The Official Tribute Thread

[Jerry]

Really sad news. RIP one of the greatest minds of our time.

 

[AnneHathaway]

I fill my day with this sad news, RIP he will be missed...

 

[richard winterbourn]

For me, it wasn't just that Prof. Stephen Hawking was such a brilliant astrophysicist and thinker but that he achieved virtually all of this with such a crippling ailment, something of which he never seemed to complain. He understood the word finite and inevitability and, in me, made me understand my own mortality and, even more important, the mortality of the universe. His presence in the pantheon of greatness is assured

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Very sad to read of Prof. Stephen Hawking's death. I can only echo what has been said above, regarding how great a scientist he was and also how he perservered through an illness that was predicted would take him at a very young age.
He will go down in history, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Newton and Einstein.

R.I.P.

Kevin

 

[andyc941]

Jim Bowen dies aged 80. Famous for Bulls eye on a Sunday evening and a great comedian

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Jim Bowen dies aged 80. Famous for Bulls eye on a Sunday evening and a great comedian

I always remember his 'oower moower' - as you can see I can't do a Lancashire accent. It's so bad I shall have to explain. He was saying 'or more'.

He came across to me as a gentle, extremely likeable character.

RIP.

 

[Jerry]

Again sad news. Loved watching Bullseye! RIP.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Very sad, especially so soon after Ken Dodd. Both were from an era and at a level that many modern day comedians can only aspire to.

Thanks for the childhood memories Jim.

 

[Aviador]

 

[Silvercity]

I never saw Ken Dod perform something which was on my ' to do' list something now I really regret. Not because I was a big fan but because he was the last comedian from the music hall era. I know his shows went on and on an on late into the evening, way past the end of show time, he was still filling theatres up and down the UK until the end. A sad loss to comedy.

He has a statue to him with tickling stick next to Bessie Braddock holding her egg in Lime Street Station, Although I believe it has been moved while redevelopment work continues in the station. I look forward to it' s return

 

[TheLocalYokel]

He was indeed the last of the top comics who had learned their trade in the music hall. Even when Doddy started out the music hall circuits were not what they were in terms of size and popularity but they were a fantastic grounding, with stories legion about having to stand up in front of a hostile audience at somewhere like the Glasgow Empire when they didn't take to you.

Many comics toured the circuits for a season with the same act because, in those largely pre-tv days and when even radio was not home to them all, they could get away with it.

The Comedians in the 1970s was almost a tv version of the music hall comedy scene when it gave aspiring comedians a chance of stardom. Doddy was established by then of course but the show 'made' such people as Russ Abbot, Stan Boardman, Jim Bowen (who also sadly died last week), Frank Carson, Jimmy Cricket, Colin Crompton, Bernard Manning, Tom O'Connor and Mike Reid (better known in later years for his portrayal of Frank Butcher in EastEnders).

Doddy never used foul language or personal insults, which seems to be the stock in trade of many comedians these days. As I pointed out in an earlier post he was a master of innuendo, delivered so innocently that no-one could take offence, if they were even aware of double entendre.

I've watched a bit of Doddy on YouTube since his death and I never fail to laugh even though I've heard some of his jokes and stories before.

He had an incredibly long career and had health permitted I'm sure he would have carried on into his 90s.

 

[Aviador]

The actor Bill Maynard best known for his roll as Green Grass in Heartbeat has died at the age of 89.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Very sad news that Ray Wilkins has passed away

Thoughts and prayers to his family.

 

[Aviador]

So soon after darts legend Jim Bowen past away, Eric Bristow has past away this evening.

View attachment 8293
RIP

 

[Ray Finkle]

Not the Crafty Cockney

 

[Aviador]

Avicii has died at the age of 28.

 

[andyc941]

Austin powers mini me actor Verne Troyer has died aged 49.

 

[Aviador]

The Sun Newspaper

Eastenders actor Leslie Grantham who played "Dirty Den" has died.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Another one from my childhood gone, I can still remember us all watching that Christmas episode of Eastenders when he served divorce papers to Angie.

Although his life wasn't without controversy I will always remember him as Dirty Den.

 

[rollo]

Geoffrey Welham passed aware aged 96 he was the youngest Spitfire pilot to take part in the Battle of Britain to join the RAF at the age of 17.

Not many of the few left, deepest respect.