Arthur Askey

Soon afterwards, he was forced to give up performing, and had both legs amputated before his death.
. His last film was the British softcore porn film Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (1978), starting Debbie Ash. He was in, amongst other radio credits, "Shadow Man" on Radio Luxembourg in 1955, "Destination - Fire!" on BBC (Early 1960s), General Sternwood in a BBC version of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" (1977), "Pay Any Price" (BBC 1982), "The Mystery of the Blue Train" (BBC 1985/1986), as Henry Hickslaughter in Elizabeth Troop's Sony Award winning adaptation of Graham Greene's short story "Cheap In August" (1993). He also made many stage appearances as a pantomime dame. His movie credits include: Another Shore (1948), The Square Ring (1953), The Amorous Prawn (1962), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Pink Panther Strikes Again(1976) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). When television arrived, he made the transition well. He was in Franco Zeffirelli's tv mini-series of "Jesus of Nazareth" and the American tv series of Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles".

During World War II, Askey starred in several comedy films, notably The Ghost Train (1941). He appeared in British television shows such as Dial 999, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, The Gathering Storm, The New Avengers, and Minder. Askey's humour owed much to the playfulness of the characters he portrayed and his use of catchphrases, as parodied by the Arthur Atkinson character in The Fast Show. The series was made available to overseas broadcasters by the BBC Transcription Service. It had begun as a variety show, but had been unsuccessful until Askey and his partner, Richard Murdoch, took on a larger role in the writing. Other stories followed and were presented by BBC radio over the years from 1947 to 1961. His career began in the music halls, but he rose to stardom in 1938 through his role in the first radio sitcom, Band Waggon, prior to which radio comedy had consisted of broadcast standup routines. The series debuted on BBC radio with the story "Lady in a Fog" in October 1947.

Askey was born in Liverpool. Robert Beatty played Philip Odell, a fictional Irish detective created by Lester Powell. Arthur Askey (June 6, 1900 - November 16, 1982) was a prominent British comedian. Robert Beatty (born 19 October 1909, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and died 3 March 1992, London, England, UK) was a Canadian actor who worked in radio, film and television for most of his career and was especially known in the United Kingdom.