Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton
Born
Bernard M. Quinn

(1936-04-30) 30 April 1936 (age 88)
St Helens, Lancashire, England
OccupationEntertainer
Years active1971-present
Spouse
Marjorie Hancock
​
​
(m. 1961; died 2000)​
Children4

Bernie Clifton (born Bernard M. Quinn, 30 April 1936)[1] is a British comedian and entertainer, known for his work with his orange ostrich puppet costume Oswald the Ostrich.[2]

Early life

Clifton was born on 30 April 1936 in St Helens, Lancashire, where he also grew up.[2][3] He left grammar school without any qualifications at 15 and became an apprentice plumber. Aged 21, he was called up for national service and became a radar mechanic at the Bomber Command Bombing School (BCBS) at RAF Lindholme. He has been based in South Yorkshire ever since.[4][5]

Career

Clifton's first performing job was as a singer with a dance band, but he was fired after a month.[2] His first television performance was on the light-entertainment show The Good Old Days in 1971, where he was inspired by Les Dawson.[2]

He performed in the 1979 Royal Variety Performance.[6] He subsequently appeared on several further occasions, including the 2016 show.[7]

He made regular appearances on Crackerjack!.[8] During the 1980s, he appeared on The Keith Harris Show,[9] and in 1982, Clifton ran the London Marathon with Oswald the Ostrich.[1]

In 2002, Clifton featured on the BBC Two documentary series The Entertainers, which followed 1970s and '80s entertainers who had dropped out of the limelight.[10] In 2005, Clifton and Oswald appeared in Peter Kay's and Tony Christie's music video for the Comic Relief charity re-release of "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo".[6]

In 2005, Clifton appeared as himself in an episode of the David Renwick sitcom Love Soup having previously been mentioned by Renwick in an early episode of One Foot in the Grave.[11]

He made his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in 2006 at the Udderbelly venue. Writing in The Guardian, Brian Logan gave it 3 out of 5 stars and called it an "exercise in retro comedy", but "also unrepentantly funny".[12]

Clifton was a contestant on Series 5 of The Voice UK, applying under his birth name. He performed "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from Man of La Mancha, and did not advance past the blind auditions.[1] Following his appearance on the show he released an album of covers called The Impossible Dream, which included "The Lady in Red" and "Wind Beneath My Wings".[13] After a death metal band's song titles were printed on his album cover by mistake, Clifton presented an award at the Kerrang! Awards in June 2016.[14]

In 2018, he starred in ITV's Last Laugh in Vegas, a documentary following eight "showbiz legends" as they prepared a show in Las Vegas.[15]

In January 2020, Clifton appeared as a guest on the first episode of the new series of Crackerjack! on CBBC.[16] In February that year, he played himself in the first episode of Meet The Richardsons on Dave.[17] Within the episode, he is a family friend of Jon Richardson and teaches him how to operate a monkey puppet similar to his ostrich.[18]

Clifton has starred in several pantomimes, playing the father of Cinderella at the Hull New Theatre in 2018 and at Northampton's Royal & Derngate in 2019.[19][20] He has also presented shows on BBC Radio Sheffield,[21][22] and BBC Radio 4.[23][24] In 2018, Inside No. 9 titled an episode "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room"; while Clifton himself didn't appear in the episode, he was mentioned as part of a key plot point occurring in the titular room.[25] On 10 March 2022, he made an unplanned telephone appearance on the Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, having been referenced by comedian, Jon Richardson, who appeared on the radio show earlier that morning.[26]

Personal life

In 1961 Clifton married Marjorie Hancock. They went on to have four children together. Clifton was widowed on 9 September 2000.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1979 Royal Variety Performance Himself [6]
2002 The Entertainers Himself [10]
2005 Love Soup Himself series 1 episode 4
2016 The Voice UK Himself series 5, episode 1 [1][6]
2016 Royal Variety Performance Himself [7]
2018 Last Laugh in Vegas Himself 5 episodes [15]
2020 Crackerjack! Himself 1 episode [16]
2020 Meet The Richardsons Himself 1 episode [17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Bernie Clifton auditions on The Voice". BBC News. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Jamieson, Georgy (16 September 2017). "Bernie Clifton interview". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  3. ^ "FreeBMD District Info". Freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  4. ^ Bolton, Gay (1 August 2021). "We are Chesterfield: 'I owe this town a lot' says Crackerjack legend Bernie Clifton". Derbyshire Times. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  5. ^ Tolson, Jack (9 April 2021). "Bernie Clifton recalls fond Barnsley memories". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Ward, Rachel (10 January 2016). "Bernie Clifton moves Ricky Wilson to tears after surprise performance on The Voice". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016.
  7. ^ a b Lawrence, Ben (13 December 2016). "Is the Royal Variety Performance still fit for a king (or queen)?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. ^ Singh, Anita (11 February 2019). "Crackerjack makes a comeback: BBC revives children's show for a new generation". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  9. ^ Singh, Anita (28 April 2015). "Keith Harris, Orville ventriloquist, dies at 67". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. ^ a b Smith, Rupert (16 September 2002). "A generation of TV veterans are back". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  11. ^ ""Love Soup" They do Not Move (TV Episode 2005) - IMDb". IMDb.
  12. ^ Logan, Brian (17 August 2006). "Bernie Clifton, Udderbelly, Edinburgh". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Bernie Clifton in death metal mix-up". BBC News. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Bernie Clifton to go to Kerrang! Awards". BBC News. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Last Laugh In Vegas - ITV Factual". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  16. ^ a b "CBBC - Crackerjack!, Series 1, One". BBC. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Meet The Richardsons Series 1, Episode 1". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  18. ^ Young, Lottie (27 February 2020). "Meet The Richardsons offers a peek into the life of a comedy couple". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  19. ^ Wiser, Danny (23 December 2018). "Pantomime starring Anita Dobson criticised as 'sexist and lewd' as audience walk out during show". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  20. ^ Mooney, Lauren (11 December 2019). "Cinderella review at Royal and Derngate, Northampton". The Stage. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  21. ^ "BBC Radio Sheffield - Live-ish, 23/03/2019". BBC. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  22. ^ "BBC Radio Sheffield - BBC Radio Sheffield Special, The Golden Days of Working Men's Clubs". BBC. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  23. ^ Hepworth, David (26 October 2013). "Next week's radio: from Richard Tauber Revived to Studio 360". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  24. ^ Daoust, Phil (28 December 2006). "Radio pick of the day: The Material World | Under the Skin | The Pallisers". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  25. ^ "TV Review, Inside No. 9, Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room: Every detail is perfectly pitched". The Independent. 2018-01-10.
  26. ^ "Bernie Clifton & Chris put their differences aside! | The Chris ... YouTube · The Chris Moyles Show On Radio X". The Independent. 2018-01-10.