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	~~{{short description\|English actor}}~~
	~~{{EngvarB\|date=November 2017}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2017}}~~
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| ~~name~~ = Eric Barker		\| image = Actor Eric Barker.jpg
	~~\| image = Actor_Eric_Barker~~.jpg
	\| imagesize =		\| imagesize =
	\| caption = in ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]'' (1958)		\| caption = in ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]'' (1958)
	\| birth_name = Eric Leslie Barker		\| birth_name = Eric Leslie Barker
	\| birth_date = {{birth date~~\|df=y~~\|1912\|02\|12}}		\| birth_date = {{birth date\|1912\|02\|12\|df=y}}
	\| birth_place = [[Thornton Heath]], England		\| birth_place = [[Thornton Heath]], England
	\| death_date = {{death date and age~~\|df=y~~\|1990\|06\|01\|1912\|02\|12}}		\| death_date = {{death date and age\|1990\|06\|01\|1912\|02\|12\|df=y}}
	\| death_place = [[Faversham]], England		\| death_place = [[Faversham]], England
	\| occupation = Comedy actor		\| occupation = Comedy actor

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External links

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	==External links==		==External links==
	~~{{Portal\|Biography}}~~
	* {{IMDb name\|0054879}}		* {{IMDb name\|0054879}}

	~~{{Bafta Award for Most Promising Newcomer}}~~

	~~{{Authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Eric}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Eric}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

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2A02:C7D:D627:9100:7507:72B3:5ED0:4BF1 at 14:21, 16 April 2022

2022-04-16T14:21:49Z

New page

{{short description|English actor}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eric Barker
| image = Actor_Eric_Barker.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = in ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]'' (1958)
| birth_name = Eric Leslie Barker
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1912|02|12}}
| birth_place = [[Thornton Heath]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1990|06|01|1912|02|12}}
| death_place = [[Faversham]], England
| occupation = Comedy actor
| years_active = 1916–1978
| spouse = [[Pearl Hackney]]
| awards = BAFTA {{awd|Most Promising Newcomer to Film|1958|[[Brothers in Law (film)|Brothers in Law]]|Alec Blair}}
}}

'''Eric Leslie Barker''' (12 February 1912 – 1 June 1990) was an English comedy actor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f591958|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721215350/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f591958|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-21|title=Eric Barker|work=BFI}}</ref> He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British ''[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]]'' films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning for ''[[Carry On Emmannuelle]]'' in 1978.<ref name=allmovie>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/eric-barker-p3946|title=Eric Barker – Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos – AllMovie|author=Hal Erickson|work=AllMovie}}</ref>

==Career==
Eric Barker was born in [[Thornton Heath]], London, on 20 February 1912, the youngest of three children. He was brought up in [[County Borough of Croydon|Croydon]], Surrey, and educated at [[Whitgift School]]. He joined his father's paper merchants' company in the city but left to concentrate full-time on writing. His first novel ''The Watch Hunt'' was published when he was eighteen. He wrote short stories and plays, appearing in the latter himself and gradually turned to writing and performing lyrics, revues and sketches for stage and on radio.

He later became one of the most familiar faces in British comedy in his day. Barker gained his renewed start in show business during the [[Second World War]], when he was part of the armed forces radio show ''[[Merry-Go-Round (radio programme)|Merry Go Round]]'', which he helped to write. After the war the show continued, alternating between Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy shows. The Navy show was named ''Waterlogged Spa'', with Barker and his wife, actress [[Pearl Hackney]]. His "Steady Barker" catchphrase and verbal stumbling over words beginning with the letter "h" became well known to audiences.<ref name=allmovie/> The show's success led to Barker's starring in other radio shows, where he achieved a sizeable following due to his versatility at doing voices.

In the 1950s, he moved into television and films. On television he wrote and appeared in his own show, ''The Eric Barker Half-Hour'', a comedy sketch show on the [[BBC]]. As well as his wife, the cast included [[Nicholas Parsons]] and [[Deryck Guyler]].<ref>
{{cite web
| title = The Eric Barker Half-Hour
| publisher = [[IMDb]]
| url = https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1607982/?ref_=m_tt_ov_inf
| access-date = 27 January 2019
}}
</ref> The show ran for three series (21 episodes) between 1951 and 1953, and was broadcast fortnightly on Wednesdays around 9.00 pm. Such was Barker's success that it led to him writing his autobiography ''Steady Barker'' in 1956.

He had already appeared as an adult in nine films, including ''Carry On London'', a 45-minute crime short in 1937.<ref>This film is unconnected to the later ''[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]]'' British comedy film series.</ref> when in 1958 he received a [[BAFTA]] as "Most Promising Newcomer" for his role as a barrister's clerk in the film ''[[Brothers in Law (film)|Brothers in Law]]'' (1957).<ref>
{{cite web
| title = BAFTA Awards Database
| publisher = [[BAFTA]]
| url = http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?sq=eric+barker
| access-date = 4 May 2008
}}
</ref> The award led to more film work over the next 20 years, including three ''[[St Trinians]]'' films, and four in the classic ''[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]]'' British comedy film series. He found his niche in playing variations on the busybody sticking his nose in everyone's business, or as some authority figure, ''[[Carry On Constable]]'' (1960) being a good example. Along with [[Kenneth Williams]] and [[Kenneth Connor]], he is the only actor to appear in the first, ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]'' in 1958, and the last of the original series of ''Carry On'' films, ''[[Carry On Emmannuelle]]'' in 1978. Barker's other ''Carry On'' appearance was in ''[[Carry On Spying]]'' (1964).

