric Hugh Peter Merriman was a prolific British radio and television writer, who provided material for comedians including Frankie Howerd, Terry Scott and Morecambe and Wise....
for BBC Radio before leaving after a disagreement with his fellow writer. With Marty Feldman
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
he wrote most episodes of Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
.
In the late 1960s, Took became Comedy advisor to the BBC and was responsible for bringing together the performers who formed Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
before moving to the USA to work briefly on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In. He returned to the UK in early 1970, was involved in setting up the The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
, but had returned to take up the position of Head of Light Entertainment at London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
.
In 1977, Took hosted his own comedy sketch show, Took and Co. Also featuring Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...
, Chris Emmett
Chris Emmett
Chris Emmett is a British actor and comedian best known for his work in the late 1970s on the BBC Radio 4 comedy The Burkiss Way. He was a regular on various series starring Roy Hudd, including The News Huddlines, The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, Huddwinks and Crowned Hudds...
, Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
and Gwen Taylor
Gwen Taylor
Gwen Taylor is an actress who has appeared in many British television programmes, including Z-Cars, Murder Most Horrid, Yes, Prime Minister, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders and Belonging...
, the series ran for seven episodes late night on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. In 1976, he created and wrote the innovative literacy programme On the Move which starred Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
and Donald Gee.
An image of Took was momentarily flashed on the screen during the BBC's introduction to its hit TV series Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
.
He died aged 73 on 31 March 2002 in a nursing home in Enfield
London Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, after suffering from cancer.
External links
- Barry Took - Comedy Zone
- BBC News article reporting his death