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Quiz about Morecambe  Wise Laughter All The While
Quiz about Morecambe  Wise Laughter All The While

Morecambe & Wise: Laughter All The While Quiz


Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise comprised the most lovingly remembered duo in British comedy and light entertainment. Their TV shows attracted millions of viewers and stars clamoured to be sent-up and abused by the hosts.

A multiple-choice quiz by darksplash. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
darksplash
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
340,893
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
13 / 15
Plays
721
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: BUTCH4444 (14/15), Guest 2 (14/15), jmac5cicada (0/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. In January 1973, a bachelor boy joined Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise on the stage for one of their TV shows. Who was probably left wishing he had gone on a summer holiday instead? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. She was a classically trained actress and shared her name with an English county but consented to taking part in a 'mucky poem contest' on Morecambe and Wise's TV show. Who was she? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were one of the best loved comedy duos in British light entertainment. Yet in 1973, one of their TV shows envisaged Ernie Wise getting a new partner. Which all-round singer, dancer and records show presenter was in line to join the one with the short, fat hairy legs? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Baron Frankenstein, we are told, was a monster who created fear wherever he went. But which actor well-known for playing Frankenstein probably quaked at the thought of appearing with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise on their TV show? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. The Morecambe and Wise 'Christmas Specials' were the highlights of seasonal TV viewing in British homes for many years. The duo pulled out all the stops to have have the best stars and the best routines. Which of these marathon men knights of the British theatre, some say the greatest actor of the 20th Century, put himself at the mercy of Eric and Ernie in 1973? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. I mean this most sincerely when I say that the best of British entertainers queued up to appear on the Morecambe and Wise TV shows. Which talent show presenter answered when opportunity knocked in 1974? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. She was a leather-clad adventurer in a spy show that topped the British TV ratings and could have worked anywhere, yet which glamorous actress probably felt like calling in some avengers after her treatment by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. He was a rocket man who liked to peer though giant spectacles over his keyboard, but which master of rock only made a spectacle of himself when he appeared in the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special in 1976? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Hey, big spenders? Well, actually no. A running joke in the Morecambe and Wise shows was that the guest stars were paid very little and frequently had to beg for their fees. All this probably did not suit a Welsh singing diva who spent a little time with Eric and Ernie in 1971. Who believed that the diamonds are forever, but found that Ernie, who held the purse strings, was no Goldfinger? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. By the end of the 1970s, the eagerly awaited highlight of Christmas Day television in Britain was the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special. The 1977 show did not stint on stars. It presented top factual TV presenters including Michael Parkinson, Michael Aspel, Richard Baker, Frank Bough, Philip Jenkinson, Kenneth Kendall, Barry Norman, Eddie Waring, Richard Whitmore and Peter Woods in a song and dance routine based on a song from a Broadway show. Which number from 'South Pacific' lamented the fact that all the wonderful things the singers had did not compare with what they really wanted? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. It was not just entertainers who vied for a part on a Morecambe and Wise Show. The 1978 Christmas special featured a noted pipe-smoking former Prime Minister. I wonder did he find the £ in his pocket was worth as much afterwards as before? Who was he? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. That was "The Morecambe and Wise Show" that was in 1979 when it featured one of British TV's greatest satirists and interviewers. Which star probably had an easier time when he interviewed Richard Nixon? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. It was not just ordinary entertainers, and politicians that made it onto the Morecambe and Wise TV shows; one of the guests had blue blood in her veins. Which thespian aristocrat of Polish extraction got a cherished invite to a Christmas show? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. It shouldn't happen to a vet: Which actor endured the barbs and witticisms of Eric and Ernie in appearances on Morecambe and Wise TV shows of 1981? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Inspector Clouseau lost his way on the journey to the Thames TV studios for a Morecambe and Wise show in 1983, but his sidekick, Cato, did not. Who was that supporting star of numerous "Pink Panther" titles and three Bond movies, and who also drank deeply of the last of the summer wine?
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In January 1973, a bachelor boy joined Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise on the stage for one of their TV shows. Who was probably left wishing he had gone on a summer holiday instead?

