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| image        = Harry H. Corbett.jpg
| image        = Harry H. Corbett.jpg
| caption      = Publicity photo of Corbett in the 1970s  
| caption      = Publicity photo of Corbett in the 1970s  
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1925|02|28|df=y}}{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1925|02|28|df=y}}
| birth_place  = {{nowrap|[[Yangon|Rangoon]], [[British Burma|British Burma]]}}
| birth_place  = {{nowrap|[[Yangon|Rangoon]], [[British Burma|British Burma]]}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1982|3|21|1925|2|28|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1982|3|21|1925|2|28|df=y}}
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| children      = 2, including [[Susannah Corbett|Susannah Corbett]]
| children      = 2, including [[Susannah Corbett|Susannah Corbett]]
}}
}}
'''Harry H. Corbett''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]<ref name="MC">{{cite video |title=The Maureen Corbett (Wife of Harry) Interview |url=http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/societymedia/maureencorbett2.html |people=Dave Cosgrove (presenter); Maureen Corbett (interviewee); [[Galton and Simpson|Alan Simpson]]; [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton]]; Steve O'Brien (writer, director) |time=21:00 |access-date=14 May 2009 |publisher=Steptoe-and-Son.com – The new OFFICIAL 2009 Steptoe & Son Appreciation Society |format=RealPlayer |quote=the OBE which he was very pleased to receive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105045429/http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/societymedia/maureencorbett2.html |archive-date=5 November 2009}}</ref> (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing [[rag-and-bone man|rag-and-bone man]] Harold Steptoe alongside [[Wilfrid Brambell]] in the long-running [[BBC|BBC]] television sitcom ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'' (1962–65, 1970–74). His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including ''[[The Bargee|The Bargee]]'' (1964), ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' (1966) and ''[[Jabberwocky (film)|Jabberwocky]]'' (1977).
'''Harry H. Corbett''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]<ref name="MC">{{cite video |title=The Maureen Corbett (Wife of Harry) Interview |url=http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/societymedia/maureencorbett2.html |people=Dave Cosgrove (presenter); Maureen Corbett (interviewee); [[Galton and Simpson|Alan Simpson]]; [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton]]; Steve O'Brien (writer, director) |time=21:00 |access-date=14 May 2009 |publisher=Steptoe-and-Son.com – The new OFFICIAL 2009 Steptoe & Son Appreciation Society |format=RealPlayer |quote=the OBE which he was very pleased to receive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105045429/http://www.steptoe-and-son.com/societymedia/maureencorbett2.html |archive-date=5 November 2009}}</ref> (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing [[rag and bone man]] Harold Steptoe alongside [[Wilfrid Brambell]] in the long-running [[BBC|BBC]] television sitcom ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'' (1962–65, 1970–74). His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including ''[[The Bargee|The Bargee]]'' (1964), ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' (1966) and ''[[Jabberwocky (film)|Jabberwocky]]'' (1977).


==Early life==
==Early life==
Corbett, the youngest of seven children, was born in [[Rangoon|Rangoon]], [[British Burma|Burma]], where his father, George Corbett (1885/86–1943), was serving as a company [[quartermaster sergeant|quartermaster sergeant]] in the [[South Staffordshire Regiment|South Staffordshire Regiment]] of the [[British Army|British Army]], stationed at a [[cantonment|cantonment]] as part of the Colonial defence forces. Corbett was sent to Britain after his mother, Caroline Emily, ''née'' Barnsley, (1884–1926) died of [[dysentery|dysentery]] when he was eighteen months old. He was then brought up by his aunt, Annie Williams, in Earl Street, [[Ardwick|Ardwick]], [[Manchester|Manchester]] and later on a new [[council estate|council estate]] in [[Wythenshawe|Wythenshawe]]. He attended Ross Place and Benchill Primary Schools; although he passed the scholarship exam for entry to [[Chorlton-cum-Hardy|Chorlton]] Grammar School, he was not able to take up his place there and instead attended [[Sharston|Sharston]] Secondary School.<ref name=FrontLegs>Corbett, S. (2012). ''Harry H. Corbett – The Front Legs of the Cow''. The History Press, Stroud, Glos. {{ISBN|978-0-7524-7682-7}}</ref>
Corbett, the youngest of seven children, was born in [[Yangon|Rangoon]], [[British Burma|Burma]], where his father, George Corbett (1885/86–1943), was serving as a company [[quartermaster sergeant|quartermaster sergeant]] in the [[South Staffordshire Regiment|South Staffordshire Regiment]] of the [[British Army|British Army]], stationed at a [[cantonment|cantonment]] as part of the Colonial defence forces. Corbett was sent to Britain after his mother, Caroline Emily, ''née'' Barnsley, (1884–1926) died of [[dysentery|dysentery]] when he was eighteen months old. He was then brought up by his aunt, Annie Williams, in Earl Street, [[Ardwick|Ardwick]], [[Manchester|Manchester]] and later on a new [[council estate|council estate]] in [[Wythenshawe|Wythenshawe]]. He attended Ross Place and Benchill Primary Schools; although he passed the scholarship exam for entry to [[Chorlton-cum-Hardy|Chorlton]] Grammar School, he was not able to take up his place there and instead attended [[Sharston|Sharston]] Secondary School.<ref name=FrontLegs>Corbett, S. (2012). ''Harry H. Corbett – The Front Legs of the Cow''. The History Press, Stroud, Glos. {{ISBN|978-0-7524-7682-7}}</ref>


