The Trials and Triumphs of Les Dawson

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

Les Dawson: a comedian who, more than any other, spoke for the phlegmatic, resigned, sarcastic, glorious British way of life. This is his story.

A Northern lad who climbed out of the slums thanks to an uncommonly brilliant mind, Les Dawson was always the underdog, but his bark was funnier and more incisive than many comics who claimed to bite.

Married twice in real life, he had a third wife in his comic world - a fictional ogre built from spare parts left by fleeing Nazis at the end of World War II - and an equally frightening mother-in-law. He was down to earth, yet given to eloquent, absurd flights of fancy. He was endlessly generous with his time, but slow to buy a round of drinks. He was a mass of contradictions. In short, he was human, he was genuine, and that's why audiences loved him.

Reviews

From 11 series of Sez Les to the wilder lunacies of Blankety Blank, Les Dawson was always around and always hilarious... We shall probably never see his like again... All praise to Louis Barfe. He's got the context as well as the jokes right here. He gives you more than the booze and fags and the sometimes tortured hero of standard showbiz biographies. He makes us realise what we lost when Les Dawson died. * Observer *
Louis Barfe succeeds in digging beneath the television personality to uncover Dawson's hidden layers. * Time Out *
[A] conscientious, heartfelt book... In today's hard times, we could do with another comic like Dawson. * New Statesman *
Lugubrious, complex and always funny, Les Dawson gets the biography he deserves. * Scotsman *

Author Bio

Louis Barfe was born in 1973 in Epsom, Surrey. He studied at Lancaster University. He has written for Private Eye, The Oldie, New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday. His books include Where Have All the Good Times Gone: The Rise and Fall of the Record Industry and Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment.