Kurt at 14:14, 18 January 2023

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	\| caption =		\| caption = Vosburgh, Aug 1968
	\| birth_name = Richard Kennedy Vosburgh		\| birth_name = Richard Kennedy Vosburgh
	\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1929\|08\|27\|df=y}}		\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1929\|08\|27\|df=y}}

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	{{Short description\|American-British comedy writer and lyricist}}		{{Short description\|American-British comedy writer and lyricist}}
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Kurt at 14:12, 18 January 2023

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			\| birth_name = Richard Kennedy Vosburgh
			\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1929\|08\|27\|df=y}}
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			\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|2007\|04\|18\|1929\|08\|27\|df=y}}
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			\| nationality = American<!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
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	'''Richard Kennedy Vosburgh''' (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain.		'''Richard Kennedy Vosburgh''' (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain.

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External links

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	* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/v/vosburgh_dick.shtml BBC Comedy Guide]		* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/v/vosburgh_dick.shtml BBC Comedy Guide]
	* {{IMDb name\|0004180\|Dick Vosburgh}}		* {{IMDb name\|0004180\|Dick Vosburgh}}

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	{{DEFAULTSORT:Vosburgh, Dick}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Vosburgh, Dick}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

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en>Roisterer: italics

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italics

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{{Short description|American-British comedy writer and lyricist}}
'''Richard Kennedy Vosburgh''' (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain.

Vosburgh was born in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. He persuaded his father to let him study at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] in London (where he met his future wife, Beryl Roques) and won the Comedy Acting prize.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web|author=Michael Coveney|author-link=Michael Coveney|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/apr/21/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |title=Obituary: Dick Vosburgh |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |date=21 April 2007 |accessdate=2014-01-07}}</ref> He was soon writing for [[BBC Radio]], starting with scripts for [[Bernard Braden]] in 1953.<ref name=guardian/>

In the 60s he moved from radio to television, writing (and occasionally performing onscreen) on TV comedy shows like ''[[The Frost Report]]'', ''[[That Was The Week That Was]]'', ''[[We Have Ways of Making You Laugh]]'', ''[[Do Not Adjust Your Set]]'', ''[[At Last The 1948 Show]]'' and ''[[How To Irritate People]]''. On all these shows Vosburgh worked alongside members of what was to be [[Monty Python]] and he formed lasting friendships with them. He later appeared on one episode of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' as a bearded Russian spy who fights Lemming of the BDA, played by [[Eric Idle]]. Vosburgh also provided the serious-sounding voice-over on the theatrical trailer for the film ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]''.

Throughout the 70s he was in the top tier of British comedy writers often partnering with Garry Chambers and [[Barry Cryer]] on material, working on the most popular shows of the time like ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'', ''[[Morecambe and Wise]]'' and ''[[Who Do You Do?]]'' on which he was also script editor. ''Who Do You Do?'' pioneered a fast format of cutting between impressionists performing individual jokes against a neutral background which still feels modern today.

From the 70s onwards he wrote for many comedy television shows starring [[Ronnie Corbett]], [[Ronnie Barker]], [[David Frost]], [[Roy Hudd]], [[Bobby Davro]], [[Frankie Howerd]], [[Bob Monkhouse]], [[Lenny Henry]], [[Tommy Cooper]], [[Freddie Starr]] and even visiting US stars such as [[Bob Hope]] and [[Joan Rivers]].

Late in his career, he made one small return to radio and worked on material for the radio revival of the [[Marx Brothers]] show ''[[Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel]]''.

Vosburgh would often get called in to "gag up" an existing movie script (meaning to add extra jokes to make it funnier), and worked on many films including ''[[Up Pompeii (film)|Up Pompeii]]'', ''[[Up the Chastity Belt]]'', ''[[Carry On Nurse]]'' and ''[[Call Me Bwana]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1549370/Dick-Vosburgh.html |title=Dick Vosburgh |publisher=Daily Telegraph |date=23 April 2007 |accessdate=2014-01-07}}</ref> and the TV sitcom ''[[Tell It to the Marines (TV series)|Tell It to the Marines]]''.

According to legend, he did much of his writing while continuously riding the [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle Line]] of the [[London Underground]] to avoid interruptions.

