Barry Cryer's family share why the late star 'hated' being called a national treasure

Fittingly for a comedy giant who had the nation in stitches for over 60 years, Barry Cryer spent his last moments making people laugh.

The gag machine, who wrote for a host of the greatest stars in showbiz history and was a hilarious performer in his own right, has died aged 86 in hospital surrounded by his family.

He was said to be in “good spirits” until the very end.

His family added: “It’ll be of no surprise to those that knew… him that he was telling an Archbishop of Canterbury joke to a nurse not long before he died.

“That was one of his gifts, making strangers feel welcome. Making them laugh.”

He wrote for legends such as Bob Hope, Morecambe and Wise, Sir Billy Connolly, Tommy Cooper, The Two Ronnies and Les Dawson.

Barry, famed for his wordplay and one-liners, also appeared on numerous TV shows and starred on radio comedy panel game I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue for 50 years.

Comedy star Stephen Fry called him a “glorious, gorgeous, hilarious and gifted writer and performer” who was “universally beloved”,

Barry died at Northwick Park hospital in Harrow, North West London, from complications of pneumonia after contracting sepsis. He had also had cancer.

Barry Charles Cryer was born in Leeds in 1935. He was five when his dad, a Jewish accountant, died.

After attending Leeds grammar school, Barry studied at Leeds University where he performed in the revue.

His first paid gig was in Leeds at the City Varieties Music Hall.

He left the university after failing his first year exams.

Barry moved to a bedsit in London where he landed an audition at the Windmill Theatre. He did his first stand-up routine on stage two hours later, going on to do 36 stints per week among the nude models.

In 1958, he co-starred in West End musical Expresso Bongo and recorded a novelty song, The Purple People Eater, which went to No1 in Finland. He was hospitalised with eczema 12 times in eight years and it was during these spells he honed his writing.

He began coming up with material for risque entertainer Danny La Rue at legendary club Winston’s.

There Barry met his future wife Terry, who was a singer, and entertainer Ronnie Corbett.

Barry joked: “I met my wife and Ronnie Corbett on the same day… I tossed a coin and married her.”

He then joined the writing roster on satirical TV show The Frost Report, which started in 1966, and his career blossomed.

Barry always preferred to write in partnership. His main collaborator in the 1970s was John Junkin.

They appeared together, alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor in radio sketch show Hello, Cheeky! between 1973 and 1979. It was also broadcast on TV in 1976.

Barry, who performed for the likes of the Beatles and Judy Garland, also hosted ITV comedy panel game Jokers Wild for five years and Those Wonderful TV Times in the mid-1970s. Then he began writing for Kenny Everett’s hugely successful TV show.

Barry then toured with Willie Rushton and wrote alongside the likes of Graeme Garden.

The gag Barry recounted on his death bed told of a couple being sworn at by a man they mistakenly thought to be the Archbishop.

Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop, is said to have liked the joke so much that he would also tell it – minus the expletives.

The Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines, said: “Every time [Barry] called he’d tell me a joke he knew I could never use in church.”

Even in his 80s, Barry was lauded by new comics for his enduring skills.

He was made an OBE in 2001, and in 2018, he was handed a lifetime achievement award for comedy by the British Music Hall Society.

But his son Bob said Barry hated being called a “national treasure” because it sounded like he had “just been dug up”.

Bob added: “He never really liked the terms ‘comedy writer’ or ‘comedian’ instead preferring ‘hack’ and ‘entertainer’.”

Barry and Terry married in 1962. They had four children and sons seven grandchildren.

Once asked about the secret to their happy marriage, he said: “The key is we’ve never understood each other; we don’t row but we argue all the time. I said to her, ‘We disagree about everything’, and she replied, ‘No, we don’t’.”

And in 2018 he quipped: “My longevity is due to cigarettes and lager. I don’t know how long I’ve got left – I don’t even buy green bananas.”

Bob told the Mirror his dad would scour the newspapers every day for celebrities born that day so he could call them to share a joke.

Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci said: “Highlight of any birthday was Barry ringing me up to tell me a joke. Always the best joke I’d heard all year. I’d spend most of the next year telling it to everyone else.”

Comedy star Sandi Toksvig said: “Barry Cryer was the only man I ever regularly offered to run away with.

“I loved him beyond all measure. He was, of course, hilarious, but he was also unbelievably kind.”

While John Cleese said: “I never met a nicer, kinder, more cheerful man.”

Barry also wrote for the likes of Russ Abbott, Dave Allen, Les Dawson, Frankie Howerd and Kenny Everett

He wrote for legends of comedy, including Bob Hope, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, Sir Billy Connelly and Tommy Cooper and Russ Abbott, Dave Allen, Les Dawson, Frankie Howerd and Kenny Everett.

The world of comedy has been remembering him, with Fawlty Towers star John Cleese saying: “I never met a nicer, kinder, more cheerful man.”

Barry even discussed plans for his wake, joking in 2018, saying: “I told my darling that at my funeral I want to pop up on a screen like Kenny Everett and say, ‘I know where you’re all going – you’re going to the pub. And I don’t care, because I’m going for a drink with Eric Morecambe.’

“And do you know what she said? ‘Get a move on, then!’”