Corbett enlisted in the [[Royal Marines|Royal Marines]] during the Second World War, and served in the [[Home Fleet|Home Fleet]] on the heavy cruiser [[HMS Devonshire (39)|HMS ''Devonshire'']]. After [[Victory over Japan Day|VJ Day]] in 1945, he was posted to the [[Far East|Far East]], where he was involved in quelling unrest in [[New Guinea|New Guinea]] and reportedly killed two [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese soldiers]] there whilst engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. He was then posted to [[Tonga|Tonga]], but deserted and remained in [[Australia|Australia]] before handing himself in to the [[Military Police|Military Police]]. His military service left him with a damaged bladder following an infection, and a red mark on his eye caused by a thorn, which was not treated until late in his life.<ref name=FrontLegs />
Corbett enlisted in the [[Royal Marines|Royal Marines]] during the Second World War, and served in the [[Home Fleet|Home Fleet]] on the heavy cruiser [[HMS Devonshire (39)|HMS ''Devonshire'']]. After [[Victory over Japan Day|VJ Day]] in 1945, he was posted to the [[Far East|Far East]], where he was involved in quelling unrest in [[New Guinea|New Guinea]] and reportedly killed two [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese soldiers]] there whilst engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. He was then posted to [[Tonga|Tonga]], but deserted and remained in [[Australia|Australia]] before handing himself in to the [[Military Police|Military Police]]. His military service left him with a damaged bladder following an infection, and a red mark on his eye caused by a thorn, which was not treated until late in his life.<ref name=FrontLegs />
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''Steptoe and Son'' led Corbett to comedy films: as James Ryder in ''[[Ladies Who Do]]'' (1963); with [[Ronnie Barker]] in ''[[The Bargee]]'' (1964), written by Galton and Simpson; ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' (1966); the "Lust" segment of ''[[The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins]]'' (1971); and [[Terry Gilliam]]'s ''[[Jabberwocky (film)|Jabberwocky]]'' (1977). There were two ''Steptoe and Son'' films: ''[[Steptoe and Son (film)|Steptoe and Son]]'' (1972) and ''[[Steptoe and Son Ride Again]]'' (1973). In 1966 he appeared as a narrator in [[List of Jackanory episodes|four episodes]] of the BBC children's television series ''[[Jackanory]]'', and he also had the leading role in two other television series, ''Mr. Aitch'' (written especially for him, 1967) and ''Grundy'' (1980). Corbett had a supporting role in the [[David Essex]] film ''[[Silver Dream Racer]]'' (1980), and also appeared in the film ''[[Hardcore (1977 film)|Hardcore]]'' (1977). In addition, he had a supporting role in ''Potter'' (1980) with Arthur Lowe on the BBC.
''Steptoe and Son'' led Corbett to comedy films: as James Ryder in ''[[Ladies Who Do]]'' (1963); with [[Ronnie Barker]] in ''[[The Bargee]]'' (1964), written by Galton and Simpson; ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' (1966); the "Lust" segment of ''[[The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins]]'' (1971); and [[Terry Gilliam]]'s ''[[Jabberwocky (film)|Jabberwocky]]'' (1977). There were two ''Steptoe and Son'' films: ''[[Steptoe and Son (film)|Steptoe and Son]]'' (1972) and ''[[Steptoe and Son Ride Again]]'' (1973). In 1966 he appeared as a narrator in [[List of Jackanory episodes|four episodes]] of the BBC children's television series ''[[Jackanory]]'', and he also had the leading role in two other television series, ''Mr. Aitch'' (written especially for him, 1967) and ''Grundy'' (1980). Corbett had a supporting role in the [[David Essex]] film ''[[Silver Dream Racer]]'' (1980), and also appeared in the film ''[[Hardcore (1977 film)|Hardcore]]'' (1977). In addition, he had a supporting role in ''Potter'' (1980) with Arthur Lowe on the BBC.


