Sir Norman Wisdom, 1915-2010

When I was a child, I enjoyed nothing more than to go to the cinema with my parents and watch a Norman Wisdom film. I enjoyed slapstick back then, and poor little downtrodden Norman was a master at it.

I had no idea that he had spent time on the streets of London as a boy, homeless after the break-up of his parents' marriage, and that joining the army had helped him find the stability of a family, and the ability to amuse and entertain. He was also a talented singer, and today I discovered that, not only was he a songwriter, but he actually wrote the words of Dame Vera Lynn's incredibly famous WWII song "The White Cliffs of Dover".

Norman's films are the only ones allowed to be shown uncensored in Albania - almost the only films to be shown there at all - and he has been a huge star and a hero there, almost a god in this officially atheist nation, for years. When he visited there he was mobbed.

Here he is singing his signature tune in the film it featured in, from the film, "Trouble in Store".



There are lots of scenes from his film on YouTube for anyone who wants to see more.

In his later years, Norman turned to serious acting, and put in some acclaimed performances, including on Broadway. He was Knighted by the Queen in 2000, and shocked, then delighted, everyone by doing his trademark trip after receiving the award.

Norman died yesterday aged 95 in a nursing home on the Isle of Man, an island off the west coast of England. It's the end of an era.