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Norman Wisdom

Norman Wisdom

Actor · 1915 – 2010 · Marylebone, London, England

Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom,  OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin. These films initially made more money than the James Bond film series,  and secured Wisdom a celebrity status in lands as far apart as South America, Iran and many Eastern Bloc countries, particularly in Albania where his films were permitted by Enver Hoxha – Wisdom was the only Western actor to enjoy this privilege.  Charlie Chaplin famously referred to Wisdom as his "favourite clown".  Wisdom later forged a career on Broadway and as a television actor, winning critical acclaim for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the television play Going Gently in 1981. It was broadcast on 5 June that year. He toured Australia and South Africa.  After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a hospice was named in his honour.  In 1995 he was given the Freedom of the City of London and of Tirana.  The same year he received an OBE.  Wisdom was knighted in 2000 and spent much of his later life on the Isle of Man. Some of his later appearances included roles in Last of the Summer Wine and Coronation Street,  and he retired from acting at the age of 90 after his health declined.

Movies24

  • Movie5.6

    Five Children and It

    2004 · 234 votes

  • Movie5.5
  • Movie
  • Movie7.5

    Going Gently

    1981 · 2 votes

  • Movie8.0
  • Movie7.6

    The Early Bird

    1965 · 36 votes

  • Movie6.1

    The Bulldog Breed

    1960 · 19 votes

  • Movie7.4

    A Stitch in Time

    1963 · 36 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Girl on the Boat

    1962 · 6 votes

  • Movie6.5

    The Sandwich Man

    1966 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.6
  • Movie9.0

    Androcles and the Lion

    1967 · 1 votes

  • Movie6.5

    The Square Peg

    1958 · 33 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Up in the World

    1956 · 16 votes

  • Movie7.5
  • Movie6.2

    Follow a Star

    1959 · 15 votes

  • Movie7.7

    On the Beat

    1962 · 33 votes

  • Movie2.1
  • Movie6.2

    One Good Turn

    1955 · 12 votes

  • Movie10.0

    To See Such Fun

    1977 · 1 votes

  • Movie5.9

    Press for Time

    1966 · 17 votes

  • Movie10.0
  • Movie6.6

    Man of the Moment

    1955 · 17 votes

  • Movie5.4

Series15

  • TV5.8

    The Mike Douglas Show

    1961 · 11 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Merv Griffin Show

    1962 · 12 votes

  • TV6.2

    Casualty

    1986 · 88 votes

  • TV
  • TV5.3

    Wogan

    1982 · 7 votes

  • TV7.2

    Last of the Summer Wine

    1973 · 41 votes

  • TV7.0

    Bergerac

    1981 · 25 votes

  • TV7.0

    Playhouse

    1974 · 1 votes

  • TV5.3

    An Audience with...

    1978 · 3 votes

  • TV6.4

    Dalziel and Pascoe

    1996 · 28 votes

  • TV6.7

    This Is Your Life

    1955 · 9 votes

  • TV7.8

    The Last Detective

    2003 · 12 votes

  • TV6.5
  • TV5.2

    Between The Sheets

    2003 · 5 votes

  • TV