My grandfather met Wilfried in a pub and he went back to my grandfather's house for tea and surprised my grandfather's sister who was a big fan. He said he was very well spoken and nothing like he was on steptoe and son. What a great actor he was 🙂
Wilfred Bramble was a classic actor as well as appearing in many films before Stephen and Son .....watch out for him in many old films on YT, his other performances might surprise you as he had a good character range
The rumours they hated each other is unfair and was untrue,....yes they were very different personalities, who led very different lives , and never really socialized ,...but had a great professional relationship , and respected each other's talents,....and the comedy magic they produced on screen together is up there with the finest this country as EVER produced....and Steptoe and son even to this day,...remains one of the funniest, and brilliantly written and acted comedies to ever grace our tellys.......wonderful series
If any actor today behaved like Bramble did in the 60s they would be slung in gaol. "We had very different lives", yeah Corbett didn't hang around public toilets at night and wasn't BFF with Jimmy Savile and Charles Hawtrey (carry on), Same choice in perversions.
@@kooringagnd Actually he hated Charles Hawtree ( as did all the Carry On folk) & he also had no link to Saville at all! You're just a nasty minded gossip.
@@markharrison2544 Nothing wrong with the series it was brilliant. People still have those views they just don't air them as much. Political correctness will never win.
Not many of us knew Wilfred Bramble was actually irish and born in Dublin. Most people think he was from England. A great actor and also Harry H Corbett RIP both of them 🙏🙏 and thankyou both for the timeless comedy acting you left us all with.
I have a childhood memory of Wilfred on a news programme, maybe Nationwide, speaking about Harry. I remember it because I asked my dad why he was crying. He said because his friend had died. I think this was the first occasion I’d ever seen an adult in tears.
I saw that episode of Nationwide as well. Wilfred was paying tribute to Harry, day in front of a large black and white image of him. I was really young and the idea of death really spooked me so it sticks in my mind.
It didn't matter then, and it doesn't matter now wether they were friends, or not. They were brilliant together on set and made one of the greatest situation comedies, EVER seen on TV.
@@keithrich8373 i think the rumours that they hated each other simply was not true. My dad told me that for years. They may not had been best friends and clash a bit but they certainly did not hate each other there was respect. Very similar to Leonard rooster and Francis de la tour. They often clashed but did not hate each other and had respect. There own screen chemistry was magic as rigsby and miss Jones,. Just like steptoe and son.
Wilf wept openly & loudly all through Harry H's funeral service, & the widowed Mrs Corbett was one of less than a dozen attendees at Wilfs very private funeral.
I am old enough to have watched Steptoe and son the first time around and it still has to be one of the best comedy shows ever, they were both great actors and there's been no one like them since.
I was born in 76, So I grew up with my Mum and Dad watching Steptoe. I remember my Dad howling with laughter. I still love this show. They were brilliant together.. Old Steptoes voice “Harold”.Always up to something or other and eternally Skint. Gold.
I think that episode is one of the best examples of perfect writing and casting ever. It has everything; humour, pathos, drama and social comment. Just wonderful.
They, with Morcambe and Wise were my absolute favourites when I was a kid. I have nothing but love in my heart for the joyful memories they, and many more, have have left us .
They did work well together although they had totally different styles, Wilfrid was a 'natural' who could just turn the character off & on whereas Harry had to think himself into the part like a method actor
i think wilfred was given the funniest parts of the scripts but harry was the true actor, all those big pieces of story telling/roll play stuff Harold used to do like when he was talking-to the wall pug in divided we stand was pure acting talent .
Those that know Steptoe and Son....remember when he dropped the jar of pickled onions in his bath and tried to put them back? My dad spat his false teeth out across the room. We all near died laughing that night and that's no lie.
Steptoe and son were a class act, i and many others work with people we hate but get on with it to get the job done. Wilf and Harry rest in peace, your legend will live on.
Yes, Harry got the part at short notice when Sid James had a heart attack, notice that in the next film Carry On Doctor Sid spends most of the film in bed..
Old Wilfred's best acting was in the two films they made ..should have made more films ..Galton n Simpson were up there with best sit com writers of the era ...
