0:00:02 > 0:00:03Let's have the first man.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13He was an enormously talented man.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18I mean, a rather sort of brilliant man, but he was very, very anarchic.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And he could just cause chaos by walking into the room.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24- I normally...- I'll sit on this one.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27LAUGHTER
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I think Norman was as big a star as we can make in Britain.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Audiences just couldn't believe this extraordinary character.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49He used to work like a horse. He really always worked very hard.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Oh, no, don't start me off on that.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55LAUGHS LOUDLY
0:00:55 > 0:01:00When we were at home, just in any situation, his timing would be spot-on.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11He can make a laugh from anything, really. He doesn't need a script.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14The cleverness...of movement
0:01:14 > 0:01:20and ability to trip over and not hurt himself,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22that's what's so clever, really.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29He was completely innocent, in a way.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Children liked him.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Everybody liked him. There wasn't anybody who didn't like Norman.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39He will always be remembered.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43I mean, who could forget Norman Wisdom?
0:01:56 > 0:02:00# I'm not good-looking
0:02:01 > 0:02:04# I'm not too smart... #
0:02:04 > 0:02:07On screen, we saw the master fool,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11a cheeky comic character with great musical talent
0:02:11 > 0:02:13and a physical prowess
0:02:13 > 0:02:19which made Norman Wisdom Britain's biggest and most bankable film star of the '50s and '60s.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22His was a natural talent.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Norman's upbringing lacked the luxury of formal training.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Indeed, it lacked any luxury at all.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35When asked about his childhood, he would always deliver an old music-hall gag.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I was born in very sorry circumstances.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Both of my parents were very sorry. Really, yeah.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Behind the jokes lay a dreadful reality.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Life was tough for young Norman and his elder brother Fred.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Raised in this house in London's Maida Vale,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57in 1915, this area was poverty-stricken.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03More devastating still, at the age of nine, Norman's family was torn apart.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07His father, a chauffeur, was violent and neglectful.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10His mother felt forced to leave home.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Norman's early life was quite hard because his father was quite cruel.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21His background was horrendous, a dreadful family life,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25beaten, punched and kicked and knocked about by his father.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29He used to wallop me and my brother and...
0:03:29 > 0:03:36But it did me good in a way because I remember on one occasion he picked me up - this is really true -
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and he threw me up and I hit the ceiling.
0:03:38 > 0:03:45Really true. And I came down and landed just by the sink which we had then in the drawing room
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and, um...it taught me how to fall, you know.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Between the ages of 9 and 11,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Norman and his brother lived more or less as street urchins.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Attending school barefoot, they regularly stole food to survive.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02To be discarded by your parents at an early age...
0:04:02 > 0:04:07I mean, he stayed with his grandmother for a period.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10But, you know, you really are fending for yourself.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Um...you know, it's...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18something that you wouldn't even dream about, really.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20He had it rough. He really did.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24I think that's what gave Dad the determination...
0:04:24 > 0:04:28to, you know, make something of his life
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and not continue sort of living like that.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34At the age of 13, Norman left school.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38He walked from London to Cardiff to look for work.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42He told me he went with a friend.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46I said, "How did you eat? Where did you sleep? It took you two weeks.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49"What did you do? What were the practicalities?"
0:04:49 > 0:04:54He said he took a sandwich and they just slept rough in a hedgerow.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Before he knew it, he was a cabin boy on this ship,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02the Maindy Court, bound for Argentina.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07It was a hard life, but it was very helpful for the life to come.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09I learnt boxing, for instance.
0:05:09 > 0:05:16- Who taught you that?- The blokes used to be on the deck, all doing the sparring for exercise and so forth.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22I used to stand and watch 'em and one day, they said, "Hey, do you want to join in, son?"
0:05:22 > 0:05:24He spent three months at sea.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30Feeling proud of his achievements, Norman headed back to London to trace his estranged father.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35Norman, when he was about 14, decided to find out where his dad was.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39He went back to his grandmother and she gave him this address.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45He goes round and stands outside the house. He plucks up the courage and knocks on the door.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48A woman opens the door and he said...
0:05:48 > 0:05:54"Can I see Mr Wisdom?" She said, "Who are you?" I said, "Norman." It was his next wife.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58She said, "Come in. He'll be back from work in half an hour."
0:05:58 > 0:06:05I went in and sat in the lounge, then when he came in, I heard some chat between his wife and himself.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09He just came in and this is, on my word of honour, true.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12He just opened the door, looked at me and said, "Out!"
0:06:13 > 0:06:19And I went out and I walked down the steps. There were about three or four steps down.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I stood in the road, he slammed the door,
0:06:22 > 0:06:27and I said, "I'll never see you again." And I never did. True.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31It was a short, sharp exchange and that was it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34What can you say?
0:06:34 > 0:06:37I mean, it was "out" and that was it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41How do you get over that? How would you get over that?
0:06:41 > 0:06:46And then, you know, years later, to go on and make the world laugh.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Norman had no choice but to live on the streets.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54His regular sleeping spot, still popular with the homeless today,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58was next to the Marechal Foch statue. He was 14 years old.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Salvation came in the form of the army.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I was honestly sleeping rough just off Grosvenor Square.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09In doorways and all that sort of thing and hungry.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14At about half past two in the morning, I'd go to a coffee stall keeper.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18I used to just look over the shelf like that, sadly,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and he'd push me a hot pie and a cup of Bovril. Really true.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27After six or seven nights of that, he said to me, "Why don't you join the army?"
0:07:27 > 0:07:32I said, "I can't get in the army at my size." He said, "You've got to do something.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34"Just go and try it. Kid 'em."
0:07:34 > 0:07:36And kid 'em, he did.
0:07:37 > 0:07:4414-year-old Norman, just four foot ten and a half inches and five stone nine, enrolled as a bands-boy.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Joining the army was the best thing he ever did.
0:07:48 > 0:07:54He had friends, he had travel and he had a bed to sleep in. His life changed completely.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57He'd had no home. He'd had no home life as such.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Then he goes in the army and that became his life.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06The sergeant-major or whoever became his dad because he didn't really have a dad.
