KEN Dodd, who over the course of his long career came to know a thing or two about comedy, was asked 10 years ago if he considered himself fortunate to have survived the 1980s trend for alternative comedy.

It was never going to survive, he told the Evening Times. “It was made up with those fresh out of uni, you see, and while some were amusing, there’s a huge difference between being clever and being funny.” He paused. “Now, the likes of Chic Murray, Jack Radcliffe and Les Dawson were funny.”

Radcliffe, an actor as well as a comedian, had been long gone by then. He had died in April 1967, aged just 66, just a week after returning home following treatment at the Victoria Infirmary for a chest complaint.

“Comedian with quiet method,” ran the headline above his obituary in these pages.

Radcliffe had been born Charles Smith, in Cleland, Lanarkshire. After leaving school he worked first in the pits and then in a steelworks.

He later joined a small touring concert party which also included Lex McLean and Tommy Morgan. At that time he was a straight baritone singer.

After turning to comedy he became famous for an act in which he was ably “fed” by the Scottish actress, Helen Norman.

“His effects were not achieved by slapstick or over-exuberance,” the obituary noted, “but by quieter methods which were often witty as well as humorous.

“To this extent he was not in the tradition of Scottish comics; rather was he a character comedian”.

Radcliffe became famous for his appearances alongside Jimmy Logan at the Five Past Eight summer shows at the Alhambra theatre, and as compere at Royal Variety performances in Glasgow and at other charity shows.

Among the latter was a theatrical ball in February 1958, held in Glasgow in aid of the Scottish Theatrical and Variety Artists’ Benevolent Fund. Radcliffe is pictured here with Kathie Kay and Greta Lauder.

* Continues tomorrow.

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