Dick Emery

Dick Emery (born Richard Gilbert Emery) was an English comedian and comic actor whose career spanned nearly four decades, from the post‑war variety circuit to the peak of British television in the 1970s. Born on 19 February 1915 in Bloomsbury, London, he grew up in a travelling showfamily; his parents performed as the comedy duo Callan and Emery and even took him on stage when he was only three weeks old. After a fragmented childhood marked by his parents' split, Emery tried numerous occupations—including mechanic, farmhand and driving instructor—before being conscripted into the Royal Air Force during World II, where he rose to corporal and entertained troops with the RAF Gang Show. Following the war he returned to the London stage, appearing at the Windmill Theatre and touring a fledgling comic act that eventually led to radio work on Workers' Playtime and a guest spot on The Goon Show in 1957. His television breakthrough arrived in 1950 on The Centre Show and continued with appearances on Round the Bend, Educating Archie and The Tony Hancock Show. The creation of his self‑titled series, The Dick Emery Show, in 1963 cemented his status as a household name; over eighteen series and 166 episodes he performed a parade of memorable characters such as the effeminate “Sgt. Two‑pints” and the flirtatious “Mandy” while often appearing in drag. In addition to television, Emery contributed voices to the Beatles’ animated film Yellow Submarine (1968) and starred in films like The Fast Lady (1962) and The Big Job (1965). He recorded novelty singles, the most successful being “If You Love Her” (1969), and maintained a public persona that blended bawdy humour with a surprisingly shy off‑stage temperament, leading him to undergo psychoanalysis and hypnosis to combat severe stage fright. His personal life was turbulent: five marriages—including Joan Salisbury, Irene Ansell, Iris Tully, Victoria Chambers and Josephine Blake—and four children (Gilbert, Nicholas, Michael and Eliza). Emery was also an avid pilot, a model‑making enthusiast and president of the Airfix Modellers’ Club. He died on 2 January 1983 in London after a brief hospitalisation, leaving behind a legacy of bold character comedy that influenced later British sketch artists.