0:08:06 > 0:08:13And the other soldiers became his brothers, so he did love the army because he'd had nothing else.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15For him, it was absolutely marvellous
0:08:15 > 0:08:19because he had three meals a day and was looked after.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22It must have been finding mum again, I think.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25- Well, I tell you what, on my word of honour...- Yes.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29I owe everything of my good fortune to the army.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35It gave him so much. It gave him discipline and cleanliness, the music, the chance to go on stage.
0:08:35 > 0:08:41He learnt to horse-ride and do all that sort of stuff, so I can understand why he loved it so much.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45There was 14 boys and we all had different instruments.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51We got fed up playing the same one, so we had a go on the others, so gradually, I learnt to play the lot.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Clarinet, saxophone, French horn, trumpet, drums, piano...
0:08:56 > 0:08:58That'll do.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Five years of Norman's tour of duty was spent in India.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06He became the flyweight champion of the British troops in 1936.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10He had also discovered a talent for comedy.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15What made him realise that he could make people laugh
0:09:15 > 0:09:19was they were putting on a show and doing some sort of entertainment
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and he started doing a tap dance in his army boots.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26And they started to laugh at him because it just looked so ridiculous.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30In his head, he was thinking, "Oh, they're laughing at me."
0:09:30 > 0:09:33And that's where it all started.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38After seven and a half years, he demobbed to launch himself as a variety artist.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44His first significant booking was at the Coliseum, Portsmouth, in 1945.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49At the age of 30, he was still unknown,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53though he had invented the stage persona which would immortalise him,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56that of the little man in the over-tight suit
0:09:56 > 0:09:58which he called The Gump.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06Early 1947, I had been booked at a summer season
0:10:06 > 0:10:08at Scarborough.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I was sharing a dressing room with a conjurer.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14We used to do a different show every week.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20I'd got the material for the four shows because I was only doing about 10 or 15 minutes each show.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24This conjurer was having difficulty with his last show.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30He said, "Norman, if I ask someone to come up from the audience to help me do the tricks, it could be you."
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I said, "All right." He said, "Dress scruffy."
0:10:33 > 0:10:38So I went out and bought a suit for 30 shillings and a cap for one shilling
0:10:38 > 0:10:42and when he invited someone up from the audience, I came up
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and it worked so well, we were booked as a double act.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53But he didn't want to be a double act. Neither did I. But that's how it all started with The Gump suit.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57This great Gump character that he created, this ill-fitting suit
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and the cheeky cap to one side, was this icon.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05I put Norman's Gump character in the same league as Chaplin's Tramp.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09It fits that comedy icon, the little boy lost that we all love.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Norman was appearing all over the country as a supporting act.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17By chance, one of the biggest stars of the day caught his performance.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24# There'll be bluebirds over
0:11:25 > 0:11:29# The white cliffs of Dover... #
0:11:29 > 0:11:32I first saw Norman's act
0:11:32 > 0:11:37when I first came down to live in Sussex just after the war.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43And my husband and I were going to the theatre, a very small theatre in Brighton,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48to see an act that was top of the bill
0:11:48 > 0:11:52and we saw this little chap come on
0:11:52 > 0:11:55who wasn't very highly billed.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58I hadn't heard of him before.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And he was so funny.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03He had me in stitches.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08And it takes a lot, really, to make me laugh the way that I laughed.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13I thoroughly enjoyed him and I thought, "I've never seen or heard of him before,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16"but he really is going to go somewhere."
0:12:16 > 0:12:20# We'll meet again
0:12:20 > 0:12:23# Don't know where
0:12:23 > 0:12:26# Don't know when... #
0:12:26 > 0:12:28And they did meet again.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32In 1947, Vera Lynn was at the height of her career.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36She was booked to top the bill at the Victoria Palace
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and at the bottom of the bill was Norman Wisdom.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46I was due to go on at a certain time and he was getting very nervous,
0:12:46 > 0:12:53because I was going on in the first half, closing the first half, which is a very important spot.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55And he was getting very nervous.
0:12:55 > 0:13:02I didn't mind what time I went on, so I said, "Would you like to swap places?"
0:13:02 > 0:13:08So he said, "Yes, could I, please? You know, I'd like to get it over."
0:13:08 > 0:13:11He received three ovations.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Vera's generous act was the turning point of his career.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19I really didn't think any more about it.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24But then the first time I met him after the occasion, he reminded me,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28and every time we met, he reminded me.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31He used to say how much he owed me.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37He didn't owe me anything. Whatever he achieved, he owed to his own talent.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Norman was about to become one of the top entertainers of the era.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47In the audience at the Victoria Palace was the agent Billy Marsh,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51the man who would launch Norman's career in films.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Billy was one of the most respected agents in the business.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57He was with the Delfont Organisation.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59And Billy made a point
0:13:59 > 0:14:04of trying to make all these up-and-coming people into major stars -
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Morecambe and Wise, Bruce Forsyth and, of course, Norman.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Billy also went across to America with him
0:14:12 > 0:14:16and really looked after his career and they became great friends.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25It was Billy Marsh who secured Norman's seven-year contract with the Rank Organisation.
0:14:26 > 0:14:32Norman's debut as a film star was in the 1953 release of Trouble In Store
0:14:32 > 0:14:37where Norman played a hapless shop assistant called Norman Pitkin.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43What on earth are you doing here?
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- Mr Freeman sent me. I'm the new window dresser.- You?
0:14:47 > 0:14:49How utterly grotesque!
0:14:49 > 0:14:51He became the biggest box-office draw
0:14:51 > 0:14:56and his films made more money than James Bond films in the early '60s.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00This whole Norman franchise came up around it,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04so Trouble In Store probably began the whole legend of Norman Wisdom.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21I remember him telling me about the night he became a star.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I imagine Rank made his first film...