Corbett recorded multiple 45rpm records, most of which were novelty songs based upon the rag-and-bone character, including "Harry, You Love Her" and "Junk Shop".{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} He recorded a number of sea shanties and folk songs. In 1973, he recorded an album titled ''Only Authorised Employees To Break Bottles'' which was a "showcase of accents", with songs from Corbett in a range of accents, including [[Liverpool|Liverpudlian]], [[Birmingham|Brummie]] and [[Manchester|Mancunian]]; the title echoes a notice which is visible in the bottle-smashing scene in the film 'The Bargee'. The album was recorded in 1973 and<ref>http://peterice.com/RA.htm</ref> released in 1974 on the Torquay, Devon-based RA record label with support from seventies folk band 'Faraway Folk': RALP 6022 http://peterice.com/RA.htm {{citation needed|date=January 2020}} Including the album, he released over 30 songs.
Corbett recorded multiple 45rpm records, most of which were novelty songs based upon the rag and bone character, including "Harry, You Love Her" and "Junk Shop". He recorded a number of sea shanties and folk songs. In 1973, he recorded an album titled ''Only Authorised Employees To Break Bottles'' which was a "showcase of accents", with songs from Corbett in a range of accents, including [[Liverpool|Liverpudlian]], [[Birmingham|Brummie]] and [[Manchester|Mancunian]]; the title echoes a notice which is visible in the bottle-smashing scene in the film 'The Bargee'. The album was recorded in 1973 and<ref>http://peterice.com/RA.htm</ref> released in 1974 on the Torquay, Devon-based RA record label with support from seventies folk band 'Faraway Folk': RALP 6022. Including the album, he released over 30 songs.


==Personal life==
==Personal life==

Latest revision as of 23:18, 18 February 2023

Harry H. Corbett
OBE
Harry H. Corbett.jpg
Publicity photo of Corbett in the 1970s
Born(1925-02-28)28 February 1925
Rangoon, British Burma
Died21 March 1982(1982-03-21) (aged 57)
Hastings, East Sussex, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Actor and comedian
Years active1945–1982
Notable workSee below
TelevisionSteptoe and Son
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1958; div. 1964)​
Maureen Blott
​
​
(m. 1969)​
Children2, including Susannah Corbett

Harry H. Corbett OBE[1] (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag and bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son (1962–65, 1970–74). His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).

Early life

Corbett, the youngest of seven children, was born in Rangoon, Burma, where his father, George Corbett (1885/86–1943), was serving as a company quartermaster sergeant in the South Staffordshire Regiment of the British Army, stationed at a cantonment as part of the Colonial defence forces. Corbett was sent to Britain after his mother, Caroline Emily, née Barnsley, (1884–1926) died of dysentery when he was eighteen months old. He was then brought up by his aunt, Annie Williams, in Earl Street, Ardwick, Manchester and later on a new council estate in Wythenshawe. He attended Ross Place and Benchill Primary Schools; although he passed the scholarship exam for entry to Chorlton Grammar School, he was not able to take up his place there and instead attended Sharston Secondary School.[2]

Corbett enlisted in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, and served in the Home Fleet on the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire. After VJ Day in 1945, he was posted to the Far East, where he was involved in quelling unrest in New Guinea and reportedly killed two Japanese soldiers there whilst engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. He was then posted to Tonga, but deserted and remained in Australia before handing himself in to the Military Police. His military service left him with a damaged bladder following an infection, and a red mark on his eye caused by a thorn, which was not treated until late in his life.[2]

Career

Upon returning to civilian life, Corbett trained as a radiographer before taking up acting as a career, initially in repertory. In the early 1950s, he added the initial "H" to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty. He joked that "H" stood for "hennyfink", a Cockney pronunciation of "anything". In 1956, he appeared on stage in The Family Reunion at the Phoenix Theatre in London.

