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Morecambe and Wise comedy writer passes away

Morecambe and Wise comedy writer passes away

EDDIE Braben, who is credited with having written some of Morecambe and Wise’s best comedy material, has passed away. He was 82.

Mr. Braben, who was Liverpool, had been a comedy writer since the 1950s and had written for a number of top names, including Ken Dodd, before being lured to the BBC in 1969 to write for Eric and Ernie.

He was to admit later that when he had first seen the comedy duo perform years before in Liverpool, he had not exactly been a fan. But the decision by the then head of BBC TV light entertainment, Bill Cotton, to bring the writer and the comedians together was to prove amazingly successful. 

Mr. Braben’s manager, Norma Farnes, was clear on just how important that decision had been: “It was Billy Cotton Jnr at the BBC who recognised the brilliance of Eddie’s writing was the ideal marriage that would guarantee the success of Morecambe and Wise.”

Among the many things that Mr. Braben is credited with doing for the comedy duo was introducing sketches which played on their “off-stage” relationship.

One of the most famous sketches he wrote saw Eric and Ernie appearing with the world famous conductor Andre Previn (see below). At one point in the sketch, Mr. Previn complains that Eric is playing all the wrong notes, to which the comedian replies “I’m playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order”.

In a tribute to Mr. Braben, the author and comedian David Baddiel alluded to the hilarious sketch when he tweeted: ‘Eddie Braben: a man who, comically, played all the right notes, in the right order, all the time. R.I.P. and many thanks’.

Mr. Braben is survived by his wife Dee, his three children and his six grandchildren.

To view the Morecambe and Wise sketch with Andre Previn, click here.

To see the Breakfast sketch with Morecambe and Wise, click here.

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