0:15:25 > 0:15:30..you know, under sufferance and with a low budget and all of that.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34At the time, the Rank Organisation took a chance on Norman Wisdom.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38He was a recognised stage comedian, but films are a different beast.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Apparently, at the premiere for Trouble In Store, he stood there
0:15:42 > 0:15:46with all these bigwigs, Earl St John, the head of Rank, coming in.
0:15:46 > 0:15:52..being frightfully snobbish and just thinking he was some piece of dirt.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56I was too scared to look at the screen. I was watching the audience,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59hoping that they'd laugh and lucky for me, they did.
0:15:59 > 0:16:05After the film was finished, they were a different crowd of people coming out, the Earl St Johns.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08They were coming out and saying, "Norman, oh, Norman!"
0:16:08 > 0:16:13It's a very English story. The idea that he then became a film star...
0:16:16 > 0:16:21Sally! Sally, look, you forgot your handbag! Sally, you won't be able to pay your fare!
0:16:23 > 0:16:25You've got to stop! Stop!
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Trouble In Store broke box-office records.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34Norman received the British Film Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37He would go on to star in 17 further films.
0:16:39 > 0:16:46When the British film industry was going into decline, Norman kept the British film industry afloat.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52He made a fortune for the Rank Organisation. He kept Pinewood Studios going for nigh-on 15 years.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Sometimes it was only him and the Carry Ons in there making movies,
0:16:56 > 0:17:02so it was a very important part of the industry, as well as making millions of people laugh.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06The film plots were based on recurring themes.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10The character, Norman Pitkin, the good guy,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14pulling through against the odds and always getting the girl.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28I think my favourite Norman Wisdom film is probably The Square Peg.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34I love army comedies and I love the great cast. Honor Blackman is a wonderful leading lady.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37# A square peg in a round hole
0:17:37 > 0:17:40# You're in the army now... # Try and get out!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Here we are, miss.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Why don't you look where you're going? Lunatic!
0:17:50 > 0:17:54I seem to remember that I was an officer in the army
0:17:54 > 0:17:58and at the beginning of the film, I'm based in England.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02And that's where Wizzy sees me and falls in love with me.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04He was the little Private.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Wasn't he Private Pitkin?
0:18:08 > 0:18:12God knows how the army put up with him! I don't know.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Mr Grimsdale, she saluted me. I think I'll have another one.
0:18:19 > 0:18:25'There was one particular scene where he's just learnt to salute
0:18:25 > 0:18:30'and he sees me coming along and he thinks how wonderful, he can salute,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34'so he keeps running ahead and hiding round corners and everything
0:18:34 > 0:18:37'to get the opportunity of saluting again.'
0:18:37 > 0:18:42I don't remember what my reaction was - a raised eyebrow, I should think.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Yes, miss. Last time we met, I was in civvy street.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57Norman's character was often pitted against an authority figure,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00memorably played by Edward Chapman.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06A scenario which gave Norman his most famous line.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Mr Grimsdale!
0:19:08 > 0:19:14- We're not here to give all the dogs of the neighbourhood free meat! - It was mostly bone, Mr Grimsdale.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Good morning...Mr Grimsdale.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Over the years, many fine actors also took on the role of the straight man.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28The late David Lodge appeared in many hits such as The Bulldog Breed and On The Beat.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31That's what you have to copy.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34When there's a comic and the straight man,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38the better the straight man, the funnier the comic, and he knew that.
0:19:38 > 0:19:45Years before me, he had Jerry Desmonde, who was not only a fine-looking man who was tall,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47but he had power.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51You've got to have that certain power for him to bounce off.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58By now, Norman had developed a skill for causing a riot on set.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04We laughed.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07I used to look forward to going to work.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Now, Pitkin...
0:20:09 > 0:20:14One scene in the film On The Beat created a particular challenge.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19'This man he was going to play, the crook, was very fay.'
0:20:19 > 0:20:24I had to teach Norman how to walk with his hand on his hip and do all the...
0:20:24 > 0:20:28And when we did it, because I had to do this, it was hysterical.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32As you put your foot forward, you let your weight rest on to it,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35- so that your hip swings out. - Oh, yeah.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39You then change feet, that is to say, you turn on the other one,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43transferring the weight in exactly the same manner.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46This you continue to do alternately...
0:20:46 > 0:20:50'He walked behind me and of course, he tripped over
0:20:50 > 0:20:53'and the producer took us both outside the studio.'
0:20:53 > 0:21:00And he said, "You two have got to get yourselves together. It's costing me so many thousands a minute."
0:21:00 > 0:21:06I said to Norman, "Look, you're a star, you can do this. It's my living, you know?"
0:21:07 > 0:21:09He said, "Come on then."
0:21:09 > 0:21:15I said, "Can you do it? Can you get through the scene?" "Yes."
0:21:15 > 0:21:17No, hand shoulder high!
0:21:17 > 0:21:20We came in. They said, "Right, action!"
0:21:20 > 0:21:26And we did it, and as we did it, we fell on one side screaming of laughter.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31And Asher was on the floor with a handkerchief in his mouth, but we got the scene.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Oh, sir, he's fabulous!
0:21:37 > 0:21:40- Can I get my uniform now, sir? - By all means.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Thank you, sir.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49We come to the fact that Norman was a little man with a giant ego,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51which is what I always think,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55but he was big in as much as he did what he bloody wanted to do.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58And nobody would ever tell Norman.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01'He would do the most daring things.'
0:22:01 > 0:22:07- I heard the result of the two o'clock on the radio. It's exciting! - We're absolutely hysterical.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10'Norman used to disappear.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:13We'd be out shooting on location somewhere
0:22:13 > 0:22:18and the director would say, "We'll get Norman now, we'll do scene 42."
0:22:18 > 0:22:21And they'd say, "Where is Norman?"
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Nobody could find him.
0:22:26 > 0:22:32They had megaphones almost in those days. They used to scream, "Norman!"
0:22:35 > 0:22:38He'd gone. He'd disappeared. I mean, absolutely...
