The Trials and Triumphs of Les Dawson

353 Pages·2012·4.15 MB·English

by  Barfe

The Trials and Triumphs of Les Dawson

First published in hardback and trade paperback in Great Britain in 2012 by
Atlantic Books, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.
Copyright © Louis Barfe, 2012
The moral right of Louis Barfe to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Every effort has been made to contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good
any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.
Material from the BBC Written Archives Centre reproduced courtesy of the archive.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Hardback ISBN: 978 184887 250 9
E-book ISBN: 978 085789 670 4
Printed in Great Britain
Atlantic Books
An imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd
Ormond House
26–27 Boswell Street
London
WC1N 3JZ
www.atlantic-books.co.uk
For Judy Godman, my mother-in-law
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
‘Slumps don’t bother me. I was a failure during the boom’
CHAPTER 2
A Plant in the audience
CHAPTER 3
We don’t take any notice of what Les sez
CHAPTER 4
Les is more
CHAPTER 5
Farewell to Leeds
CHAPTER 6
Hitler was my mother-in-law
CHAPTER 7
Run for your wife
CHAPTER 8
Post-Dawsonism
Notes and References
Appendices
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. The Dawson family. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
2. Thornton Street, Collyhurst. Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and
Archives, Manchester City Council.
3. Dawson the boxer. Mirrorpix.
4. Dawson in his Sunday best. Mirrorpix.
5. Dawson and Army pals. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
6. Trooper Dawson. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
7. Dawson and friends. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
8. Les and Meg at the Hoover works dinner and dance. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
9. Les and Meg sign the register. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
10. The Dawson family. Courtesy of Julie Ryder.
11. Dawson on the roof of the St George’s Hotel. Popperfoto/Getty Images.
12. Dawson and Georgie Fame. Author’s collection.
13. Script from The Golden Shot. Author’s collection.
14. Dawson in rehearsal for Sez Les. ITV/Rex Features.
15. John Cleese, Les Dawson, Eli Woods and Doris Hare in Sez Les. ITV/Rex
Features.
16. Dawson and the Sez Les girls. ITV/Rex Features.
17. Cosmo and Bunny Girls. Mirrorpix.
18. Bill for Holiday Startime. Author’s collection.
19. Dawson on Bridlington beach. Mirrorpix.
20. Dawson the athlete. TV Times/Scope Features.
21. Dawson the author. Mirrorpix.
22. Dawson shakes hands with HM Queen Elizabeth II. Getty Images.
23. Dawson and Hughie Green. Fremantle Media Ltd/Rex Features.
24. The final Opportunity Knocks. Fremantle Media Ltd/Rex Features.
25. Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebotham. Author’s collection.
26. The Dawson Watch. Author’s collection.
27. Workers’ Playtime anniversary admission ticket. Author’s collection.
28. Dawson with Ruth Madoc and Su Pollard. Author’s collection.
29. Bill for the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. Author’s collection.
30. Les and Tracy’s wedding. Mirrorpix.
31. Dawson with Charlotte. Mirrorpix.
32. Dawson in The Les Dawson Show. ©PA/Topham.
33. Dawson as Morton Stanley in Demob. Brian Moody/Scope Features.