As a trained actor with a deep American voice living in London, Vosburgh was in demand for voice-over work.
He voiced Larry Dart in the cult 1962 children's television show ''[[Space Patrol (1962)|Space Patrol]]''.
His voice also appeared on many radio and TV ads, for example, it was him saying "Flame-Grilled Whopper!" on Burger King's UK TV ads for years.
He was the recorded voice of The [[Grolier]] Electronic Encyclopedia, one of the first commercial CD-ROM titles.

As a lyricist, he had a reputation for being meticulous about the use of words and rhymes, and having a huge knowledge of the Hollywood and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] classic musicals. He wrote three West End musicals: the pastiche ''[[A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine]]'' with composer [[Frank Lazarus (performer)|Frank Lazarus]] (1979), ''[[Windy City (musical)|Windy City]]'' (with [[Tony Macaulay]], based on ''[[The Front Page]]'', 1982) and ''[[A Saint She Ain't]]'' (with [[Denis King]], 1999).

His greatest success was the Marx Brothers-parody musical comedy ''[[A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine]]'' for which he wrote book and lyrics. It started at a small fringe theatre, The New End in Hampstead, London and was an immediate hit. It soon transferred to the West End, running at the Mayfair Theater and was produced on Broadway the following year, 1980, in a significantly reworked version. It was a hit on Broadway, running for two seasons. It was this show that earned Vosburgh his three Tony nominations (Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Score (with composer Frank Lazarus)). Overall the show got 9 Tony nominations and won 2. The original Broadway cast recording was nominated for a Grammy, earning Vosburgh his Grammy nomination.

In an article for the Times in 1982, [[Jane Ellison]] calls him 'a compulsive worrier, perfectionist and master of the wisecrack'. In the same article Dick says of himself:

<blockquote>
"Television is not the ideal place for a Virgo to work. In fact, I am a Virgoan son of a Virgo, which is much much worse. I must be the most nit-picking person ever born - I sat up all night writing a speech for the wedding of one of my daughters. On stage, you can see the actors say your lines and you have a better chance to make them better next time. On television, you're reduced to clawing the screen."<ref>The Times Newspaper. Tuesday, July 20, 1982.</ref></blockquote>
He wrote many obituaries of comedians and [[B-movie]] actors for the ''Observer'' and ''The Times''.

According to writer Garry Chambers, "When you were told you were working with such a [difficult] person again, he would say 'Be sure to give him my loathe.'"
He also created the radio show of good songs from flop musicals ''Tunes the Backers Whistled While Jumping Off the Roof''.<ref name="independent">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dick-vosburgh-445395.html] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630210532/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dick-vosburgh-445395.html |date=June 30, 2008 }}</ref>

He is mentioned as being depicted in the background in the animated film ''[[A Liar's Autobiography]]''<ref>Commentary, A Liar's Biography.</ref>
He and his wife had 6 children including actress [[Tilly Vosburgh]] and musician Matthew Vosburgh of the band [[Solid Space]]. He died in London, aged 77.

==Obituaries written by Dick Vosburgh==
*[[Arnold Auberbach]]
*[[Joyce Blair]]
*[[Irving Brecher]]
*[[Bernard Bresslaw]]
*[[Bob Crosby]]
*[[Ted Dicks]]
*[[George Fenneman]]
*[[Buddy Feyne]]
*[[Ken Hoare]]
*[[Betty Hutton]]
*[[Paul Jerrico]]
*[[Leo Killion]]
*[[Dean Martin]]
*[[Spike Milligan]]
*[[Jack Paar]]
*[[Don Porter]]
*[[Dinah Shore]]
*[[Harold Spina]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070422133457/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2465894.ece ''The Independent'' Obituary]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/v/vosburgh_dick.shtml BBC Comedy Guide]
* {{IMDb name|0004180|Dick Vosburgh}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vosburgh, Dick}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]
[[Category:American comedy writers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:American musical theatre lyricists]]
[[Category:Writers from Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:Songwriters from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Actors from Elizabeth, New Jersey]]

Dick Vosburgh - Revision history

Kurt at 14:14, 18 January 2023

Kurt at 14:12, 18 January 2023

Kurt at 14:12, 18 January 2023

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