From 1958, Corbett began to appear regularly in films, coming to public attention as a serious, intense performer, in contrast to his later reputation in sitcom. He appeared in television dramas such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (as four characters in episodes between 1957 and 1960) and Police Surgeon (1960). He also worked and studied Stanislavski's system at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal in Stratford, London.

In 1962, scriptwriters Galton and Simpson, who had been successful with Hancock's Half Hour, invited Corbett to appear in "The Offer", an episode of the BBC's anthology series of one-off comedy plays, Comedy Playhouse, written by Galton and Simpson. He played Harold Steptoe, a rag-and-bone man who lives with his irascible widower father, Albert (Wilfrid Brambell) in a dilapidated house attached to their junkyard and stable for their cart horse, Hercules. At the time, Corbett was working at the Bristol Old Vic, where he appeared as Macbeth.

The programme was a success and a full series followed, continuing, with breaks, until 1974, when the Christmas special became the final episode. Although the popularity of Steptoe and Son made Corbett a star, it damaged his serious acting career, as he became irreversibly associated with Steptoe in the public eye. As a result, severe typecasting forced him to come back to the role of Harold Steptoe over and over. Before the series began, Corbett had played Shakespeare's Richard II to great acclaim; however, when he played Hamlet in 1970, he felt both critics and audiences alike were not taking him seriously and could only see him as Steptoe. Corbett found himself receiving offers only for bawdy comedies or loose parodies of Steptoe.[3] Production of the sitcom was stressful in the last few years, as Brambell was an alcoholic, often ill-prepared for rehearsals and forgetting his lines and movements.[4] A tour of a Steptoe and Son stage production in Australia in 1977 proved a disaster due to Brambell's drinking.[4] During the tour, the pair appeared in character in an advert for Ajax soap powder.

The television episodes were remade for radio, often with the original cast; it is these that were made available on cassette and CD. After the series of Steptoe and Son had officially finished, Corbett and Brambell played the characters again on radio (in a newly written sketch to tie in with the Scottish Team's participation in the 1978 World Cup), as well as in a television commercial for Kenco coffee. The two men reunited in January 1981 for one final performance as Steptoe and Son in a further commercial for Kenco.[5]

The Curse of Steptoe, a BBC television play about Corbett and Brambell, was broadcast on 19 March 2008 on the British television channel BBC Four, featuring Jason Isaacs as Corbett. The first broadcast gained the channel its highest audience figures to that date, based on overnight returns.[6]

Other work

Steptoe and Son led Corbett to comedy films: as James Ryder in Ladies Who Do (1963); with Ronnie Barker in The Bargee (1964), written by Galton and Simpson; Carry On Screaming! (1966); the "Lust" segment of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971); and Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977). There were two Steptoe and Son films: Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973). In 1966 he appeared as a narrator in four episodes of the BBC children's television series Jackanory, and he also had the leading role in two other television series, Mr. Aitch (written especially for him, 1967) and Grundy (1980). Corbett had a supporting role in the David Essex film Silver Dream Racer (1980), and also appeared in the film Hardcore (1977). In addition, he had a supporting role in Potter (1980) with Arthur Lowe on the BBC.

Corbett recorded multiple 45rpm records, most of which were novelty songs based upon the rag and bone character, including "Harry, You Love Her" and "Junk Shop". He recorded a number of sea shanties and folk songs. In 1973, he recorded an album titled Only Authorised Employees To Break Bottles which was a "showcase of accents", with songs from Corbett in a range of accents, including Liverpudlian, Brummie and Mancunian; the title echoes a notice which is visible in the bottle-smashing scene in the film 'The Bargee'. The album was recorded in 1973 and[7] released in 1974 on the Torquay, Devon-based RA record label with support from seventies folk band 'Faraway Folk': RALP 6022. Including the album, he released over 30 songs.

