Charlie Drake
Life in Elmbridge
Charlie Drake will be remembered primarily for 'The Charlie Drake Show' in the 1960s with the catchphrase 'Hello My Darlings'. The popular character from the show 'The Worker' had connections in Weybridge and his funeral washeld at St James' Church. As 'The Worker' he always comically referred to Weybridge as 'upmarket' in his many interviews at the show's Labour Exchange (Job Centre). He would introduce himself "Charles Drake from Weybridge" turning Weybridge into a national byword for posh and pretentious.
He lived in Hamm Court with his wife Heather and their three sons from the late 1950s to early 1970s.
Life outside Elmbridge
Charlie Drake was born Charles Edward Springall in the Elephant & Castle area of London in 1925. He was the youngest of six children and was born into poverty. His mother, Violet, pawned the family sheets and pillowcases on a Monday and retrieved them on the Friday, ensuring bed linen for the weekend.
His stage performances began at the age of eight when he was employed for 7s 6d per week singing with comedian Harry Champion. Like many other comedians of his generation he developed his comedic skills whilst serving in the military during WW2.
After unsuccessful post-war auditions for the stage he broke into television in 1954, initially in children's programmes and then family comedy. He changed his name to 'Charlie Smart' but then because of a name clash changed again, adopting his mother's maiden name of Drake.
His programme 'The Charlie Drake Show' ran intermittently from 1958 to 1967 and was followed in 1971 by the show for which he (and perhaps Weybridge) are best remembered 'The Worker'.
He was a very physical comic and performed his own stunts which on one occasion led to him being knocked unconscious during a live broadcast. The stunt had been meticulously planned but a bookcase modified so that he could be thrown through it was erroneously 'repaired' prior to the stunt. He was in a coma for days and the series was cancelled.
In addition to his television successes Charlie Drake recorded a number of singles (7" discs) including the hugely successful 'My boomerang won't come back' and appeared in a number of films.
Although he was very highly paid Charlie Drake was not a good manager of money and spent lavishly, buying his Weybridge mansion, a string of race horses and expensive cars. He also loved gambling. This caught up with him when HMRC sent him an enormous tax bill for unpaid income tax. He said of this period that he worked the next three years 'for the tax man'.
In later years he turned to serious acting, appearing in a number of dramas including Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker' for which he gave an award-winning performance.
Following a stroke Charlie Drake spent his final years in Brinsworth House, a retirement home for theatre and entertainment professionals in Twickenham.
He was married twice and had three sons by his first wife, Heather.
Sources
- The Guardian, 28-12-2006. 'Charlie Drake: A brilliant physical comedian, he revelled in mayhem with outraged innocence' (Stephen Dixon)
- The Telegraph 28-12-2006. 'Charlie Drake'
- The Independent 26-12-2006. 'Charlie Drake: Diminutive slapstick comedian'
- The Daily Mail 5-7-2008. 'Why Charlie Drake left just £5,000 of the £5m he blew on women, horses and fast cars'