Answer: Cliff Richard

Cliff made an appearance in Eric and Ernie's flat in this particular episode.
Cliff Richard, real name Harry Webb, was born in October 1940 in India. He came to pop music stardom in the late 1950s, firstly with his band The Shadows, and then as a solo singer. He had 14 UK number one hits between 1958 and 2000, including at least one in each of five decades.
Well-known early songs included "Bachelor Boy" and ""Summer Holiday", which was also a 1963 movie in which he and The Shadows starred. He also fronted in many TV specials. He was knighted in 1995.
2. She was a classically trained actress and shared her name with an English county but consented to taking part in a 'mucky poem contest' on Morecambe and Wise's TV show. Who was she?

Answer: Susan Hampshire

The show was broadcast on January 26, 1973 and other stars making guest appearances included Georgie Fame & Alan Price, The Settlers, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Jenny Lee-Wright, and Percy Edward.
After her debut in the early 1960s and work on both sides of the Atlantic, Hampshire found fame in the TV drama "The Forsyte Saga" (1967). Many other 'costume dramas' followed, and Hampshire was a multi Emmy winner. She also became a much-respected author.
3. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were one of the best loved comedy duos in British light entertainment. Yet in 1973, one of their TV shows envisaged Ernie Wise getting a new partner. Which all-round singer, dancer and records show presenter was in line to join the one with the short, fat hairy legs?

Answer: Roy Castle

Roy Castle, August 31, 1932 to September 2, 1994, was a multi-talented performer, musician and dancer who also presented the TV show "Record Breakers", which featured feats from the Guinness Book of World Records. He also set his own world tap-dancing record on the show.
Ernie Wise was often referred to by his partner as the one with the short, fat hairy legs.
Other guests on that episode in March 1973 were Pete Murray, Anne Murray, The Pattersons, Raymond Mason, Les Rawlings, Johnny Vyvyan, John East, Hugh Elton, Charles Finch and Eric French.
4. Baron Frankenstein, we are told, was a monster who created fear wherever he went. But which actor well-known for playing Frankenstein probably quaked at the thought of appearing with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise on their TV show?

Answer: Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing was born in Surrey in 1913 and died in Kent in 1994. He was among a school of actors that included Christopher Lee and Vincent Price who cut their teeth in the Hammer House of Horror movies from the mid 1950s. Later roles included appearances in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" (1977), though monster roles seemed to stereotype much of his career.
Other stars on that "M&W" episode in March 1973 were Bernie Winters, Wilma Reading, Alan Price and Georgie Fame.
5. The Morecambe and Wise 'Christmas Specials' were the highlights of seasonal TV viewing in British homes for many years. The duo pulled out all the stops to have have the best stars and the best routines. Which of these marathon men knights of the British theatre, some say the greatest actor of the 20th Century, put himself at the mercy of Eric and Ernie in 1973?

Answer: Laurence Olivier

Other stars of that show included Vanessa Redgrave, Hannah Gordon, John Hanson, The New Seekers, Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolph Nureyev and Andre Previn.
Laurence Olivier (Baron Olivier, to give him his title) was born on May 22, 1907 in Surrey and died in Sussex on July 11, 1989. He was regarded as one of the foremost Shakespearean actors of the 20th century and there were few leading roles he did not take on and master. Among around 60 movies was "Marathon Man" opposite Dustin Hoffman in 1976. Olivier played the evil one.
6. I mean this most sincerely when I say that the best of British entertainers queued up to appear on the Morecambe and Wise TV shows. Which talent show presenter answered when opportunity knocked in 1974?

Answer: Hughie Green

Other guests on that show were David Dimbleby, Arthur Tolcher, Ann Hamilton and Wilma Reading Hughie Green was born in London on February 2, 1920 and died there on May 3, 1997. He was a childhood radio star with his own show by the age of 14, then worked in Canada and in Hollywood, where he starred in several movies, including "Tom Brown's School Days" (1940).

When WW2 broke out he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, serving as a ferry pilot. He returned to the UK after the war and picked up his career as an entertainer.

He was the host of the game show "Double Your Money" from 1955. He developed "Opportunity Knocks" as a radio show and it transferred to TV in 1960. It discovered a number of entertainers who became big stars. By 1978, however, despite the success of the show, TV companies became tired of Green's strongly expressed right-wing comments and it was axed. "I mean that most sincerely" was one of his catchphrases.
7. She was a leather-clad adventurer in a spy show that topped the British TV ratings and could have worked anywhere, yet which glamorous actress probably felt like calling in some avengers after her treatment by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise?

