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Eric Sykes, Order of the British Empire|CBE (born
May 4 1923) was born in Oldham, Lancashire (now
Greater Manchester) and is a United
Kingdom|British comedic writer and actor. He is
widely regarded as an unsung hero behind much of
the British comedy scene over the past 50 years.

He is perhaps best known for his BBC television
sitcom with Hattie Jacques and Deryck Guyler,
called Sykes. However, he was well-known on radio
during the 1950s, both behind the scenes and in
front of the microphone.

He also helped Spike Milligan with The Goon Show
after Milligan's Clinical depression|depression.
He had first collaborated with Milligan on a radio
special called Archie in Goonland, which was a
crossover between The Goon Show and the "radio
ventriloquism" show Educating Archie starring
Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews, which
Sykes had been writing. Archie in Goonland was not
a success, and all existing recordings and scripts
have been destroyed, but Milligan and Sykes
collaborated on numerous Goon Show scripts and
shared an office for years afterward.

One of Sykes' best known creations is his classic
wordless slapstick routine, The Plank, which began
as a sketch in his TV series. It was later
expanded into an enduringly  popular 45-minute
film in 1967, co-starring Sykes, Tommy Cooper,
Jimmy Edwards, Roy Castle, Graham Stark, Stratford
Johns, Jim Dale, Jimmy Tarbuck and Hattie Jacques.
A third version was made in 1979  as a half-hour
special, with an all-star cast including Charlie
Drake, Charles Hawtrey and Wilfred Hyde-White.
More recently, Sykes appeared as Mollocks, the
servant of Dr Prunesquallor, in the BBC's
mini-series adaptation of Mervyn Peake's
Gormenghast. He continues to act on stage, despite
his advancing years. 

Sykes became profoundly deaf as an adult. His
"trademark" spectacles contain no lenses, but are
rather a bone-conducting hearing aid.

In the New Year's Honours List published 31
December 2004 he was created a CBE|Commander of
the Order of the British Empire for services to
Drama, following a petition by MPs after he was
left out of the Birthday Honours List.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he
was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by
fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

==Television==
* Sykes
* Curry and Chips
* Dress Spectaculars
* Eric Sykes Show
* Gormenghast: It's Your Move
* Mr H is Late
* The Nineteenth Hole

==Film==
* If You Go Down to the Woods Today
* Invasion Quartet
* Kill or Cure
* Monte Carlo or Bust
* One Way Pendulum
* Rhubarb
* The Spy With the Cold Nose
* The Plank
* Watch Your Stern
* The Others (2001 film)|The Others

==External Link==
* http://www.spikemilligan.co.uk/ The Spike
Milligan Tribute Site
* http://www.smas.me.uk/ The Spike Milligan
Appreciation Society
* http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0843059/ IMDB