Jimmy Clitheroe was a star of Variety, films, radio and television.
Born in 1921, his career spanned five decades, from the 1930s to the 1970s,
and he made his mark in every medium of show business.
From small but humorous beginnings in Variety, as a boy in an all-girl
juvenile troupe, he moved into films, firstly with Arthur Lucan
(Old Mother Riley) and subsequently with George Formby, Jewel & Warriss
and Frank Randle. The two films he made with Randle
were for Film Studios (Manchester) Ltd, and are featured in a recent book.
In the 1940s he worked in Variety with comedians Albert Whelan and
Albert Burdon, principally in the North of England, and most
often in shows presented by John D Roberton or by Jack Taylor.
He began working in Blackpool.
He built an impressive reputation in Variety,
and in Blackpool set a record for the number of appearances in
summer season shows. He worked there with Frank Randle, Jimmy James
and Ken Dodd, amongst others.
He also played in Pantomime. His first panto appearance was alongside
Two Ton Tessie O’Shea in 1938. His final panto was in 1971.
In the mid-1950s, Jimmy Clitheroe moved into radio. His first appearance
was on the Home Service, in comedian Jimmy James’s show “The
Mayor’s Parlour”. He soon had his own series, “Call Boy” -
a Variety show.
Then came his biggest hit, “The Clitheroe Kid”. It ran for
15 years from 1957 on the Light Programme and Radio 2.
It was the BBC’s longest-running situation comedy.
· Listen to a clip
from the show (requires Winamp)
·
In the 1960s he broke into television, starring on ITV in “That’s My Boy” and “Just Jimmy”
for 5 years from 1963 to 1968. Both shows were made by ABC Television. In the 1960s he also made his best remembered
film, Rocket to the Moon,
which he made in 1967 with Burl Ives and Terry-Thomas.
Don’t some mothers ’ave ’em ?
Coming from a background in the Variety theatre,
his humour was broadly in the style of the “St Trinians” films
and early “Carry On” pictures. His most famous catchphrase was
“Don’t some mothers ’ave ’em” - though when
referring to Alfie, it was often amended to “Don’t some
twits mothers ’ave ’em”.
Another of his catchphrases was “I’m all there with me
cough drops” (a Lancashire expression for someone quick-witted).
When he got into a scrape - as he frequently did - his catchphrase was
“Ooh, flippin’ ’eck”.
He was born in Clitheroe, but his childhood was spent in the village of Blacko
near Nelson, Lancs. His first stage appearances were in the local Methodist Chapel,
performing in Sunday School concerts.
At the age of 14 he joined a professional juvenile troupe and began
touring in Variety with them, under the stage name “Little Jimmie”.
He never grew taller than 4ft 3ins. For most of his life he could
easily pass for an 11-year-old boy, a role he played to the hilt. He was
the eternal schoolboy.
He never told people his age, in case it spoiled the illusion, and always
performed in schoolboy cap and blazer (even at radio recordings, for the benefit
of the studio audience). He fostered the illusion by appearing in publicity stunts
for his local Boy Scout troop (dressed as a wolf cub), by living with his mother
after his father's death, and by seemingly never having a girlfriend.
It all helped to maintain his show business career,
which was dependent on that illusion. He almost
always played a schoolboy - in the Variety theatres,
in his films, on the wireless, on television, and on
record. And he maintained the illusion successfully until his death. To the
newspapers he always remained “the Peter Pan of Showbusiness”- the
little boy who never grew up.
Only in Pantomime,
and his 1967 film, did he step out of the cheeky
schoolboy role. Even then it was only to play Tom
Thumb - another part for which he was eminently suited.
But his most frequent Panto role was in “Aladdin”,
where he reverted to the cheeky boy, playing
Widow Twankey’s son, Wishee Washee.
As a celebrity, he was much in demand at public events. For
example, he opened the model village
Miniland at Belle Vue in
Manchester. He also opened local fetes, appeared
at charity events, and crowned local beauty queens.
He had many business interests outside show business. He owned
a racehorse, betting shops and a hotel. The latter was managed
for him initially by his boyhood friend from Blacko, Tommy Trafford,
who was also in show business.
Jimmy had a reputation for being “careful” with his money -
a trait he got from the hard background he endured in childhood,
growing up in the Great Depression. He maintained a very private
private-life, away from all his other interests, living quietly at
Blackpool in a semi-detached bungalow with his mother.
He died in June 1973, following her death. He was found
unconscious on the morning of her funeral and died later
the same day. An inquest found that his death was due to
an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.
If you have fond memories of Jimmy’s radio series,
“The Clitheroe Kid”, there are currently
some repeats from the series
on the new digital station BBC Radio 7
To check this week’s radio schedules for “The Clitheroe Kid” click here
Jimmy Clitheroe The Kid Himself
A Biography of the Clitheroe kid - by -
Stephen Poppitt & Sandra Skuse
An appeal for information
We’re writing a book about Jimmy Clitheroe’s life and career,
and in the course of our research we’ve spoken to many of his
surviving relatives, friends and colleagues.
But we’d still very much like to hear from anyone else who knew
or worked with him. Or if you have memories of Jimmy, even if you
only saw him in a theatre show or on TV, do please contact us.
We’re currently researching his later variety career, having completed
the research we needed to do in Lancashire and into his early show
business career of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
The Clitheroe Kid
We’re also looking for details about his co-stars in “The Clitheroe Kid” :
Scottish variety artist Peter Sinclair - who played
his Grandfather
Stage and screen actress Patricia Burke - who played
his Mother
Actress and singer Diana Day - who played his posh
sister, Susan (affectionately known in the show
as “scraggy neck”)
Oldham comedian Danny Ross - who played her daft
boyfriend, Alfie Hall
Comic Tony Melody - who played Jimmy’s
sworn enemy, Mr Higginbottom
Feedback
Anything concerning Jimmy or the others, no matter what,
is always of interest to us.
We’ve been researching this biography of Jimmy Clitheroe for the last 3 years,
and have met most of his surviving friends and colleagues. We’ve now researched
almost all of his career in radio, television and Variety.
A fascinating story it is too, going back to his earliest days in show business in
the 1930s, when he worked in pantomime and films with Old Mother Riley, and in
films with George Formby.
Jimmy’s best-remembered period is the 1960s, on BBC radio in “The Clitheroe
Kid” and on ITV in his tv series “Just Jimmy”, in which he starred alongside
Mollie Sugden and his “Clitheroe Kid” partner Danny Ross. We’ve talked to
“Clitheroe Kid” producer James Casey and to Mollie Sugden, among many others.
In the 1950s, Jimmy worked in Variety for two years with Ken Dodd,
who’s told us a lot about those shows and his memories of Jimmy.
We hope to publish the book in 2008.
· The book will be called
Jimmy Clitheroe - The Kid Himself ·
Copyright in "The Clitheroe Kid" is owned by James Casey / BBC
May not be used for commercial purposes except with written permission of the copyright owner
"The Clitheroe Kid" is NOT public domain!
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It all helped to maintain his show business career,
which was dependent on that illusion. He almost
always played a schoolboy - in the 
