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| {{Short description|English comedian}}
| | #REDIRECT [[w:Mike Yarwood]] |
| {{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
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| {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
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| {{Multiple issues|
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| {{BLP sources|date=August 2010}}
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| {{Tone|date=August 2010}}}}
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| {{Infobox person
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| | honorific_prefix =
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| | name = Mike Yarwood
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| | birth_name = Michael Edward Yarwood
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| | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%||OBE}}
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| | image =
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| | caption =
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| | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|6|14|df=y}}
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| | birth_place = [[Bredbury and Romiley Urban District|Bredbury]], [[Cheshire]], England
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| | death_date =
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| | death_place =
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| | occupation = Actor, comedian, impressionist
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| | years_active = 1966–1995
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| | spouse =
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| | website =
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| }}
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| '''Michael Edward Yarwood''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%||OBE}} (born 14 June 1941)<ref name=Birth>{{cite web|title=Birthdays today|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2013-6-14.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130614110002/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2013-6-14.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 14 June 2013 |work=The Telegraph|location=London|accessdate=10 June 2014|date=14 June 2013|quote=Mr Mike Yarwood, entertainer, 72 }}</ref> is an English [[Impressionist (entertainment)|impressionist]], [[comedian]] and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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| ==Early life==
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| Michael Edward Yarwood was born on Saturday, 14 June 1941<Ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1941&country=9 | title=Year 1941 Calendar – United Kingdom }}</ref> in [[Bredbury]], [[Cheshire]]. After leaving Secondary Modern School, he worked as a messenger and then salesman at a garment warehouse. He played football as a child, but did not pursue a professional career. Later he was a director of the [[Stockport County]] football club.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
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| ==Career==
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| ===London Palladium===
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| Yarwood appeared on British television shows in the 1960s and 1970s. Before his various eponymous BBC Television series, he worked for the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] franchise holder [[Associated TeleVision|ATV]], and for [[Thames Television]] after he left the BBC. Yarwood owed his initial success to the ''[[Sunday Night at the London Palladium]]'' variety "spectacular", on which he first appeared in 1964. His appearance coincided with the senior political career of [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] leader and the Prime Minister, [[Harold Wilson]], whom Yarwood impersonated.
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| ===Topping the TV ratings===
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| At their height, Yarwood's [[BBC TV]] shows regularly attracted 18 million viewers. The shows included a variety mix of comic sketches, guest musicians and a closing song sung by Yarwood (introduced by the line, "and this is me", which became the title of his first autobiography).
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| Among the prominent personalities he portrayed were:
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| * [[Eddie Waring]] – [[rugby league]] commentator
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| * [[Brian Clough]] – [[association football|football]] manager
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| * [[Robin Day]] – political interviewer on the [[BBC]]
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| * [[Magnus Pyke]] – TV science presenter
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| * [[Alf Garnett]] – [[Warren Mitchell]]'s character from ''[[Till Death Us Do Part (British TV series)|Till Death Us Do Part]]''
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| * [[Columbo (TV series)|Columbo]] – [[Peter Falk]]'s American detective in the series of the same name
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| * [[Frank Spencer (Michael Crawford)|Frank Spencer]] – the comic creation of sitcom actor [[Michael Crawford]]
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| * [[Edward Heath|Ted Heath]] – Wilson's [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] rival
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| Using [[Chroma key|colour-separation overlay]] and video editing, Yarwood frequently staged set-pieces in which he appeared as several characters at the same time using pre-recorded segments.
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| Yarwood's performance as Harold Wilson became his trademark. He briefly caused some controversy by including [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] as one of his regular impressions.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
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| The ''Mike Yarwood Christmas Show'' in 1977 was watched by 21.4 million people, and is the highest-rated British television programme of that year. The show remains [[List of most watched television broadcasts in the United Kingdom#Most watched programmes|one of the most-watched]] television programmes (excluding news and sport) in British history.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051122221511/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1970s.html Britain's Most Watched TV – the 1970s] archived from ''www.bfi.org.uk'', accessed 31 March 2020</ref>
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| Yarwood was the subject of a ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' special, presented by [[Eamonn Andrews]] on 31 May 1978. A behind-the-scenes documentary called ''Mike Yarwood: This is His Life'' was made six years later, also featuring Andrews, alongside contributions from Bruce Forsyth, David Frost and Harold Wilson.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tv24.co.uk/p/mike-yarwood-this-is-his-life-rr80tf | title=Mike Yarwood: This is His Life, 5:00am on That's TV }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://tv24.co.uk/b/rh7f40-2kuy | title=Mike Yarwood: This is His Life, 5:00am on That's TV }}</ref>
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| ===Characters' catchphrases===
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| Yarwood's characterisations also created catchphrases which came to be identified with famous figures, even if they never actually used them. However, the two most famous were spoken by the people he caricatured. "Silly Billy", spoken by his caricature of [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Denis Healey]], was used by Healey to describe strikers. It was rumoured that "I mean that most sincerely, folks", spoken by Yarwood's caricature of ''[[Opportunity Knocks (UK TV series)|Opportunity Knocks]]'' presenter [[Hughie Green]], was made up by Yarwood, however it was first spoken by Green.<ref>{{cite web|title = 'Television s Greatest Hits – 1966 – Game Shows'|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCc_UjqZxE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/yPCc_UjqZxE| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|publisher=Youtube.com|accessdate=20 October 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
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| ===Part of the Cotton Crew in the BBC===
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| Yarwood's career peaked during the 1970s when he was one of a stable of stars under the BBC Light Entertainment [[impresario]] [[Bill Cotton]], alongside [[Bruce Forsyth]], [[Dick Emery]], [[Morecambe and Wise]], [[Val Doonican]] and [[the Two Ronnies]], all these performers having started their careers on ITV during the preceding decade. By the late 1970s some of them left the BBC and returned to independent television.