In that same year (1964) he appeared in the ITC filmed series ''[[Danger Man]]'', playing the titular character in "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove". Barker took his "authoritarian busybody" characterisation to the limit, with the twist that Mr. Lovegrove existed only in spy [[John Drake (Danger Man)|John Drake]]'s semi-unconscious mind after crashing his car on his way to the airport, inspired by one of the responding ambulance operators attending the scene of Drake's accident.

Barker was also a writer and published a number of novels: ''Sea Breezes'' in the early 1930s under the pen name of Christopher Bentley and ''Day Gone By'' under his own name in 1933, as well as ''Golden Gimmick'' in 1958 published by [[Hodder & Stoughton]]. According to [[P. G. Wodehouse]], Barker had "a real talent for humorous writing".<ref>P. G. Wodehouse (ed.), ''A Century of Humour'', Hutchinson and Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 1935, p. 775.</ref>

==Personal life==
Barker married the actress [[Pearl Hackney]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/6274759/Pearl-Hackney.html|title=Pearl Hackney|date=8 October 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> (28 October 1916 – 18 September 2009) with whom he often worked, though she also had a comedy career of her own. They had a daughter, [[Petronella Barker (actress, born 1942)|Petronella Barker]], in 1942, who also appeared in films and television between 1964 and 1983.

In 1971, Barker was the subject of the British [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] television show ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]''.

Barker died in [[Canterbury]], Kent, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's, [[Stalisfield Green]], near [[Faversham]], where he had lived for a number of years.

==Partial filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Tom Brown's Schooldays (1916 film)|Tom Brown's Schooldays]]'' (1916) – Arthur
* ''[[Daddy (1917 film)|Daddy]]'' (1917) – John, as a child
* ''[[Nelson (1918 film)|Nelson]]'' (1918) – Nelson as a child
* ''[[His Dearest Possession]]'' (1919) – Charlie Lobb
* ''[[The Toilers (1919 film)|The Toilers]]'' (1919) – Jack as a child
* ''[[Sheba (film)|Sheba]]'' (1919) – Rex Ormatroyd
* ''[[On Velvet]]'' (1938)
* ''[[The World Owes Me a Living]]'' (1945) – Chuck Rockley
* ''[[Brothers in Law (film)|Brothers in Law]]'' (1957) – Alec Blair
* ''[[Blue Murder at St Trinian's]]'' (1957) – Culpepper Brown
* ''[[A Clean Sweep]]'' (1958) – George Watson
* ''[[Happy Is the Bride]]'' (1958) – Vicar
* ''[[Carry On Sergeant]]'' (1958) – Captain Potts
* ''[[Bachelor of Hearts]]'' (1958) – Aubrey Murdock
* ''[[Left Right and Centre]]'' (1959) – Bert Glimmer
* ''[[Carry On Constable]]'' (1960) – Inspector Mills
* ''[[Dentist in the Chair]]'' (1960) – The Dean
* ''[[Watch Your Stern]]'' (1960) – Capt. David Foster
* ''[[The Pure Hell of St Trinian's]]'' (1960) – Culpepper-Brown
* ''[[Nearly a Nasty Accident]]'' (1961) – The Air Minister
* ''[[Dentist on the Job]]'' (1961) – Colonel J.J. Proudfoot / The Dean
* ''[[Raising the Wind (1961 film)|Raising the Wind]]'' (1961) – Dr. Morgan Rutherford
* ''[[On the Fiddle]]'' (1961) – Doctor
* ''[[The Fast Lady]]'' (1962) – Wentworth
* ''[[On the Beat (1962 film)|On the Beat]]'' (1962) – Police Doctor
* ''[[The Mouse on the Moon]]'' (1963) – M.I.5. Man
* ''[[Heavens Above!]]'' (1963) – Bank Manager
* ''[[Father Came Too!]]'' (1963) – Mr. Gallagher
* ''[[The Bargee]]'' (1964) – Mr. Parkes, the Foreman
* ''[[Carry On Spying]]'' (1964) – The Chief
* TV series ''[[Gideon's Way]]'' episode ''[[How To Retire Without Really Working]]'' (1964) as petty crook Eric Barker
* ''[[Ferry Cross the Mersey (film)|Ferry Cross the Mersey]]'' (1965) – Col. Dawson
* ''[[Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines]]'' (1965) – French Postman
* ''[[Doctor in Clover]]'' (1966) – Prof. Halfbeck
* ''[[The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery]]'' (1966) – Culpepper Brown
* ''[[Three Hats for Lisa]]'' (1966) – Station Sergeant
* ''[[Maroc 7]]'' (1967) – Prof. Bannen
* ''[[Lola (1969 film)|Twinky]]'' (1969) – Tight Scottish Clerk
* ''[[Cool It Carol!]]'' (1970) – Signalman
* ''[[There's a Girl in My Soup]]'' (1970) – Wedding Guest (uncredited)
* ''[[That's Your Funeral]]'' (1972) – Pusher
* ''[[Carry On Emmannuelle]]'' (1978) – Ancient General (final film role)
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IMDb name|0054879}}

{{Bafta Award for Most Promising Newcomer}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Eric}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male silent film actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English male radio actors]]
[[Category:People from Thornton Heath]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:People educated at Whitgift School]]
[[Category:BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles winners]]
[[Category:People from Stalisfield Green]]

Eric Barker - Revision history

Kurt at 16:56, 18 February 2023

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2A02:C7D:D627:9100:7507:72B3:5ED0:4BF1 at 14:21, 16 April 2022