Eric Sykes, a popular comic actor who first forged a career in entertainment by writing for others, has died, his manager said on Wednesday. He was 89.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, he was a regular collaborator on the popular 1950s radio comedy programme TheGoon Show and bec-ame a leading star after appearing in several television series in the following two decades.
“Eric Sykes, 89, star of television, stage and film, died peacefully this morning after a short illness,” his manager Norma Farnes said. “His family were with him.”
Sykes wrote material for comedian Frankie Howerd and his successful radio show Variety Bandbox between 1944 and 1952. That led to further radio work for Sykes, including the groundbreaking Goon Show, as well as leading television projects including The Howerd Crowd and The Tony Hancock Show. Between 1960 and 1965, he became a big hit with the public in Sykes and a..., in which he played alongside Hatti Jacques in a brother-sister act that struck a chord with viewers.