31 Facts About Harry Worth

Harry Bourlon Illingsworth, professionally known as Harry Worth, was an English comedy actor, comedian and ventriloquist.

Harry Worth was born in Hoyland Common, West Riding of Yorkshire, the youngest child of a miner.

Harry Worth left school at 14 and was a miner for eight years.

Harry Worth warned his audience beforehand that he was not very good: according to ITMA impressionist Peter Cavanagh, this was the start of his apologetic and inept style.

Harry Worth was a variety act for many years before he became well known and was often at the bottom of any 'bill'.

Harry Worth did six shows a day as comedian between fan dancers.

Harry Worth now had two dummies for his ventriloquist act, Fotheringay and Clarence, but meanwhile developed his performing voice.

Harry Worth toured for two years with Laurel and Hardy towards the end of their careers.

Harry Worth said he could always go in and talk with them and they told him about Hollywood and their work there.

Harry Worth continued to include ventriloquism in his cabaret act through his career, performing much of the material that he had used during the war.

Harry Worth took his scripts seriously and did not ad lib.

Harry Worth said he built a style of dithering in his shows without even realising it.

Harry Worth's first television appearance was a five-minute standup on Henry Hall's Guest Night in 1955.

Harry Worth became well known to the public and even appeared at the London Palladium, after which he took the show to Manchester, the main place for variety in those days, for eight weeks.

John Ammonds and Harry Worth wrote the pilot script in three to four weeks.

Harry Worth made this style his own by creating a character with whom the public could connect.

Harry Worth once said, "If Harry ever looked directly at the camera, or the audience, it would all be over".

Harry Worth is best remembered for his 1960s series Here's Harry, later re-titled Harry Worth, which ran for 10 years and over 100 episodes.

The opening titles of Harry Worth featured Worth stopping in the street to perform an optical trick involving a shop window: raising one arm and one leg which were reflected in the window, thus giving the impression of levitation.

The shop window sequence first used in Here's Harry Worth was filmed at St Ann's Square, Manchester, at Hector Powes tailor's shop.

Harry Worth's fussing about the house drove his family mad.

Just before the Queen was due to arrive, a beggar arrived at the door and kept coming back as an increasingly frustrated Harry Worth tried to get him to go away.

One running joke in the television show involved references to Harry Worth's never seen aunt known only as "Auntie", the popular nickname for the BBC itself.

In one show, Harry Worth commissioned a portrait of Auntie, only to receive a head-and-shoulders print of a woman with no face.

Harry Worth was the subject of This Is Your Life in October 1963 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Manchester's Gaumont cinema.

Harry Worth married Kay nee Flynn, who was a Principal boy.

Harry Worth died at his home "Arisden" in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, with his wife, daughter and grandchildren at his side.

At his memorial service, Sir Harry Worth Secombe said "Harry Worth has left a legacy of laughter and we have all been enriched by his presence here on Earth".

Hilarious yet poignant, My Name Is Harry Worth celebrates a pioneering comic talent in style.

On 20 July 2010 a British Comedy Society blue plaque was unveiled by comedian Jimmy Cricket, a friend of Harry Worth's, on the house where he was born in Hoyland Common.

Harry Worth has been commemorated by plaques elsewhere, including those at Teddington Studios, BBC Television Centre and Blackpool Comedy Carpet.