0:22:38 > 0:22:44There is no other person I've ever worked with who would have got away with that.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55'This is the BBC Home Service.'
0:22:55 > 0:23:01Throughout the 1950s and '60s, Norman was one of the nation's best loved film stars,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04seldom off the national news.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08He was also in great demand as a variety performer.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13Wherever he went in public, he would appear in character,
0:23:13 > 0:23:18demonstrating the remarkable dexterity which had long become his trademark.
0:23:24 > 0:23:30I thought he was a bit of a nutter, frankly, when I first met him. I think we all did, really.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Certainly, if there's one pair of eyes watching him, he's performing.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38He just entertains instinctively.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44He... That's who he is. If you're there, he's got to make you laugh.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48One would call him a comic, really, a comic mover,
0:23:48 > 0:23:54an ability to look as though he was going to kill himself by falling over
0:23:54 > 0:23:59and he lands up like a cat does, you know, unhurt.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07The last time I had breakfast with him was about eight o'clock in the morning.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11I went down and Norman was just going into the restaurant.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17There was one step, so he did his little fall, got up. And he'd already been for a four-mile walk.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Norman always maintained his fitness.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25And on camera, he endeavoured to perform his own stunts, however demanding...
0:24:26 > 0:24:29..or bizarre.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36How do you stop it?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Are you there, Mr Hunter?
0:24:42 > 0:24:45On one occasion, much to Norman's disappointment,
0:24:45 > 0:24:50a stuntman was booked to perform an ambitious scene.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53On the first take, the stuntman broke his arm.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55The film star cheerfully stepped in.
0:24:55 > 0:25:01The result, in the 1963 film A Stitch In Time, is pure Norman Wisdom.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Pitkin will be disappointed he missed all the excitement.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21I remember holding myself, watching this scene. It was unbelievable.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27So... God, so corny, but the way he pulled it off, it was brilliant.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Absolutely brilliant.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34And it takes a lot for me to laugh out loud. It really, really does.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41But honestly, I used to just scream laughing at him, you know?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43I love him. I love the man.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Good afternoon.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55What's he doing out of bed?
0:25:55 > 0:26:00He walked and jogged and rode his bike. This helped him with his act
0:26:00 > 0:26:04because he learnt how to tumble and fall without hurting himself.
0:26:04 > 0:26:10One of the lines he used to use in his concert was he just used to think of the money and he was OK.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21The big revelation I had about him was this thing of thinking he was a bit of a twit.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23He wasn't.
0:26:23 > 0:26:30And it was when you realised this, when you started to work with him and talk to him,
0:26:30 > 0:26:35you realised that although he was a sort of loner in a way,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37he was a very bright man...
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and was quite able.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Probably from his background, he had to be.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46He had to be a bright man to cope.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50- What a delightful little fella! - BARKS LOUDLY
0:26:51 > 0:26:56Behind Norman's huge success lay a complex private life.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Married briefly and divorced in his 20s,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03aged 32, Norman proposed to his second wife Freda
0:27:03 > 0:27:05on Bournemouth Pier.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11As a young army man, Norman had resumed contact with his mother.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Though the family were rarely gathered together,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17here they all are -
0:27:17 > 0:27:22his mother Maud, his brother Fred whom he had lost contact with for 16 years,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26at Norman's wedding to Freda in 1947.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Norman knew the value of forgiveness.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Despite his troubled upbringing, he embraced Maud into his life.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44His mother and brother died in the same year - 1971.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Freda and Norman had two children - Nick and Jaqui.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Growing up with Norman Wisdom as your dad was as much fun as you might imagine.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59He wasn't really a disciplinarian.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03My mother was the disciplinarian, but she was never going to win
0:28:03 > 0:28:07because we'd have tea and he'd put the dog on the table.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13"The dog's coming to have tea with us." And she'd just sort of shake her head, you know.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I can remember when I was little,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19my mum was taking me up to the flat in London,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22and I love After Eight mints.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27And Dad knew exactly what I would do because as soon as we got into the flat,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31I'd make a little beeline for the sweet tray in the lounge.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And there is sitting an After Eight box.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41And I just open it up and on the top is a little note that Dad's written.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44It just says, "I'm watching you, Jaqui."
0:28:44 > 0:28:50The whole box went flying up in the air and I just ran out of the room screaming my head off
0:28:50 > 0:28:55because I was convinced he was hiding behind a curtain, so he did love to tease.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59To his children, he was both father and film star.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02They grew up watching him on the set,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06even managing to get in on the act in Follow A Star.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11I think it was 1959. I just played the piano. I pretended to have a piano lesson.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Oh! Ow! Hey! Oh! Ow!
0:29:15 > 0:29:17HE PLAYS A FEW NOTES
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Well, that's all, thank you, Nicholas...
0:29:21 > 0:29:27It was very exciting going to Pinewood Studio. Everybody wanted to be on the Norman Wisdom set.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29THEY SING HIGH NOTE
0:29:29 > 0:29:31Very good.
0:29:31 > 0:29:37Mum said, "Jaqui, why don't you go along and sit on the stool in front of the piano?"
0:29:37 > 0:29:43So I said, "OK." And then they started, you know, "Action!" And Hattie Jacques came in.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Judy! Judy, read this!
0:29:48 > 0:29:54'But they'd actually muted the piano, so when you played, no sound came out.'
0:29:54 > 0:29:58I just went, "Mum, this piano doesn't work!" "Cut!"
0:29:58 > 0:30:00It's outrageous!
0:30:00 > 0:30:06I kept looking at Hattie Jacques. They had to cut again and they said, "Jaqui, try and face forward."
0:30:06 > 0:30:11The next time, I was staring right into the camera lens. "What's that?"
0:30:11 > 0:30:13So they wouldn't be hiring me again!
0:30:16 > 0:30:21NICK: He was a lot of fun, but most of the time, he was pretty normal.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27The minus side, we didn't see a lot of him.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32A life on the road also put great strain on Norman's marriage.
0:30:32 > 0:30:39In 1969, he was busy forging a successful career in the United States.
