Eddie Braben

[gkmacca]

He won't be known to some of you but he was a dear friend of mine and one of the nicest people on the planet, a great Scouser and a lifelong Red to boot, so I hope a few will email their support for this plaque. Ta!

 

 

 

Memorial plaque plan to remember Liverpool comedy legend Eddie Braben - the third man behind the success of Morecambe and Wise

• 19:00, 20 JULY 2015
• BY LORNA HUGHES

Writer's scripts saw the comedy duo reach unparalleled heights

 

The family of Liverpool comedy legend Eddie Braben – the third man behind the success of Morecambe and Wise – hope to pay tribute to him with a plaque in his Dinglebirthplace.

 

The writer, who died in 2013 aged 82, started writing with the comedy greats in 1969, when he was invited to work for the BBC by head of light entertainment Bill Cotton.

 

His scripts saw Morecambe and Wise reach unparalleled heights, with their Christmas Show in 1977 being seen by a record 28 million viewers.

 

Eddie’s daughter Clare Harding, 43, the youngest of his three children with wife Dee, said his family wanted to set the ball rolling on the project and hoped ECHO readers would show their support.

 

She said: “We would like to have a commemorative plaque to remember him and his work where he was born and brought up in Dingle.

 

“I hope it could be quite inspirational for young comics and writers in Liverpool to be reminded that young, working class people can make it to that level.

 

“Once the idea is out there I hope people will support it.”

 

Eddie Braben who was a scriptwriter for the BBC. Here he is pictured with the legendary Morecombe and Wise

 

Eddie started as a joke seller in Liverpool before working for 12 years with Ken Dodd.

 

When Morecambe and Wise joined the BBC in 1968, Braben was invited to be their new writer one year later and the trio formed what became known as the Golden Triangle.

 

His ideas included introducing Ernie’s “plays what I wrote” as well as the pair sharing a bed together, with Braben convincing the duo to do it by saying it had been good enough for Laurel and Hardy.

 

Other highlights included the Stripper breakfast dance and Eddie’s favourite - Andre Previn conducting Eric in Greig’s piano concerto.

 

Eddie Braben with Liverpol FC legend Billy Liddell 1986

 

He felt a great responsibility to make the scripts work, once saying: “Writing a Morecambe and Wise script would start on Monday at 7.30am. By Wednesday night I’d have nothing on paper and would be saturated with sweat; it was like dragging myself over barbed wire for three days. Then on the furth day the flood-gates would open and the words could not get onto paper fast enough.

 

 

 

“From my study I could see rush-hour buses on Queens Drive full of people. I thought, ‘Look at those poor beggars off to work’, but I could imagine them saying, ‘at least Morecambe and Wise are on tonight’ and that would make me try that bit harder to write a funnier show.”

 

Eddie’s family have now set up a Twitter account, @eddie_braben, to share work from his archives and photographs from his career.

 

Eddie Braben with a picture of himself and Morecambe and Wise taken when he was their scriptwriter

 

And Clare said they had been moved by the reaction.

 

She said: “It never ceases to amaze me. When he was alive obviously he took all those accolades but now he’s not here, and we can see people’s reaction. There is so much affection for him.

 

“He was still writing jokes a couple of days before he died. He used to say “It keeps the brain ticking over”. We all have a good sense of humour in our family but he definitely had a gift.

 

“His jokes are timeless. He made 27 million people laugh on Christmas Day but he was so normal – when we were growing up, he was just dad to us. He was never the showbizzy type.

 

“To have a plaque in his memory would make us all so proud – it would be the icing on the cake.”

 

 

To support the project email Clare on hardingella@aol.com

 

[Creator Supreme]

Brilliant, one of the finest comedy writers to walk the planet.

[rubble-rouser]

Agree - I think he was some kind of distant cousin of mine according to my mum.

[Stickman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zHBN45fbo8

[gkmacca]

He had a trial for LFC. He liked to say, 'I had a trial for Liverpool, and then I thought I'd have a go at comedy, but Everton didn't want me, either'.

[Mook]

I'd never heard of him until this morning but am happy to say I'm a big fan of his, still watch the Morecamble & Wise stuff when it comes on & even fire them up on Youtube every now & again.

 

If he had anything to do with the breakfast song/sketch they did, he should get a massive statue, never mind a plaque, one of my favourite moments in the history of comedy.

[VladimirIlyich]

Shame on you Mook!

But seriously,he appeared a lot on the many documentaries and biographies about Morecambe and Wise that have been screened over the years and seemed a very nice chap indeed.

From the era that contained the likes of John Junkin,Barry Cryer and a multitude of pretty good British comedy and satirical writers too.

A plaque is the least he deserves.

[Guest davelfc]

Loved Morecambe and Wise and he always guested on the specials they now make of them, obviously a great comedy writer and I had no idea he had passed away.

He certainly is deserving of a plaque. 

[redinblack62]

The Andre Previn sketch is still my favourite comedy moment by anybody. Just genius.

[Total Longo]

The best one liner ever written is the "he won't sell much ice cream going at that speed" one when the fire engine goes past.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Brilliant.