Harry Secombe @ FashionState.Com

FashionState.Com salutes...

Clown Prince of Wales

Harry Secombe

1921-2001

"My voice is not so much 'bel canto' as 'can belto'." - Harry Secombe

Aside from a World War, it was an otherwise fine
morning in North Africa that morning in 1943. Then a
25-pounder gun fell from the sky nearly smack-dab on
Harry Secombe's gun unit at the bottom of a hill. Inside
a covered lorry, young Secombe made ready to surrender
when the back flap on the lorry was opened, and a gangly,
helmeted soldier asked, "Anyone seen a gun?" Secombe's
reply was immediate: "What color?"

It was the first meeting between Harry and a man named
Spike Milligan, but it was not destined to be their last. After
the war, meetings at the Grafton Arms pub linked up
Harry's friend Michael Bentine with Spike and a young
impressionist named Peter Sellers - all of them off-beat
comics and performers, their humor post-war edgy and
anarchic. And it was through chance meetings with and
through Harry Secombe that BBC Radio's best-loved
comedy program, "The Goon Show", found its catalyst.

Harry was a comic originally from Swansea, whose
exaggerated yet good-natured, rapid-fire Welsh
vocal booming and infectious giggle
made Harry's character Neddy Seagoon the obvious
choice to replace Michael Bentine's Osric Pureheart as
"The Goon Show"'s hero savant. Of the Goon trio of
Milligan, Sellers, and Secombe, Harry was the easiest-going
of them, the one who enjoyed the experience of
radio stardom and entertaining people just for itself the most.

Harry was comfortable with his audiences and more
secure than his comrades-in-Goonery over the humor of the
jokes and puns and outlandish situations their characters
weekly bore before ever-larger audiences. After "The Goon Show"
went off the air in 1960, Harry was able to expand his comic edge
and roots with his talent of singing, starring in musicals
such as "Pickwick", from which came the song that was to
become his signature tune, "If I Ruled the World".

Harry was a man generous with his time and attention
when it came to charities and benefits, and because of
his philanthropic work and his contribution to British
culture as a citizen of the first order, he was knighted in
1981, much to the surprise of his wife Myra and their
family and to the delight of Harry's swarms of
long-standing and dedicated fans.

Even afterwards, the indefatigable "Sir Neddy" would
not rest on his titled laurels. He performed for the troops
in the Falklands in 1983, continued charitable work for
organizations dedicated to diabetics and spastics, and
capped his television career with a 10-year run as
presenter of the Christian program, "Highway". Having focused
his singing primarily on gospel songs and spirituals, his audience
was already well established, and at every turn, Harry
attempted to be a good example to folks of faith - smiling,
welcoming, warm, and not afraid to laugh, even sometimes
at life's miseries. Even when he suffered from the stroke later
in life that ended his television career, he filmed a
documentary about his experiences in order to encourage
fellow sufferers through their own trials, fears, and frustrations.

"Anyone who, for 25 years, has built a career on such
tenuous foundations as a high-pitched giggle, a raspberry
and a sprinkling of top 'Cs' needs all the friends
he can get," Sir Harry once said about himself. Yet it was
also his great heart and his generosity that garnered him
so much affection over the years, and reading the tributes
about Sir Harry after his death in 2001, one senses the loss
of a friendly, national presiding genius and personal mate,
but one whose sunny disposition and tremendous laugh
and big heartedness always leave people with a smile.

Special Feature!!

FASHIONSTATE.COM SALUTES "THE GOON SHOW"

FashionState.Com's Secombe Snaps

WILD ABOUT HARRY

Links - Websites & Fansites

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BBC Wales Hall of Fame
BBC Wales' Knight in Shining Humor has his own place of honor.

The Heritage Foundation
This charitable organization that works with celebrities has a special section put aside for fun-loving philanthropist Harry Secombe.

Union Square Music
A review of Harry's "Highway of Life" CD.

University of Wales, Swansea
Harry's home city fetes his memory with a commemorative plaque. More info here.

Wales Online: Sir Harry Secombe - A Tribute
Wales' top online journal pays homage to its favorite comic son. Has links to Amazon.co.uk (where you can buy Harry's books, movies, and CDs) and a tribute page.

Obituaries

BBC News: Sir Harry Secombe dies
Several articles and a couple of audio clips are featured at the BBC's obituary of Harry Secombe. (Also in Welsh.)

British Theatre Guide
The announcement of the death of actor Harry Secombe.

Diabetes.Org
Sir Harry was President of Diabetes UK. Here is a tribute to him.

Entertainment Insiders
The obit from April 2001 features an entry on Harry.

Explore Gower
In-depth bio of Harry's life.

The Guardian (U.K.)
Info on Harry and his life, his career, and his charity work.

Multimedia News (Australia)
More info on Harry's work apart from the Goons.

Television Heaven
A wonderful, affectionate and detailed tribute to "Sir Neddy Seagoon".

Thomas Crosbie Media (Ireland)
A short bio in remembrance of Harry.

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