RIP Mike Yarwood Culshaws comments below say it all. Certainly legendary and an iconic talented performer. Another TV staple feature of my youth has gone. TBH his soft, light entertainment style grated with my more rebellious nature, but there's no denying his influence.
Tbh I actually thought Mike Yarwood had died years ago so I guess that was a bonus for him at least. Likewise, he was very much part of my youth and a staple of Saturday nights. I can't honestly say I was particularly fond of him but it's very telling, that for me at least, that I would still prefer to watch him rather than anything that currently fills the prime time slots, especially if it features those ****ers Ant and Dec!
It's mad that Mike Yarwood's career effectively ended in 1987, but loads of people still remember him. Probably not surprising that he needed treatment for depression in 1999. Going from being a 20m viewers to nothing overnight can't be easy. Don't remember his time as director of Stockport County. That can't have helped his depression, either!
Cannot say I saw that one back in the day, but chapeau to Mike Yarwood for a superb impersonation of Lionel Blair.
With the Spitting Image boys doing accurate political impersonations to brutal scripts, the Mike Yarwoods of the world would get a quick career extinction. No doubt many of said boys will be paying their tributes to him.
I remember Mike Yarwood as Harold Wilson and Denis Healey (which doesn’t mean much to you as a kid) but not much else. His show was of its time. The laugh was the accuracy of the impression. The scripts were bland. By the time of Spitting Image, impressions had moved on. It was more about ridiculing the personalities through the scripts.
I remember Mike Yarwood as a mainstay of Saturday night TV, his show filled the light entertainment slot between 8 & 9, and as that was also filled by the likes of Val Doonican and Nana Maskouri,I think that I recall Yarwoods show with more affection because it was actually watchable. I also didn't really know much about the politicians, but he did a reasonable Frank Spencer and Albert Steptoe, the worst part of the show followed the words 'and this is me'. Seeing Jon Culshaw and Alistair McGowan offering tributes remind us how the genre improved over the years Heres one of my favorites clips of Alistair & Ronnie Ancona
"I can't believe somebody as toxic and downright nasty as Russell Brand was allowed on our screens for so long" Meanwhile, in early-to-mid 2000s TV...
RIP David McCallum The Man from UNCLE was a favourite of my childhood and he was still a star in NCIS well into his late 80's. (Sapphire & Steele passed me by however )
