Harry H. Corbett (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor. He is best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son (1962–1965, 1970–1974). His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).

Early life

Corbett was born on 28 February 1925, the youngest of seven children, in Rangoon, Burma, was serving as a company quartermaster sergeant in the South Staffordshire Regiment of the British Army, stationed at a cantonment as part of the Colonial defence forces. Corbett was sent to Britain after his mother, Caroline Emily, née Barnsley,

Corbett enlisted in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, In the early 1950s, he added the initial "H" to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty.

Production of the sitcom was stressful in the last few years, as Brambell was an alcoholic, often ill-prepared for rehearsals and forgetting his lines and movements. A tour of a Steptoe and Son stage production in Australia and New Zealand in 1977 proved a disaster due to Brambell's drinking.

Other work

Steptoe and Son led Corbett to comedy films: as James Ryder in Ladies Who Do (1963); with Ronnie Barker in The Bargee (1964), written by Galton and Simpson; Carry On Screaming! (1966) (replacing an unavailable Sid James); the "Lust" segment of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971); and Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977). There were two Steptoe and Son films: Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973). In 1966 he appeared as a narrator in four episodes of the BBC children's television series Jackanory, and he also had the leading role in two other television series, Mr. Aitch (written especially for him, 1967, in which he portrayed 'a bowler-hatted, cigar-smoking well-to-do wheeler and dealer') and Grundy (1980). Corbett had a supporting role in the David Essex film Silver Dream Racer (1980), and also appeared in the film Hardcore (1977). In addition, he had a supporting role in Potter (1980) with Arthur Lowe on the BBC.

Personal life

Corbett married twice, first to the actress Sheila Steafel (from 1958 to 1964), and then to actress Maureen Blott (stage name Crombie) (from 1969 until his death in 1982), with whom he had two children, including Susannah who has written a biography of her father, Harry H. Corbett: The Front Legs of the Cow, in March 2012. and was a guest of Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

As Prime Minister, Wilson wished to have Corbett appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Corbett was included, along with the Sooty puppeteer Harry Corbett, in the 1976 New Year Honours. Corbett had his first heart attack in September 1979. He appeared in pantomime at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, within two days of leaving hospital. He was then badly hurt in a car accident. The injuries to his face were obvious when he appeared shortly afterwards in the BBC detective series Shoestring. Other work included the film Silver Dream Racer, with David Essex, and a Thames Television/ITV comedy series Grundy, both in 1980. In the latter, Corbett played an old man discovering the permissive society after a lifetime of clean living.

Corbett's final role was an episode of the Anglia Television/ITV series Tales of the Unexpected, entitled "The Moles". Filmed shortly before his death, it was broadcast two months later, in May 1982. "A nice guy, and we did work well together, despite the fact that we only met when we were working because we live different lives and miles apart. I, as you know, have a two-room flat; he had a large farm with a wife, two kids, dogs, cats and a mother-in-law".

He is buried in the graveyard at St Michael the Archangel church at Penhurst, East Sussex. The headstone inscription, chosen by his wife Maureen, reads "The earth can have but earth, which is his due: My spirit is thine, the better part of me", from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 74. Maureen was buried alongside him in 1999. thumb|Headstone of Harry H and Maureen Corbett, Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Penhurst, East SussexCorbett is commemorated in the name of the Corbett Theatre at the East 15 Acting School at Loughton.

  • Comedy Parade, "The Kerbstone Twist Show", BBC Light Programme (1964) – Wingate Gibbon
  • Sounds Familiar, BBC Light Programme (1967) – panellist
  • Waggoners' Walk, BBC Radio 2 (1975) – self, with Wilfrid Brambell
  • Just Before Midnight, "Play Soft Then Attack", BBC Radio 4 (1978) – Alf

Discography

This list does not include any of the spoken-word recordings of Steptoe and Son.

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Title !! Format !! Label!! Notes !! Ref

|-

|1955 || The Singing Sailor || Vinyl, LP || Topic Records TRL3 || Credited to: Ewan MacColl, A. L. Lloyd, Harry H. Corbett ||

|-

|1962 || Junk Shop / The Isle of Clerkenwell|| rowspan="9" | Vinyl, 7-inch single || Pye Records 7N.15468 || ||

|-

| rowspan="2" |1963 || Like The Big Guys Do / The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God || Pye Records 7N.15552 || ||

|-

| The Table And The Chair / Things We Never Had || Pye Records 7N.15584 || ||

|-

| rowspan="2" |1967 || Blow The Man Down || Topic Records TOP98 || Credited to: Ewan MacColl, A. L. Lloyd, Harry H. Corbett, reissue from 1955||

|-

| Flower Power Fred / (I'm) Saving All My Love || Decca F 12714 || Credited to: Harry H. Corbett with The Unidentified Flower Objects ||

|-

|1971 || Harry You Love Her / It's The End Of A Beautiful Day || Columbia DB 8841 || ||

|-

|1974 || Only Authorised Employees To Break Bottles || RA Records RALP 6022 || ||

|-

|1974 || Shetland Oil / Your Baby Has Gone Down The Plug Hole || Grampian Records Ltd. NAN 1035 || ||

|-

|1979 || An Old Fashioned Christmas / Especially When You're Young|| Symbol Records S 001 ||Credited to: Harry H. & The Kids ||

|}

References

  • Harry H. Corbett Heaven