0:30:39 > 0:30:44He did films in America. He did Androcles And The Lion for Noel Coward.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48He also did Walking Happy on Broadway.
0:30:48 > 0:30:54And it was on Broadway, whilst he was working there, that he heard that his wife had gone off with another fella.
0:30:54 > 0:31:00My wife at home had found somebody tall and good-looking.
0:31:01 > 0:31:07I think if Norman had stayed in America, he would have been a big international star in the States too.
0:31:07 > 0:31:13But I think Peter Sellers eventually got that slot as the English funny man and the rest is history.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17We had normal family problems and I had to come back from America
0:31:17 > 0:31:21to look after my two lovely children and I'm glad I did.
0:31:21 > 0:31:27The man who had been abandoned as a child was granted custody of his own children.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Their mother remarried, keeping in contact.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Norman never married again.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37My mother left home and I was absolutely devastated.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40And, um...
0:31:40 > 0:31:45But he found a wonderful lady called Madge
0:31:45 > 0:31:49and we used to call her Magic because that's exactly what she was.
0:31:49 > 0:31:55And Dad made sure, because he was obviously still away working hard,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58that Madge was there to look after us
0:31:58 > 0:32:02and she really was a very, very special lady.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06He was a loving father at that time and, um...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12But I think probably I should have seen a little bit more of my mother.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15You know, she was a good woman and, um...
0:32:18 > 0:32:22You know, it was an acrimonious split.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26The BBC presents The Norman Wisdom Show.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31By the 1970s, Norman was a screen and stage star.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35But the pressure was now on to make it in television.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40# If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree... #
0:32:40 > 0:32:43He did some good shows in the '70s,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47just called Norman, Nobody Is Norman Wisdom,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50A Little Bit Of Wisdom for ATV, and they were successful,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54but not legendarily successful, so they're not repeated now.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56You don't see them on TV.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02I made sure that he was on every radio show we could get him on or television appearances.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07He didn't want to do them because he was Norman Wisdom and he felt, "Do I need to do this?"
0:33:07 > 0:33:12But I think with the public, you have to keep that profile high.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14# ..the old oak tree-ee-ee... #
0:33:14 > 0:33:17APPLAUSE That is all.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19Norman toured worldwide.
0:33:19 > 0:33:26And from the 1980s onward, he featured in cameo roles in some of our best-loved series like Bergerac.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30I'll see if you can pick him out, all right? We'll send a car round.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33- Yeah, all right. - Nothing wrong, is there?
0:33:33 > 0:33:36No, it's just that I haven't done anything like that before.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40This is a one-off, this is.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42And Last Of The Summer Wine.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54I'm an honest man. It has to be admitted. She needs a touch of work.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56EXPLODING SOUND
0:33:57 > 0:34:03The one big TV role he was offered, Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, he had to turn down.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was written for Norman,
0:34:06 > 0:34:12but there were scenes in it where they wanted him to put his foot down the toilet and things like that,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15which he thought was lavatorial humour.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18I'm Mr Spencer.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22The wife's a bit tired, so I thought I'd try you.
0:34:22 > 0:34:29And consequently, he thought, "This isn't for me," because he was squeaky-clean at the time.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34And so consequently, he pulled out of it and Michael Crawford got it.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Come back, Frank!
0:34:41 > 0:34:43Please stop me!
0:34:44 > 0:34:48That could have been the big sort of TV break.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52Off the back of the films from the '60s into the '70s and early '80s,
0:34:52 > 0:34:58he could have been doing this sort of comedy for the TV generation and he regretted that for ever.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01- # Honey, don't cry... # - Get off!
0:35:03 > 0:35:09But there were no regrets attached to Norman's role in a television play released in 1981.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12It cast Norman in a whole new light,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15receiving critical and audience acclaim.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20The BBC Playhouse, Going Gently, directed by Stephen Frears,
0:35:20 > 0:35:25featured Norman and Fulton Mackay as terminal cancer patients.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Do you drink?
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Doctor's orders.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34And what do the wizards of the knife have in store for you?
0:35:34 > 0:35:38They're going to give me an exploratory operation.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Fun(!)
0:35:40 > 0:35:42How do you know?
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Tomorrow, they're going to make it a triumvirate.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Jesus!
0:35:51 > 0:35:54We talked to a lot of people about being in it.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Then his name was on a list. I said, "That's a rather interesting idea."
0:35:58 > 0:36:01I think this is a rather wicked thought.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06I think I thought that if you were dying and wanted a rather graceful death,
0:36:06 > 0:36:11you might well wake up and find that Norman was in the bed next to you.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15He was so disruptive and anarchic
0:36:15 > 0:36:21that any thoughts of a quiet, dignified, heroic death would immediately be destroyed.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29What's the matter with you? I can't understand you at all.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34- He wasn't such a bad fella.- Do you need help?- Probably not. I just said he wasn't such a bad fella.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36COUGHS AND SPLUTTERS
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Are you all right?
0:36:41 > 0:36:45'I had to get up my courage to cast him.'
0:36:45 > 0:36:49I suppose I'd assumed that he'd be very good and he was very good,
0:36:49 > 0:36:54but I could see that I was using bits of him that people didn't normally ask for.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57During lunch, Stephen Frears said,
0:36:57 > 0:37:03"Norman, I want specifically for you to avoid doing any comedy."
0:37:04 > 0:37:08And I said, "Well, it's a straight play.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12He said, "Yes, I know, but I want you to avoid doing any comedy."
0:37:12 > 0:37:17I could see what he was getting at, but I couldn't help pulling his leg a bit.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21I said, "If I'm in a nightshirt..." He said, "You will be."
0:37:21 > 0:37:25I said, "There's certain comedy within the bounds of the play.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29"If, as I walk away from the bed having got out...
0:37:29 > 0:37:34"and I catch my nightshirt on the spring of the bed,
0:37:34 > 0:37:39"as I walk away, eventually, it will tighten up and pull me back like that
0:37:39 > 0:37:44"and I'll put my foot in the chamber pot underneath the bed..."