Answer: Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg appeared on the Christmas special in 1974. Other guests were Des O'Connor, Gordon Jackson, Robin Day, Diane Soloman, Brenda Arnau, Ann Hamilton, Pan's People, Reg Turner, Debbie Ash and Fiona Grey.
Diana Rigg was born in Yorkshire in 1938 and was best known for her role as Emma Peel in the spy show "The Avengers" between 1965 and 1967. Over the following 40 years, she was rarely out of work in TV shows and TV movies.
She also played James Bond's only known wife, Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, in the 1969 outing "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."
8. He was a rocket man who liked to peer though giant spectacles over his keyboard, but which master of rock only made a spectacle of himself when he appeared in the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special in 1976?

Answer: Elton John

Elton John was introduced as another potential new partner for Ernie Wise.
Other guests were John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Kate O'Mara, Marion Montgomery, The Nolans and Angela Rippon.
The show also featured two of the best-remembered Morecambe & Wise sketches, their take on the song "Singing In the Rain", which featured Eric becoming a very wet New York copper, and the newsreader Angela Rippon emerging from behind a desk to show off spectacularly pretty legs in a dance routine.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Middlesex, England on March 25, 1947. It would be difficult to do justice to his career in a few sentences; suffice to say he became one of rock music's biggest stars over a career that really got going in 1969. He was noted for his outrageous spectacles in the early part of his career and "Rocket Man" was a UK Number Two hit in 1972.
9. Hey, big spenders? Well, actually no. A running joke in the Morecambe and Wise shows was that the guest stars were paid very little and frequently had to beg for their fees. All this probably did not suit a Welsh singing diva who spent a little time with Eric and Ernie in 1971. Who believed that the diamonds are forever, but found that Ernie, who held the purse strings, was no Goldfinger?

Answer: Shirley Bassey

Other stars in that year's Christmas special were Glenda Jackson, Andre Previn, Francis Mathews, Dick Emery, Frank Bough, Robert Dougal, Cliff Mitchellmore, Patrick Moore, Michael Parkinson and Eddie Waring.
Dame Shirley Bassey was born in Cardiff on January 8, 1937. In a career that started in the 1950s, she was a popular recording and performing artist. One of her best-known songs was "Big Spender", a Number 21 hit in 1967, and she sang the themes for three James Bond movies, "Goldfinger" (1964), "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) and "Moonraker" (1979).
10. By the end of the 1970s, the eagerly awaited highlight of Christmas Day television in Britain was the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special. The 1977 show did not stint on stars. It presented top factual TV presenters including Michael Parkinson, Michael Aspel, Richard Baker, Frank Bough, Philip Jenkinson, Kenneth Kendall, Barry Norman, Eddie Waring, Richard Whitmore and Peter Woods in a song and dance routine based on a song from a Broadway show. Which number from 'South Pacific' lamented the fact that all the wonderful things the singers had did not compare with what they really wanted?

Answer: Nothing Like A Dame

"There is nothin' like a dame,
Nothin' in the world,
There is nothin' you can name
That is anythin' like a dame!"
The news, sports and weather presenters were shown dressed as US sailors dancing and singing on the deck of a battleship.
Other guests included Penelope Keith, Elton John, Angharad Rees, Francis Matthews, Arthur Lowe, John le Mesurier, John Laurie, Richard Briers, Paul Eddington, James Hunt, Stella Starr, Sandra Dainty, Jenny Lee-Wright and Valerie Leon.
It was written, like so many of the top M&W shows, by Eddie Braben.
That 1977 special attracted 28 million viewers and broke all ratings records. Let's put it this way, 28 million was half of the UK's population at the time.
Richard Rodgers wrote the music and Oscar Hammerstein the lyrics for the 1949 Broadway musical "South Pacific". It was made into a movie in 1958.
11. It was not just entertainers who vied for a part on a Morecambe and Wise Show. The 1978 Christmas special featured a noted pipe-smoking former Prime Minister. I wonder did he find the £ in his pocket was worth as much afterwards as before? Who was he?

