WHEN Des O’Connor heard that Eric Morecambe had suffered a heart attack in the late Seventies he stopped the show he was appearing in and asked the entire audience to pray for him.
The recovering Eric later heard about the gesture and offered his thanks. “It was the prayers of those six or seven people that made all the difference,’’ he quipped.
During lockdown I bought a number of books by Clive James. In one of them, a collection of his TV reviews (a sign of how good the writing is that they are still funny and insightful 40 years later, and are even if you haven't seen the programmes). He mentions Des O'connor on Morecambe and wise, saying he is bright enough to play along, happy for the million or so's worth of free publicity. He made the pertinent point this sort of taking the mickey out of a person watched by millions is only really funny when it is done by someone watched by even more millions. When done by second raters performing in pokey clubs, as became a stock thing, in front of a dozen people it isn't.