Personal life

Corbett married twice, first to the actress Sheila Steafel (from 1958 to 1964), and then to actress Maureen Blott (stage name Crombie) (from 1969 to 1982), with whom he had two children, Jonathan and Susannah. Susannah is an actress and author, and has written a biography of her father, Harry H. Corbett: The Front Legs of the Cow, which was published in March 2012. Steafel published her autobiography When Harry Met Sheila in 2010.

Politics

Corbett was a Labour Party campaigner,[8] appeared in a party political broadcast,[9] and was a guest of Prime Minister Harold Wilson.[4] The television character Harold Steptoe appears as the Labour Party secretary for Shepherd's Bush West in the sixth series episode, "Tea for Two". In 1969, Corbett appeared as Harold Steptoe in a Labour Party political broadcast, where Bob Mellish had to argue against Steptoe's accusation that all parties are the same. This was not in any way connected to Galton and Simpson, who wrote Steptoe and Son.

As Prime Minister, Wilson wished to have Corbett appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), but the middle initial "H" was lost in the process and the award went to the Sooty puppeteer, Harry Corbett, instead.[10][11] Both were eventually included in the same New Year's Honours list on 1 January 1976.[12]

Health problems and death

A heavy smoker all his adult life,[13] Corbett had his first heart attack in September 1979. According to his daughter, he smoked 60 cigarettes a day until the heart attack, after which he cut down to 20.[14] He appeared in pantomime at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, within two days of leaving hospital. He was then badly hurt in a car accident. He appeared shortly afterwards in the BBC detective series Shoestring, his facial injuries obvious. Other work included the film Silver Dream Racer, with David Essex, and a Thames Television/ITV comedy series Grundy, both in 1980. In the latter, Corbett played an old man discovering the permissive society after a lifetime of clean living.[15] The series was a flop and was soon cancelled.

Corbett's final role was an episode of the Anglia Television/ITV series Tales of the Unexpected, entitled "The Moles". Filmed shortly before his death, it was broadcast two months later, in May 1982.

Corbett died of a heart attack on 21 March 1982 in Hastings, East Sussex. He was 57 years old. He is buried in the graveyard at St Michael the Archangel church at Penhurst, East Sussex. The headstone inscription, chosen by his wife Maureen, reads "The earth can have but earth, which is his due: My spirit is thine, the better part of me", from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 74. Maureen was buried alongside him in 1999. Corbett is commemorated in the name of the Corbett Theatre at the East 15 Acting School at Loughton.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ Dave Cosgrove (presenter); Maureen Corbett (interviewee); Alan Simpson; Ray Galton; Steve O'Brien (writer, director). The Maureen Corbett (Wife of Harry) Interview. Steptoe-and-Son.com – The new OFFICIAL 2009 Steptoe & Son Appreciation Society. Event occurs at 21:00. Archived from the original (RealPlayer) on 5 November 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009. the OBE which he was very pleased to receive
  2. ^ a b Corbett, S. (2012). Harry H. Corbett – The Front Legs of the Cow. The History Press, Stroud, Glos. ISBN 978-0-7524-7682-7
  3. ^ "Family Announcements, Harry H Corbett - Funeral Directors and services - Family Announcements Announcements". www.thisisannouncements.co.uk.
  4. ^ a b c Barrie, David (19 August 2002). "The dirty truth: The tortured world of Steptoe and Son". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  5. ^ "UK television adverts 1955-1985". www.headington.org.uk.
  6. ^ Chris Tryhorn "BBC4 breaks ratings record", The Guardian, 19 March 2008
  7. ^ http://peterice.com/RA.htm
  8. ^ Misc | Homepage – This Is Local London Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | HARRY H. CORBETT, SHIRLEY WILLIAMS AND BOB MELLISH (1969)". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  10. ^ Brandreth, Gyles (20 February 2009). "The Honours Game". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  11. ^ Sin to Win: Seven Deadly Steps to Success, Marc Lewis ISBN 1-84112-311-0
  12. ^ Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1976 Archived 6 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Steptoe and daughter: interview with Susannah Corbett | Sussex Life". Sussex.greatbritishlife.co.uk. 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  14. ^ Pryer, Emma (10 September 2016). "Harry H Corbett's daughter hails his legacy on eve of Steptoe and Son remake". Daily Mirror.
  15. ^ The Times, 14 July 1980
  16. ^ imdb.com

External links

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