Answer: Sir Harold Wilson

In 1978, Eric and Ernie moved from the BBC to Independent Television (the old Thames TV franchise). Barry Cryer and John Junken wrote the script. The guests were: Leonard Rossiter, Frank Finlay, Nicholas Parsons, Sir Harold Wilson and Eamonnn Andrews.
Harold Wilson was born in Yorkshire on March 11, 1916 and died on May 24, 1995. He became an MP in 1945 and went on to lead the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister from 1964 to 1967 and again from 1974 to 1976.
One of the most famous quotes attributed to Wilson came after he devalued sterling in 1967 and said: "It does not mean that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued."
Wilson had many mannerisms, such as pipe-smoking, that endeared him to impressionists, who frequently used the "£ in your pocket" line. On the whole, those impressions were mostly kind rather than cruel to Wilson.
12. That was "The Morecambe and Wise Show" that was in 1979 when it featured one of British TV's greatest satirists and interviewers. Which star probably had an easier time when he interviewed Richard Nixon?

Answer: David Frost

Glenda Jackson and Des O'Connor also starred. O'Connor was the butt of many jokes by M&W over the years. Sir David Frost was born in Kent in 1939 and was a journalist and writer. He found fame, though, as the host of the groundbreaking "That Was The Week That Was" satire show on TV in the 1960s.
Away from that he was a respected heavyweight television interviewer, who came face-to-face with seven serving US presidents and eight British Prime Ministers from the mid 1960s to 2008. His sessions with Richard Nixon in 1977 were later developed into a play and a movie.
13. It was not just ordinary entertainers, and politicians that made it onto the Morecambe and Wise TV shows; one of the guests had blue blood in her veins. Which thespian aristocrat of Polish extraction got a cherished invite to a Christmas show?

Answer: Rula Lenska

Countess Roza-Marie Leopoldyna Lubienska was born in England in 1947. Her mother had also been a countess and her father was Major Count Ludwik Maria Lubienski, chief of the Polish mission to Gibraltar in WW2.
Rula Lenska made her name in the 1976 drama "Rock Follies" and was also known in the USA and Canada for promoting a hair product.
She starred in numerous TV and movie dramas, including a two-year stint (2009 to 2011) in British TV's top-rated drama "Coronation Street".
She was in the 1982 M&W Christmas special with Robert Hardy, Richard Vernon, and Wall Street Crash.
14. It shouldn't happen to a vet: Which actor endured the barbs and witticisms of Eric and Ernie in appearances on Morecambe and Wise TV shows of 1981?

Answer: Robert Hardy

Robert Hardy starred with Ian Ogilvy and Kay Korda in one episode and with Ralph Richardson, Ian Ogilvy, Susannah York, Alvin Stardust, and Suzanne Danielle in that year's Christmas special.
Robert Hardy was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on October 29, 1925. A theatre and movie actor from 1959, he found TV popularity while playing Siegfried Farnon in "All Creatures Great and Small" (1978-1990). The show was based on the novels of the real life vet 'James Heriott' (real name James Alfred Wight.)
15. Inspector Clouseau lost his way on the journey to the Thames TV studios for a Morecambe and Wise show in 1983, but his sidekick, Cato, did not. Who was that supporting star of numerous "Pink Panther" titles and three Bond movies, and who also drank deeply of the last of the summer wine?

Answer: Bert Kwouk

Bert Kwouk was born in England in 1930 but was of Chinese ethnicity and was raised in Shanghai. He starred alongside Ingrid Bergman in "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" (1958) and went on to roles in three 007 movies: "Goldfinger" (1964), "You Only Live Twice" (1967) and "Casino Royale" (1967). He was Cato in "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (1976), "Revenge of the Pink Panther: (1978), "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982), "Curse of the Pink Panther" (1983) and "Son of the Pink Panther" (1993).
Between 2002 and 2010, he was a regular on the TV show "Last Of The Summer Wine". By the time it finished, it had established the record of being the longest-running comedy show in the world (at least featuring real people).
Other stars of the Christmas special on Boxing Day 1983 were Gemma Craven, Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Jacobi, Fulton Mackay, Nanette Newman, Peter Skellern and Patrick Mower. It was the last-ever M&W Show. Eric Morecambe died the following May. He was aged 62.
Source: Author darksplash

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