Yeah, a lot of popular 70's sitcoms made feature films and they usually get slated, but i LOVED both Steptoe and Son feature films!!! i also have a soft spot for the George & Mildred film and not strictly taken from a sitcom but the Dick Emery film 'Ooh you are awful' is a cracking film starring a lot of characters from his sketch show.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams.
I have a book all about Steptoe written by the writers and it says that Wilfrid broke down in tears live on TV over the death of Harry. I dont believe it was as bad as the Curse Of Steptoe made out. Its 40 years ago now, lets remember them for the fantastic work of Steptoe
I can remember seeing a late night interview with Wilfred on the day the death was announced; I'm sure it was the first tv interview he did that day. I don't remember tears but I do remember the profound shock on his face and just stating and Harry was a lovely man.
Shame on anybody in this comment section for mentioning his sexuality. Harry H Corbett was one of the best actors the UK has ever produced. He gave us so much joy as Arold but if he hadn't had got the part he would have been a massive, massive star. Check out " Rattle of a simple man " and " Cover girl Killer" . Steptoe & Son was the pinnacle of British comedy and one of two comedies that had just as funny spin off movies as the series...the other being Bless this House with the brilliant Sid James. We don't produce comedy any more..I look at what's on today and I could cry. I have the collection of DVDs with every episode and watch them regularly. you will never get better than the best. Thank You Galton & simpson.
@@THX-2208 They didn't hate each other. That programme was wrong. Many people have said so. The day after Harry H. Corbett died Wilfrid Brambell was interviewed on Nationwide. He was so upset he could hardly speak. That wasn't the reaction of some-one talking about some-one he hated.
@@robertguest5215 that story is actually untue. It was because Harry was going on holiday with his family and Wilfred was going home so they were going to different places hence had to use different planes.
@@madabbafan .mate, by the end of it, they could not stand each other .there is a very good doco explaining it all.............wilfred was a right pain in the a..
@@robertguest5215 yes the documentary, which Harry H Corbet's nephew described as untrue as regards their relationship and that they catergorically did not hate each other. I think I will take the words of a family member over a film maker. If they did hated each other so much then why would Corbett's widow have attened Brambell's funeral?
@JuanMacready He was never a paedophile he was just gay, but a unique actor at the sametime. which some british actors nowadays will never match the great classic british actors from the 50's, 60's and even the 70's
Not many of the greats left alive. Truly saddens me and im only 36, my era had crap like Lenny Henry and the like. Although i am a massive fan of 'My family'
The reason why this is probably the greatest comedy of then all is ,most of the episodes had just the two main characters in it . Occasionally you had other people in it but for two actors to be so close in the house for most of the time is fantastic.
It was very believable comedy, the actual set was 100% authentic and convincing, cluttered, fascinating, rich, earthy, i was young when it was on but would be riveted by it, very high quality, the situations were so convincing and had an uncomfortable feel i guess the anxiety of impending failure, but, so real, it's a classic, could never be recreated, an era that is gone forever, that really we took for granted, quirky and the old replaced by mundane tedious dull urbanisation, Boris bring back the rag and bone men.
He lived in Moreton Place Pimlico. I was born in in Denbigh Street diagonally across from his street. I remember my dad telling me when he was on the TV that he lived opposite somewhere. Great show, they were very funny together. Still enjoy watching Steptoe and Son today.
I loved the episode Back in Fashion. Where Harold thinks he looks cool in a smoking jacket and shades. And the lovely girl thinks his blind. Classic. Poor old Harold. Thanks for all the laughter you gave us. ❤
Got the box set and always watched them when a kid on a Sunday after a bath 😂 You'll never get comedies like this again,absolutely priceless! Although they never got on in real life it never showed in there performances in front of the camera and that's just how great actors they both were!
@@gargk999 is that where steptoe utters the immortal line 'blacker than a gorillas goolies' that line absolutely creases me up , just the way he delivers it totally deadpan but one of the funniest lines ever
It’s a nice tribute they had a lot of chemistry together despite not liking each other it’s a sad tribute in a way, it’s even sadder knowing that Wilfred Brambell would die two years later.