0:37:44 > 0:37:46And he'd gone pale.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50He would just send me up hopelessly.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01I asked him.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06And?
0:38:06 > 0:38:08- Not too good.- It never is.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10What am I going to do?
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Complain.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Moan like the rest of us.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19How long have you got?
0:38:19 > 0:38:21They didn't say.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24But my guess is six weeks, maybe seven.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26For me, six.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30I've got to have longer.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I've got to have more time.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38'He just was very, very powerful and potent and expressive.'
0:38:38 > 0:38:41And that's always a pleasure.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46Certainly I didn't realise before that you could strip away all the faces
0:38:46 > 0:38:49and the agility and all that
0:38:49 > 0:38:53and just leave that little man underneath.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58He'd acquired a sort of wisdom by then.
0:38:59 > 0:39:06I imagine... I imagine that life had been quite rough to him in the previous 10 or 15 years.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11Going Gently won a BAFTA and established Norman as a serious actor.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16Even so, he continued to stay in comic character publicly
0:39:16 > 0:39:20and his ability to cause chaos in interviews was by now legendary.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23- I normally...- I'll sit on this one.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26LAUGHTER
0:39:26 > 0:39:31It is difficult to know what he's going to do, especially if you don't know him,
0:39:31 > 0:39:36because he can do anything, he can wind people up. He's got a terrible sense of humour.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38APPLAUSE
0:39:44 > 0:39:48It's good to see you. Come and sit down there.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53No, I meant over there.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57'He could just cause chaos by walking into the room.'
0:39:57 > 0:40:03You could see people getting nervous and looking for the exits. He was very, very unsettling.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Thank you very much. No, please, don't...
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Oh, blimey!
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Oh, good Lord, there's my back gone!
0:40:11 > 0:40:15Taking my life in my hands, because I admired Norman so much,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19I asked if he'd take part in an hour's special and he was brilliant.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Interviewing Norman was hell.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29I mean, he was a brilliant raconteur.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33And he knew exactly how he was going to time every gag.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38You couldn't just ask him a question because he was going to tell you his way.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Norman, still kissing the girls at 82?
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Still working at 82? Still making people laugh at 82?
0:40:45 > 0:40:49More than 82 girls!
0:40:49 > 0:40:53- I was speaking of your years.- Oh! - It's impossible to think of you...
0:40:53 > 0:40:55My ears are all right.
0:40:56 > 0:41:02It was extremely funny and the audience enjoyed the fact that he ran rings round me.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04He popped up all over the place.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09He was totally dangerous, unpredictable and always very funny.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11APPLAUSE
0:41:11 > 0:41:17As the cameras stop rolling on The Esther Show, Norman's antics continue.
0:41:18 > 0:41:23And the audience clapped. As the applause died,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Norman leant forward, looked me straight in the eyes...
0:41:28 > 0:41:30..and licked the end of my nose.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34A sensation I will never forget.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37It hasn't happened much since.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41Norman would often push the boundaries of protocol.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46Throughout his career, he was a firm favourite of the Royal Family,
0:41:46 > 0:41:51appearing at nine command performances and coming face-to-face with royalty
0:41:51 > 0:41:53on many memorable occasions.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57I had him working at St James's Palace once,
0:41:57 > 0:42:03but I had to lead the line-up for all the artists to meet the Duchess of Kent.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Vera Lynn was on the show as well.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10I said to Norman, "If you stand next to Vera..." He said, "No, I'm not doing that."
0:42:10 > 0:42:16So he hid behind a big pillar until I'd introduced the Duchess of Kent to all the artists,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19then he jumped out on her and went, "Ohhh!"
0:42:19 > 0:42:23I thought, "You can't do that to royalty," but that's the way he is.
0:42:23 > 0:42:29He forgets that they are royalty. They're friends to him, so he just joins in the fun.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32He had me chasing round St James's Palace on one occasion.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36We were there at a tea party for the Queen Mother.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40She used to run these tea parties for ex-servicemen
0:42:40 > 0:42:43and he was there on one occasion.
0:42:43 > 0:42:50Of course, he was always playing the fool and he was chasing me round, trying to tweak my nose.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55But that was him. You know, he couldn't help but play the fool.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57When he went to get his honour,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01everyone was in this big room, waiting for the Queen to appear.
0:43:01 > 0:43:07Prince Philip said to him, "Hello, Norman, how are you doing?" He said, "Thank you, sir, fine."
0:43:07 > 0:43:11- Then all of a sudden, there was... - MIMICS SOUND OF TRUMPET
0:43:11 > 0:43:13You know, the trumpet going off.
0:43:13 > 0:43:19And Norman said, "What's that?" Prince Philip said, "Oh, that'll be the Queen."
0:43:19 > 0:43:24And Norman said, "Bloody hell, she can't half play that trumpet, can she?"
0:43:25 > 0:43:29For the first time in 25 years, the Queen is visiting the Isle of Man.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33Waiting to meet her was the island's allegedly most famous resident
0:43:33 > 0:43:36and royal favourite, Sir Norman Wisdom.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Jennie Bond reports on today's gripping encounter.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45'This was the Queen's first visit to the Isle of Man for 25 years
0:43:45 > 0:43:51'and she took the precaution of wearing a sprig of its national herb, mugwort, on her lapel.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53'It's meant to ward off evil spirits.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57'It did not ward off the persistent attentions of Sir Norman Wisdom.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03'Now 88, he's an old favourite among the royals who has performed for them at Windsor Castle.
0:44:03 > 0:44:10'Taking the Queen firmly by the hand at a cheese stall, he invited her to pose with him for the photographers.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13'Next he suggested she should try some of the cheese.'
0:44:13 > 0:44:15No, not now.
0:44:15 > 0:44:21'"Not now," said the Queen, showing him that she was being given some to take away.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23'But Sir Norman wanted a longer chat.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27'Ignoring royal protocol, he crept up and touched her on the arm,
0:44:27 > 0:44:31'then took her hand and hung on and on.'
