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Jerry Desmonde

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Cause of death
  
suicide

Children
  
Jacqueline Desmonde

Role
  
Film actor

Name
  
Jerry Desmonde

Years active
  
1946-1966


Jerry Desmonde Jerry Desmonde

Full Name
  
James Robert Sadler

Born
  
20 July 1908 (
1908-07-20
)

Occupation
  
Musical theatre performer, comedy foil, presenter and game show host, film, TV and radio actor

Spouse(s)
  
Peggy Duncan (1930-1966) (her death) (2 children)

Died
  
February 11, 1967, London, United Kingdom

Movies
  
A King in New York, A Stitch in Time, The Early Bird, Trouble in Store, Up in the World

Similar People
  
Robert Asher, John Paddy Carstairs, Walter Forde, Daniel Petrie, Charlie Chaplin

Norman wisdom jerry desmonde tribute p1


Jerry Desmonde (20 July 1908 – 11 February 1967) was an English stage musical, film, and television actor principally in comedies and drama. He is probably best known as a straight man to Norman Wisdom. He also worked as a comedy foil to Sid Field, notably in their 1946 Golfing sketch. He is sometimes credited as Jerry Desmond.

Contents

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Norman wisdom jerry desmonde tribute p3


Early life and career

Jerry Desmonde was born James Robert Sadler in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, into a family of music hall performers who toured the halls in Scotland, North East England and Yorkshire.

Sadler first appeared on stage at the age of 11 and later became part of his family's act The Four Sadlers. He built a career as a song and dance man in musical theatre and later toured parts of the United States in 1927-1928 with Beatrice Lillie and Noël Coward in the two-act revue This Year of Grace. By 1934 he had married Peggy Duncan and they toured as a double act called Peg and Jerry, largely in Scotland.

Later career

In the 1940s, Desmonde was briefly a straight man for Scottish comedian Dave Willis and in 1942 he was invited to be straight man for stage comedian Sid Field becoming one of the most celebrated comedy teams ever to appear on stage. They appeared together on stage in three very successful revues, Strike a New Note (1943) and Strike it Again (1944) and Piccadilly Hayride (1946) at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London and in two films, London Town (1946) an infamous flop, and in Cardboard Cavalier (1949). The two men next worked together on a stage play, Harvey at the Prince of Wales Theatre, from which Desmonde was ultimately sacked. In 1950 a few months later, during the play's run Sid Field died of a heart attack.

In 1949 Desmonde appeared on television as a presenter in Rooftop Rendezvous. He was a regular panelist and occasional guest host on the original UK version of the television panel game What's My Line? (1951–1962), and appeared in several TV comedies namely, Holiday Camp (1951) with Arthur Askey, A Flight of Fancy (1952) with Jimmy Young, then a singer working as a comedian, Spectacular (1960) Before Your Very Eyes (1956–58) with Arthur Askey, He appeared in Whack-O! (1960) and Bud in 1963 a sitcom with Bud Flanagan and other members of The Crazy Gang. He also appeared in The Dickie Henderson Show (1963) and episodes of the ITV television series A Question of Happiness (1964), The Plane Makers (1964), The Villains (1965), No Hiding Place (1965), The Mask of Janus (1965), The Valliant Varneys (1965) and Pardon the Expression (1966) and Vendetta (1966).

As a game show host he hosted ATV's Hit The Limit (1956) and The 64,000 Question (1956) television gameshows and in October 1956 Jerry appeared on the front cover of TV Times magazine. On radio Jerry appeared with Bob Hope on The Bob Hope Show (1951) and (1954) the CBS radio play The Incredible History of John Shepherd (1954), and occasionally presented Housewives' Choice on the BBC's Light Programme.

Desmonde continued to appear on the London stage in Where's Charley? (1958) a theatre musical production of the play Charley's Aunt with (Sir) Norman Wisdom, and in the short-lived Belle (1961) alternatively titled The Ballad of Dr Crippen a music hall musical with George Benson and Rose Hill.

Jerry Desmonde was in numerous movies from 1946 to 1965 including several comedies with (Sir) Norman Wisdom, and starred in several others. The Wisdom films usually involved the gump character (Wisdom) in a junior position to a "straight man" superior, often played by Edward Chapman, and fighting against the unfairness wrought by some "authority figure", often played by Jerry Desmonde.

Personal life

He was married to Peggy Duncan and they had two children, a daughter Jacqueline and son Gerald. After World War II Desmonde and his family settled in London and his daughter Jacqueline married clarinettist Peter Howes, the son of actor Bobby Howes and brother to actress Sally Ann Howes. In 1967 following bouts of depression after the death of his wife Desmonde took his own life.

Stage

  • Belle at the Strand Theatre, London (1961)
  • Where's Charley? as Sir Francis Chesney at the Palace Theatre, London (1958)
  • The Royal Variety Show (1957)
  • The Gay Musical Show at the London Palladium and then the Prince of Wales Theatre with Norman Wisdom (19??)
  • Painting the Town a revue with Norman Wisdom at the London Palladium (1955)
  • Red-Headed Blonde a farcical comedy at the Vaudeville Theatre, London (1952)
  • Out of this World at the London Palladium starring Frankie Howerd (1948)
  • Piccadilly Hayride at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1946)
  • Strike it Again at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1944)
  • Strike a New Note at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1943)
  • This Year of Grace on a United States tour then at the Selwyn Theatre, New York (1928) (credited as Jim Sadler).
  • Filmography

