This Is Your Life: Bill Waddington

Bill WADDINGTON (1916-2000)

Rare behind the scenes footage of this edition is included in The Story of This Is Your Life

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Bill Waddington, actor and comedian, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews - with the help of Joe Loss and his Orchestra - while heading for a taxi at London's Euston Station, having just arrived by train from Manchester.

Bill, who was born in Oldham, worked as a car salesman before joining the army during the Second World War. While in the army, he toured the country entertaining the troops as a member of the Blue Pencils concert party and, in 1942, appeared in the BBC radio show Ack Ack Beer Beer. He later featured in the Stars in Battledress concert party at the Normandy landings in 1944.

After the war, he found work as a stand-up comedian, supporting visiting American stars on their tours of UK theatres, before retiring to run a farm in Cheshire. However, in the early 1970s, Bill returned to show business, acting in several ITV dramas, including Family At War and Fallen Hero. In August 1983, he was cast in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in a role which made him a household name - that of cantankerous pensioner Percy Sugden.

"You're joking! You're joking! What a surprise! My god! You devil - you did this! Never! And I haven't got my best suit on either!"

programme details...

Edition No: 705
Subject No: 700
Broadcast date: Wed 15 Oct 1986
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 17 Sep 1986
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 27
Edition: 1
Code name: Game

on the guest list...

Joe Loss
Jill Summers
Tom Mennard
Thelma Barlow
Sue Nicholls
Helen Worth
Elizabeth Dawn
Nigel Pivaro
Michael Le Vell
Kevin Kennedy
Mark Eden
Sue Jenkins
Helene Palmer
Sean Wilson
Sally Whittaker
Sally Ann Matthews
Wendy Jane Walker
Bill Podmore
William Roache
Denise - daughter
Barbara - daughter
Stephen - son-in-law
Connie - sister
John Ingram
Charlie Chester
Walter Parker - cousin
Brian Clegg
John Allan
Rosalind Drury
Alex Denman
John Curtis
Frankie Laine

production team...

Researcher: David N Mason
Writer: Roy Bottomley
Directors: Terry Yarwood, Michael D Kent
Associate Producer: Brian Klein
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Street Life

from Elsie Tanner to Eddie Yates

The Story of This Is Your Life

a BBC Did You See...? special

Timeline

the show's fifty year history

Did You See...?

Press reviews of the BBC's Did You See...? special on This Is Your Life

Screenshots of Bill Waddington This Is Your Life

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Behind the cantankerous character of Percy Sugden is a life of laughs. Actor Bill Waddington, like Betty Driver, had lived a full 'other life' before Coronation Street: he was a stand-up comedian of the old school.

Joe Loss and his Orchestra were the first surprise as he stepped off the train from Manchester one afternoon in September of 1986. 'Prickly' Percy could not believe his eyes, because he had shared many a variety bill with Joe Loss back in those immediate post-war years when variety was still packing them in.

Joe reminded Bill how the young comedian had actually got a few reluctant laughs when they played that 'graveyard' of English comedians, the Glasgow Empire. Joe had joshed, 'You were so good I reckon tomorrow night you could risk losing the Glasgow accent.'

The story Percy Sugden had been keeping under that famous flat cap started in Oldham, where he was born at the Clarence Hotel – his parents were the publicans – and started to learn violin at an early age. His sister, Connie, told everybody he was so bad even his pet dog put its paws over its ears. So he took up the ukulele.

This proved the chance to succeed for Bill. Called up during the war, he was taken up by army concert parties. He was in 'Stars in Battledress' at the Normandy landings in 1944, made his radio debut in Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer, and became a stand-up comic immediately after the war.

He had shared variety bills with the best, including Frankie Laine, who greeted him from San Diego.

Oh, yes, and someone else. Back in the early Fifties, when he was billed at Manchester's Hulme Hippodrome as 'Witty Willie' he used to do a sketch with a certain comedienne.

Her name was Jill Summers – now his 'love interest' as Phyllis in Coronation Street.

The only sadness was that his wife of forty years, Lillian, a former singer and dancer, had died, so could not share his night.

Series 27 subjects