A Ripe Old Age
It's hard not to smile, but affectionately, when his name is mentioned, because Arthur Askey has been making Britain laugh for more than half a century.
Long before he became nationally famous in the first regular BBC radio series. Band Waggon, with Richard Murdoch , he was building a reputation in touring and summer seaside companies, and, of course, panto.
Show business has been his life and his consuming interest, and making people laugh gives him his greatest pleasure. Not age or illness or accident can keep him long off the boards. But with a modesty rare in showbiz, the man who was among the first to master the new techniques of radio and television tells Robbie that he can't understand why he is still in demand when today's comedians are so much more talented than the old hands.
Producer TOM SAVAGE