0:44:31 > 0:44:35I don't think the Queen will forget him.
0:44:35 > 0:44:41It was quite a surprise to me when I heard he'd given her a piece of cheese to eat.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45Terrible, really. I mean, who else would do that but Norman Wisdom?
0:44:45 > 0:44:51And who else but Norman Wisdom could achieve the status of a country's hero?
0:44:51 > 0:44:55His visual comedy has always appealed to audiences in eastern Europe,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58nowhere more so than in Albania.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03A lot of the dictatorship over there, especially in Albania,
0:45:03 > 0:45:09thought that Norman represented the downtrodden communist by the capitalist,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11which is untrue completely.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15The people were kind of subjected to a pretty awful regime,
0:45:15 > 0:45:21the only joy of which came when they saw maybe on a Sunday night the Norman Wisdom film.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24They were shown every week and it's kept going.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29For 30, 40, 50 years, they've just had Norman Wisdom
0:45:29 > 0:45:33and so he's so in their hearts, it's extraordinary.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39And in 2002, Tony Hawks saw a chance to win a bizarre challenge.
0:45:39 > 0:45:45I took on a wacky bet that I had to have a hit record somewhere in the world within two years
0:45:45 > 0:45:51because I'd had a hit record in 1988 with a song called Stutter Rap by Morris Minor & The Majors.
0:45:51 > 0:45:57Somebody called me a one-hit wonder. I said, "I haven't finished my life. I'll probably have another hit."
0:45:57 > 0:46:01So I set off going round the world trying to have this hit and failed
0:46:01 > 0:46:05until I struck upon this idea of pure genius
0:46:05 > 0:46:09which was to involve myself with Norman Wisdom in Albania.
0:46:09 > 0:46:15Remarkably, Tony persuaded Oscar-winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice to write the song.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19So, Sir Tim phoned Sir Norman. I was excluded from that conversation.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24I rang him up and put forward this strange proposition
0:46:24 > 0:46:27that he should record a song for us
0:46:27 > 0:46:30which would be a Top 20 hit in Albania.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34And Norman agreed. "I'll do it. Anything you say.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38"Yeah, all right. Where? Albania? They like me there. I'll do it."
0:46:38 > 0:46:42We therefore wrote a song, Tony and I, called Big In Albania.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47Norman went along with this. He loved the idea. He came down to London and recorded it.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51The next plan was Operation Tour Albania.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56The morning we left at Heathrow Airport,
0:46:56 > 0:47:02Norman began the journey by running up the "down" escalator at 87 years old
0:47:02 > 0:47:08and going through the security cordon without going through the bit in the middle. He walked up the side of it.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12This was only six months after September the 11th and security was very high.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16Norman walked straight through it and into Sock Shop.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21He was always doing his act. But in a way, it wasn't his act. It was Norman being Norman.
0:47:21 > 0:47:26He just had this desire, this necessity to entertain.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30I'm amazed that in some places we went to, he wasn't shot!
0:47:30 > 0:47:33# From Scutari to Koritsa
0:47:33 > 0:47:36# From Gjirokastra to Berat
0:47:36 > 0:47:40# From Valona to Tirana
0:47:40 > 0:47:42# I'm really where it's at... #
0:47:42 > 0:47:45In Albania, everybody loves Norman.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49It was like a scene for Take That, but with an 87-year-old man.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53He got lost on at least two occasions, but always turned up.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56We just looked for a big crowd and there he was!
0:47:56 > 0:48:03The little shepherds and all these fellows with donkeys up the hill would say, "Pitkiny, we love you!"
0:48:03 > 0:48:08He was getting kissed by men, kids, boys, girls, all sorts of people.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10They just loved him out there.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13# I've made my name in many places
0:48:13 > 0:48:17# A thousand falls, a thousand faces
0:48:17 > 0:48:21# But nowhere's more devoted than Albania... #
0:48:21 > 0:48:26Miming superbly with Tim's daughter on backing vocals, his son on trumpet,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30Sir Tim was happy to perform on a plastic toy saxophone.
0:48:30 > 0:48:36We were all thrilled to be in the presence of somebody that my kids thought was as funny as I did.
0:48:36 > 0:48:42# As I wandered down this fine Albanian street... #
0:48:42 > 0:48:46I had this dream that if we were going to be a supergroup,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49which Norman Wisdom And The Pitkins clearly were,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52that we had to perform a stadium gig,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57so I arranged for us to perform at half-time at the national football stadium in Tirana.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00# I love Albania back... #
0:49:00 > 0:49:04Norman Wisdom And The Pitkins did not disappoint their fans.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07# I love Albania back... #
0:49:12 > 0:49:16The outcome of the bet was a rather happy conclusion
0:49:16 > 0:49:20in that the Albanian people in their 20s and 30s voted for us
0:49:20 > 0:49:25and we reached the dizzy heights of No.18 in the Albanian charts,
0:49:25 > 0:49:31so we all celebrated on the way back and Norman, of course, had had his first hit in Albania.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Surely, that's everyone's ambition, isn't it?
0:49:36 > 0:49:39# I love Albania back Oh, I do! #
0:49:43 > 0:49:49For the last 30 years of Norman's life, he lived on the Isle of Man. It was a place close to his heart.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53He lived in a beautiful house. He designed it himself.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57He had these fabulous cars which he used to try and design.
0:49:57 > 0:50:02He had a huge, a massive ocean-going yacht which he designed himself.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06He just became like Lord of the Manor out there.
0:50:06 > 0:50:12I came here in 1978 to do a summer season at the Gaiety Theatre just down the road here in Douglas.
0:50:13 > 0:50:19I'd never been here before. I couldn't believe how beautiful the place was.
0:50:19 > 0:50:26And the time was coming where I didn't want to work all the time. Just semi-retirement, if you like.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28And so I got a place here
0:50:28 > 0:50:31and I've never been happier.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Lovely.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42# I'd like to put on record that I...
