Norman At Ninety By DJ Chris Plant

As Sir Norman Wisdom approaches 90 years old. I pay tribute to the fine actor as I watch his films. My favourite Norman Wisdom film has to be On the Beat (1962). In On The Beat, Norman wants to be a policeman like his father was, but he fails the height test (amongst others). One day he gets out his father's old uniform and walks the beat. This leads to a level of chaos that only Norman could cause.

Sir Norman Wisdom is one of the smallest in the business but at 90 years of age he can still produce a performance to make 'em laugh and leave his audience begging for more. Sir Norman shows what a star he is, to have found fame and fortune from his humble beginnings. His parents separated and he was passed around in care, working as an errand boy, a pageboy and a cabin boy aboard ships.

Going back to find his father, who was with another partner, little Norman was left alone in a room and heard raised voices from next door. His father came back, threw him out and Norman stood on the step and vowed: I will never see you again as long as I live. - He never did. Working as a coal miner and walking hundreds of miles to get the job led him to eventually join the army as a musician. He bluffed his way past the bandmaster by pretending he could play but when questioned admitted he hadn't come across sharps and flats!

He spent several years with the army in India where he became an accomplished horseman and eventually made his debut as an entertainer in 1946 at the relatively advanced age of 31.

Happy Birthday Sir Norman!

On Friday 4th February 2005 it will be Norman's 90th birthday and it is possible for fans to celebrate with him! On Friday the Grand Order of Water Rats are holding a birthday luncheon, Norman at 90 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Bayswater, London. Guest of honour Sir Norman will be joined by fellow Water Rats including:

King Rat Melvyn Hayes, Joe Pasquale, Paul Daniels, Roy Hudd, Bert Weedon, Rick Wakeman and Jess Conrad, plus celebrity friends such as Burt Kwouk, Roger Kitter, Julie Rogers, Derek Bond, Linda Lusardi, Sam Kaine, Roy Barraclough, Angela Rippon, Andrew Sachs, Tim Healy, Denise Welch, Jeffrey Holland, Judy Buxton, Bill Tarmey, Saeed Jaffrey, Val Doonican, Brian Cant, Kriss Akabusi, Rustie Lee, Sir Tim Rice, James Herbert, The Cheeky Girls, Pamela Cundell and Nerys Hughes.

Tickets are £80 and include a champagne reception and three-course meal with wine. Can anyone lend me £80? It is a fact that in a lifetime devoted to making people laugh, Sir Norman Wisdom has never actually told a funny story. Every time he tries, he convulses, until he's laughing so much that it gets the rest of us in hysterics, too, without ever hearing the punch line. Sir Norman - "I Salute You Sir".. By DJ Chris Plant ( www.djchrisplant.co.uk )

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