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| Both Yarwood and Morecambe and Wise signed up with [[Thames TV]], Morecambe and Wise went to Thames in 1978 with Yarwood signed by Thames in 1982, with mixed results; Morecambe and Wise fared better than Yarwood and their ratings remained relatively high. Forsyth signed to [[LWT]] and suffered a terrible start when his ''Big Night'' series was cancelled. However, unlike Yarwood, Forsyth bounced back and enjoyed success with ''[[Play Your Cards Right]]''.
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| ===Late career===
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| Yarwood's Thames TV show was cancelled at the end of 1987,<ref name=SO_MY>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874465/index.html Yarwood, Mike (1941–)] ''www.screenonline.org.uk'', accessed 31 March 2020</ref> and he concentrated on stage work. Subsequent attempts to resurrect his television career failed, although he did make an appearance on the satirical show ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' in November 1995.<ref>[https://sharetv.com/shows/have_i_got_news_for_you_uk/episodes/237039?mode=desktop 10x03 Melvyn Bragg, Mike Yarwood] ''sharetv.com'', accessed 31 March 2020</ref>
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| In the mid-1990s, Yarwood had the chance to return to the stage as prime minister [[John Major]], but failed to re-establish himself before Major's premiership ended. He claimed that one of the difficulties in impersonating John Major and [[Tony Blair]] was that they were "nice guys".{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
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| In 2003, Yarwood made a public appearance at the Albany Comedy Club in London, at the invitation of [[Bob Monkhouse]]. It was Monkhouse's last show.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koFrPs_80gQ&t=2159s Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand] ‘'Youtube.com'’</ref>
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| In 2021, Yarwood's Christmas shows were licensed from Fremantle/Thames by [[That's TV]] who wanted to broadcast the shows as part of its festive offering, alongside other programmes such as The Kenny Everett Show, Benny Hill and Beadle's About, all of which have not been seen in full on a British television channel in more than 20 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thats.tv/ |title=Home |website=thats.tv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2021/10/12/thats-tv-gold-brings-vintage-content-to-freesat/|title = That's TV Gold brings vintage content to Freesat|author= Easton, Jonathan|date = 12 October 2021|access-date = 17 June 2022|work = Digital TV Europe}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work = Broadband TV News|url=https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2021/10/11/thats-tv-gold-joins-freesat-line-up/|title = That's TV Gold joins Freesat line-up|author= Clover, Julian|date = 11 October 2021|access-date = 17 June 2022}}</ref>
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| ==Personal life==
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| He was married to the dancer Sandra Burville from 1969<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/mike-yarwood-the-impressionist-and-comedian-married-sandra-news-photo/592264108|title=Mike Yarwood, 27, the impressionist and comedian married Sandra Burville aged 23, at the Church of St. Thomas Moore, Swiss Cottage, London|website=gettyimages.co.uk}}</ref>–1985{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}. They had two children.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
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| In October 1999, Yarwood underwent treatment for depression at the [[Priory Clinic]] in [[Roehampton]], [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/486373.stm|title=Entertainment | Depressed comic Yarwood seeks help|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=26 October 1999|accessdate=4 October 2015}}</ref>
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| From 2007, Yarwood lived alone in [[Weybridge]], [[Surrey]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/fashion/trends/article62616.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070203/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/fashion/trends/article62616.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=Relative Values: Mike Yarwood and his daughter, Clare |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=8 April 2007 |accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref>
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| In 2021 it was reported that he was a resident of [[Brinsworth House]], the residential and nursing retirement home in [[Twickenham]], west London, for theatre and entertainment professionals.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://issuu.com/royalvarietycharity/docs/rvp_2021_programme_online/8?ff|title= Royal Variety Performance Brochure 2021 |website=gettyimages.co.uk}}</ref>
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| ==Filmography==
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| * ''[[Three of a Kind (1967 TV series)|Three of a Kind]]'' (BBC) (1967)<ref name=SO_MY/>
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| * ''Will the Real Mike Yarwood Stand Up?'' (ATV) (1968–1969)<ref name=SO_MY/>
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| * ''Look: Mike Yarwood'' (BBC) (1971–1976)<ref name=SO_MY/>
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| * ''Mike Yarwood in Persons'' (BBC) (1976–1981)<ref name=SO_MY/>
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| * ''The Mike Yarwood Show'' (Thames) (1982–1987)
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| * ''Yarwood's in Town ''(Thames) (1982) Live on stage show
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| ==Bibliography==
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| * ''And This is Me'' (1974)
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| * ''Mike Yarwood Confession Album'' (1978)
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| * ''Impressions of My Life'' (1986)
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| == References ==
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| {{Reflist}}
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| ==External links==
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| *{{Discogs artist}}
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| *{{Screenonline name|id=874465|name=Mike Yarwood}}
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| *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716163245/http://www.jimmyclitheroe.co.uk/panto.htm Mike Yarwood] in pantomime at the [[Coventry Theatre]], Coventry, 1968–69
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| *[http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/comment/0,7493,807345,00.html Mike Yarwood] review mentioning British television comedy in the 1970s, in ''[[The Guardian]]''
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| {{Authority control}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarwood, Mike}}
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| [[Category:1941 births]]
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| [[Category:Living people]]
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| [[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
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| [[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
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| [[Category:British male comedy actors]]
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| [[Category:English impressionists (entertainers)]]
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| [[Category:English male comedians]]
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| [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
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| [[Category:People from Bredbury]]
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| [[Category:People from Weybridge]]
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