0:50:42 > 0:50:45# Need you, need you, need you... #
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Throughout his life, Norman supported good causes,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51always putting his talents to good use,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54talents which were many and varied.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58# I love you
0:50:58 > 0:51:03# It simply means, my darling, that... #
0:51:03 > 0:51:05I love you.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Well, he had a very lovely voice.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13Soft. And he knew how to get the best out of a song.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17And of course, this was an added talent for his work.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21And it was different too
0:51:21 > 0:51:24because it brought the comedy down
0:51:24 > 0:51:28and I think people enjoyed that as much as they did his antics.
0:51:28 > 0:51:34People don't realise what a great musician he is. He was incredible. Seven or eight instruments.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37PLAYS JAZZ MUSIC
0:51:39 > 0:51:42His passions in life - he loved golf.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47He was a great golfer, even though at his age, a lot of people were sitting in armchairs,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51feet up, watching the telly, but he was out there.
0:51:51 > 0:51:57He loved motorbikes, cars. We couldn't go anywhere without stopping at a car showroom.
0:52:02 > 0:52:08But even his friends would admit he had one or two unsettling character traits.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13He always used to eat and show his food, which was a bit...
0:52:13 > 0:52:19He would be forking the food into his mouth and he said to me, "Robbo, do you like seafood?"
0:52:19 > 0:52:22I said, "Yes, OK." He goes, "Naaah." Like that.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24"Sea"...food?
0:52:24 > 0:52:27LAUGHTER
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Quite often, he'd listen to his own tapes or films. He liked his films.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35He used to sit in the car and we'd go for a drive and he would sing to me.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39All the stuff he'd written. But that's the way he was.
0:52:39 > 0:52:45'Norman Wisdom has become the great British clown, very much in the mould of Charlie Chaplin
0:52:45 > 0:52:48'with his little man in the ill-fitting suit and cloth cap.
0:52:48 > 0:52:54'He has the honour of being the national comedy hero of Albania and not many people can make that boast.'
0:52:54 > 0:53:00In his lifetime, Norman received many honours, including an OBE and the Variety Club Award.
0:53:00 > 0:53:05'An outstanding contribution to showbusiness, Sir Norman Wisdom...
0:53:05 > 0:53:08'Oh, here he goes!' LAUGHTER
0:53:08 > 0:53:12I have to say how very grateful I am.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16As you did say, I've been 50 years in showbusiness now.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19- And you were wrong. - LAUGHTER
0:53:19 > 0:53:22It's nearly 55.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And I'm very grateful to get this. Really, I am.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30I'm a very lucky little devil being in showbusiness in the first place.
0:53:30 > 0:53:36I've been a lucky little devil all the time because it's given me happiness.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40I've thoroughly enjoyed myself and on top of that, you get paid.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Norman continued his career into his 90s.
0:53:47 > 0:53:53Aged 89, he played a fitness-obsessed pensioner in Coronation Street.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01At 92, he took on his last acting role in a film for charity called Expresso.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03BUZZING
0:54:03 > 0:54:07By now, Norman's health was in decline with Alzheimer's.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11He would still want to keep his finger in the pie a little bit
0:54:11 > 0:54:15and something like that was perfect because there were no lines.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18At that point, his memory was not that good.
0:54:18 > 0:54:25Of course, that's what Dad excelled in with the facial expressions and that perfect timing that he has.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30In his final years, he remained on the Isle of Man.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35His family, including two proud grandsons, took turns to look after him.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39HE PLAYS THEME FROM "The Snowman"
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Slower, Greggy.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48Very nice. Very nice.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51Hello there.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56It was just so nice to be with somebody that was always light and breezy
0:54:56 > 0:54:58and joking
0:54:58 > 0:55:00and Norman just didn't know
0:55:00 > 0:55:03how to be sad or unhappy.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05Oh, Norman!
0:55:06 > 0:55:10In 2007, the decision was reached to place him in a care home.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13But he was happy there.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19His family were really his life.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24And the way that he kept in contact
0:55:24 > 0:55:27and everybody would go and see him.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I mean, he was very, very much a family man.
0:55:30 > 0:55:36All the family were present when he received the award he held most dear -
0:55:36 > 0:55:40a knighthood from the Queen in the year 2000.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Sir Norman Wisdom, for services to entertainment.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57Sir Norman Wisdom's career spanned more than half a century
0:55:57 > 0:56:00in theatre, film and television.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07Wherever he went, Norman could be depended upon for one thing -
0:56:07 > 0:56:09to create laughter.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Just a minute, Mr...?
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Pitkin.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26- Thank you, Mr Pitkin.- What for?
0:56:26 > 0:56:31You obviously don't realise, but you've just done something wonderful.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34- Me?- Mm-hm.
0:56:38 > 0:56:43I think he's continued the great tradition of the silent comics,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47the ones who provided so much genius for us on the screen,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50the sort of... the Chaplin little man.
0:56:53 > 0:56:59It seemed to me that his idea was life has been hell
0:56:59 > 0:57:04and let's make the most of every minute we have now.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07You're... You're joking?
0:57:07 > 0:57:13He just wanted to prove that he could be something in life and he was something in life.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18It's a very British story of class and snobbery
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and tremendous hardship.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30What we admire is something that we feel we can't do.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34And not many people could do what Norman Wisdom did.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38Dickens could have written about him. He's like a figure out of Dickens.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41But he was brilliant.
0:57:41 > 0:57:48I think his legacy will live on, actually. I think his films will always be there for people to see.
0:57:50 > 0:57:55There is one thing that no-one will ever be able to destroy
0:57:55 > 0:57:59and that is the love I have for my father.
0:58:01 > 0:58:07LESLIE PHILLIPS: I would say he's got more opportunity than most to be remembered.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I don't think we'll forget Norman, somehow.
0:58:19 > 0:58:24# Some day maybe
0:58:24 > 0:58:29# My star will smile
0:58:29 > 0:58:33# On me
0:58:33 > 0:58:37# Don't laugh at me
0:58:37 > 0:58:45# Cos I'm a fool... #