Norman Evans

thumb|Norman Evans' grave, [[Blackpool]]

Norman Evans (11 June 1901 – 25 November 1962) was an English stage and radio comedian, best remembered for his sketches and programmes entitled "Over the Garden Wall".

Biography

Evans was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, and started his working life as a commercial traveller, while also taking part in amateur dramatic groups. He gained a local reputation for his after-dinner speeches, and decided to become an entertainer, initially appearing at local functions and concert parties. In 1934 he was reportedly discovered by fellow Rochdale entertainer Gracie Fields, though in fact he had already been seen by impresario Oswald Stoll. According to writer Michael Kilgarriff, his "broad boisterous comedy and warmth of personality swiftly elevated him to lasting stardom."

The act for which he is best remembered was "Over the Garden Wall", in which he played Fanny Fairbottom, a toothless hatchet-faced Lancastrian housewife gossiping over a garden wall. The caricature was reportedly based on his mother. and was the only one in that role to receive top billing at the London Palladium. He also toured with a stage show, "Good Evans", and made the first of a successful series of U.S. appearances in New York in 1949, followed by a season at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood the following year and an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Despite the accident, he had his first television series, Saturday Comedy Hour, in 1956. and is buried in Carleton Cemetery. The headstone of his grave is a low wall built from natural gritstone blocks. His epitaph (preceding birth and death dates) reads "His last garden wall".

Biography

Filmography

References

External links