    Actor
    1967
    Before the Fringe (TV Series)
    - Episode #1.2 (1967)
    1966
    Vendetta (TV Series) as
    Kelly
    - The Widow Man (1966) - Kelly
    1966
    Sergeant Cork (TV Series) as
    Moscrop
    - The Case of the Vanishing Victim (1966) - Moscrop
    1966
    Pardon the Expression (TV Series) as
    Grand Vizier
    - A Sheik in the Night (1966) - Grand Vizier
    1965
    The Early Bird as
    Mr. Hunter
    1965
    The Mask of Janus (TV Series) as
    Dr. Robert Stacey
    - The Cold Equation (1965) - Dr. Robert Stacey
    1965
    No Hiding Place (TV Series) as
    Prof. John Southern
    - Chain of Guilt (1965) - Prof. John Southern
    1965
    The Valiant Varneys (TV Series)
    - Episode #2.4 (1965)
    - Episode #2.2 (1965)
    1965
    The Villains (TV Series) as
    Ted Harvey
    - Three to a Cell (1965) - Ted Harvey
    1964
    Gonks Go Beat as
    Great Galaxian
    1964
    The Counterfeit Constable as
    Man at Scene of Road Accident (uncredited)
    1964
    Contest Girl as
    Swimming Pool M.C.
    1964
    ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) as
    Benson
    - A Question of Happiness #4: Fred (1964) - Benson
    1964
    The Plane Makers (TV Series) as
    Gordon Vallin
    - Bancroft's Law (1964) - Gordon Vallin
    1963
    A Stitch in Time as
    Sir Hector
    1963
    Stolen Hours as
    Colonel
    1963
    Bud (TV Series) as
    Guard
    - Episode #1.5 (1963) - Guard
    - Episode #1.4 (1963)
    - Episode #1.3 (1963) - Guard
    - Never Put Your Shirt on a Horse, Even If It Fits (1963) - Guard
    1963
    The Switch as
    Chief of Customs
    1963
    The Dickie Henderson Show (TV Series)
    - The Housekeeper (1963)
    1962
    A Kind of Loving as
    TV Compère (uncredited)
    1962
    Drama 61-67 (TV Series) as
    Alan Titchfield
    - Drama '62: No Decision (1962) - Alan Titchfield
    1961
    Carry on Regardless as
    Martin Paul (as Jerry Desmond)
    1960
    Saturday Spectacular (TV Series) as
    Night club owner
    - Don't Stop - You're Killing Me! (1960) - Night club owner
    1960
    Whack-O! (TV Series) as
    Quiz-Master
    - Episode #6.2 (1960) - Quiz-Master
    1959
    Follow a Star as
    Vernon Carew
    1958
    Trouble for Two (TV Mini Series)
    - Episode #1.1 (1958)
    1957
    Just My Luck as
    Racegoer (uncredited)
    1957
    A King in New York as
    Prime Minister Voudel
    1956
    Up in the World as
    Maj. Willoughby
    1956
    Ramsbottom Rides Again as
    Blue Eagle
    1956
    Before Your Very Eyes (TV Series)
    - Episode #4.6 (1956)
    - Episode #4.4 (1956)
    1955
    Man of the Moment as
    Jackson
    1954
    The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp as
    Parker
    1953
    The Fabulous Oliver Chantry (TV Movie) as
    Oilver Chantry (as Gerald Desmonde)
    1953
    Trouble in Store as
    Augustus Freeman
    1953
    Malta Story as
    Garrison Commander (uncredited)
    1953
    Her Three Bachelors as
    Alf Donkin
    1952
    A Flight of Fancy (TV Movie)
    1952
    Kaleidoscope (TV Series) as
    Actor in Deputies Inc. segment
    - Episode #6.18 (1952) - Actor in Deputies Inc. segment
    1949
    The Perfect Woman as
    Dress shop manager
    1949
    Cardboard Cavalier as
    Col. Lovelace
    1946
    London Town as
    George
    Self
    1957
    Gentlemen, Be Seated! (TV Movie) as
    Self - Master of Ceremonies
    1956
    Hit the Limit (TV Series) as
    Self - Host
    1955
    Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium (TV Series) as
    Self
    - Episode #1.19 (1956) - Self
    - Episode #1.3 (1955) - Self
    1955
    This Is Your Life (TV Series documentary) as
    Self
    - James Butterworth (1955) - Self
    1955
    Film Time (TV Series) as
    Self
    - Norman Wisdom in Switzerland/Film Profile of Stanley Kramer (1955) - Self
    1953
    The Bob Hope Show (TV Series) as
    Self
    - Maurice Chevalier and Beatrice Lillie (1954) - Self
    - Gale Storm, Charles Farrell, Gene Nelson, Joan Shawlee, and The Corbett Twins (1953) - Self
    1951
    What's My Line (TV Series) as
    Self - Panellist / Self - Host
    1951
    Television Christmas Party (TV Movie) as
    Self - Host
    1949
    Rooftop Rendezvous (TV Series) as
    Self - Presenter
    - Episode #1.17 (1949) - Self - Presenter
    - Episode #1.16 (1949) - Self - Presenter
    - Episode #1.15 (1949) - Self - Presenter
    1948
    Old Songs for New (TV Series) as
    Self
    - Episode dated 23 February 1948 (1948) - Self
    Archive Footage
    1999
    Heroes of Comedy (TV Series documentary)
    - Norman Wisdom (1999)
    1977
    To See Such Fun (Documentary) as
    Self

    References

    Jerry Desmonde Wikipedia


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