Norman Wisdom
Known For
Acting
Born
1915-02-04 in Marylebone, London, England
Died
2010-10-04
Biography
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin. These films initially made more money than the James Bond film series, and secured Wisdom a celebrity status in lands as far apart as South America, Iran and many Eastern Bloc countries, particularly in Albania where his films were permitted by Enver Hoxha – Wisdom was the only Western actor to enjoy this privilege. Charlie Chaplin famously referred to Wisdom as his "favourite clown". Wisdom later forged a career on Broadway and as a television actor, winning critical acclaim for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the television play Going Gently in 1981. It was broadcast on 5 June that year. He toured Australia and South Africa. After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a hospice was named in his honour. In 1995 he was given the Freedom of the City of London and of Tirana. The same year he received an OBE. Wisdom was knighted in 2000 and spent much of his later life on the Isle of Man. Some of his later appearances included roles in Last of the Summer Wine and Coronation Street, and he retired from acting at the age of 90 after his health declined.
Most Known For
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
Casualty
as Mr. Cole
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
Wogan
as Self
Bergerac
as Vincent
Playhouse
as Bernard Flood
Last of the Summer Wine
as Man Carrying Gnome (uncredited)
Last of the Summer Wine
as Billy Ingleton
Style Challenge
Dalziel & Pascoe
This Is Your Life
An Audience with...
as Self
It's Only TV But I Like It
as Self
Going Gently
as Bernard Flood
The Last Detective
as Lofty Brock
Androcles and the Lion
as Androcles
Date with a Dream
as Shadow Boxer
Between The Sheets
as Maurice Hardy
Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
as Nobody
The Square Peg
as Private Norman Pitkin / General Otto Schreiber