The writers of the show and a couple of Corbett’s family members have disputed that they didn’t like each other. No one is saying they were best friends or didn’t have a difference of opinion her and there but to say they didn’t like each other is false
@@stephenthornber1961 Back in the 1970s, I was living at home with my family in Henley on Thames. Just up river from us was, at that time, Danny la Rue's house. Wilfred Bramble used to stay with him regularly, and it wasn't unusual to see them out and about together. Always friendly and happy to chat to people. The local people were used to seeing them, so it was generally just good morning or whatever. Tourists used to be shocked to see them. Particularly as sometimes, I suppose just for fun, they would both be dressed as women.
Brambell was not a 'paedophile'. He was gay when it was still illegal to be gay in Britain, and when it was legalised, the legal age to be a gay man was far higher, at 21, than that of a heterosexual man, at 16. Everything Brambell did naturally as a gay man would be totally legal today. It was only homosexuality between men that was deemed 'illegal' in Britain back then too, there was never any law against being a gay woman. The so-called 'laws' in Britain back then were an absolute disgrace.
I always vividly remember seeing Wilfrid Brambell being interviewed on the BBC current affairs show Nationwide directly after Harry H Corbett died and he was in bits - absolutely crying his eyes out. It would be interesting to see that clip again. It would certainly put paid to the claims they hated each other.
Harry H Corbett would've been the next Laurence Olivier, but Steptoe (although i love the show sooooo much) type cast him. Poor Wilfred (and again, i'm no expert on what happened in his life) but bless him. x
My best comedy ever 🇬🇧 harold weres that tea, you smell worse than a pair of zoo keepers boots god rest there souls! my dad would watch them when i was a young lad so i just started to like them from then 🇬🇧👍💯 greatest rag n bone men in the skys🇬🇧 thanks ray n alan 👍
For anyone interested in finding out more about the great Wilfred Brambell I recommend reading "Old Never Stops" by Phillip Glass. It's sheds a little light on the great man's life story ❤
I think the best program ever made before people were sensitive. The intelligence of both these actors shone through, to come out with the complicated dialog they both did alot of I'm sure impromptu, was fascinating and wonderous especially Harry H. I wish we could of had them frozen In time forever , if ya know what I mean. 👍
This was filmed in Brambells flat in Pimlico. Brambell was a collector of antique silver as can be seen. Harrys funeral was attended by the cream of showbusiness Brambells had less than a dozen. Very sad.
On the day of Wilfrid's funeral, at Streatham crematorium, it was absolutely lashing with rain and it is said that there was only about six people there. Very sad.
He came from a middle class protestant background in Dublin when ireland was still part of the uk which maybe accounts for his accent although it could also be attributed to his life in England in the theatre and TV and films
@@johnmurphy7316 if you watch the Steptoe films he stands in front of the TV and salutes the TV when the Queen is on playing the national anthem in Steptoe and son,also there was Union Flag drapped over he's coffin in the Steptoe and Rides again.
Camp Freddy ,Well in Steptoe and Son he is obviously playing an English character, more specifically a Cockney of the Shepherds Bush variety, so it's no surprise that he salutes the Queen or has a Union Jack draped over his coffin. But I've no idea what he felt in real life as Wilfred Brambell . He may have left Dublin far behind when he came to England but he could take off a brilliant and very funny Irish accent as in A Hard Days Night film .He was a very gifted comedian .
Great Actor, Steptoe and son was a classic, both performers lead different lifes away from their roles ..but what they created was great. When the dead cant speak many assumtions are made on remaining opinions of others. And its sad individuals that believe such.....without knowing Facts.
I met a guy in the 1970’s who was propositioned by Wildred Bramble. He was an adult at the time, not a child. Yes he and Harry lived different life styles
If Wilfrid wanted, he too could have had a large house, dogs, cats etc with him and his partner, but he didn't. He earned just as much money as Harry did, even bigger, as in the 1960s his agent got Wilfrid £1,000 an episode deal with the BBC, something no other actor ever got. He made enough money, but chose to spend it on antiques and not on living space.
When the bbc had great comedy shows..now it's just full of crap quiz shows/buying or selling your house/ antiques shows..now we have a stupid bloody ..dog grooming show...they are too terrified to show anything just incase it upsets someone..
There will never be tv or people like them all the greats that's for sure I'm glad I was around to see and have witnessed it not like the bullshit of today.