Norman Wisdom

In 2007, a Norman Wisdom-themed bar opened at the Sefton Hotel, Douglas, called Sir Norman's. It has stills from his many films on the walls and TV screens playing some of his old films. The bronze statue of Wisdom, which used to be on a bench outside Douglas Town Hall, has been moved to the steps leading into the hotel bar on Harris Promenade.

In mid-2006, after he suffered an irregular heart rhythm, Wisdom was flown by helicopter to hospital in Liverpool and was fitted with a heart pacemaker.

He pledged to retire completely from show business by his 90th birthday on February 4, 2005. His final TV acting appearance was in the 2004 Christmas special of Last of the Summer Wine (1973).

Pictured on a set of six Grenada $1.50 postage stamps issued 3 November 2002. Shown in the role of Norman Pitkin, which made him famous in a series of comedy movies.

On a visit in 2001, which coincided with the England football team playing Albania in the city of Tirana, his appearance at the training ground overshadowed that of David Beckham. He appeared on the pitch before the start of the Albania v England match wearing a half-Albanian and half-English football shirt. He was well received by the crowd, especially when he performed one of his trademark trips on his way out to the centre circle. In 1995 Wisdom was made an honorary citizen of Tirana.

6th June 2000: Awarded a Knighthood by the Queen, he deliberately tripped as he left the ceromony. The Queen was reported as being very amused by his antics! Norman Wisdom stated: "I couldn't help it, I did a little trip"

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours List and became a Knight Bachelor in the 2000 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to Entertainment.

Lifetime Achievement Award, British Comedy Awards 1992

After touring South Africa and Australia with some success, his appearances in Britain became more infrequent. He spent much of the 1980s in seclusion on the Isle of Man.

Singer Tina Charles, who had a number one with "I Love To Love" in 1976, alleged that Wisdom molested her in his dressing room when she was 16.

He was one of several actors initially considered for the role of Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973), however he turned the role down and it eventually went to Michael Crawford. The creator of the series Raymond Allen later stated "Norman Wisdom was offered the role but turned it down because he didn't find it funny".

Tony Award nominee for Best Actor in a Musical for his Broadway show "Walking Happy", in 1967, the show itself being nominated for Best Musical, losing to "Cabaret".

In 1963, he bought a new motor yacht. The 94 feet (29 m) long hull and superstructure were built in Spain for £80,000, before being towed to Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, for fitting-out. After three years of extensive works and sea trials, she was named M/Y Conquest and valued at £1.25 million by insurers. It was available for charter at £6,000 a month but Wisdom later sold it, saying that he was "no sailor".

During the 1960s, he was involved in a famous legal case (Wisdom v Chamberlain, 1968) in which he was pursued by the Inland Revenue for tax on profits made from the sale of silver bullion he had bought when concerned about the further devaluation of sterling. He contended that it was an investment but the court held that it had been a trading venture and was duly chargeable to income tax.

A lover of cars, his collection included a 1956 Bentley S1 Continental R Type fastback, which he first bought in 1961, and then again in the late 1980s. In 1969, he purchased, after the divorce from Freda Simpson, a Shelby Cobra 427, CSX3206, in New York, which he kept until 1986, when it was sold to another car enthusiast in Brighton, UK. Until his age and declining mental health meant he failed a Department of Transport fitness-to-drive test, he owned and drove a 1987 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and a Jaguar S-Type, which were sold in September 2005.

The song "Don't laugh at me ('cause I'm a fool)" was written by Norman Wisdom for the film Trouble in Store (1953) and became his theme song. He still uses it to close his one man show.

Norman Wisdom has become the great British clown very much in the mould of Charles Chaplin with his "little man" in the ill fitting suit and cloth cap. His character is "everyman", much put upon but struggling through to a (usually) happy ending. He was brought up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father disowned him. He joined the army where he discovered that his performing ability was appreciated. He has worked variously on stage and screen since 1952.

His 1950s and 60s movies, where his working-class characters typically eventually overcame the oppressive management, were the only Western movies allowed into Albania by the Communist dictatorship of 'Enver Hoxha', who viewed them as a parable for the workers' struggle against capitalism. The Albanian people, however, loved his physical comedy and he became the best-known and loved Western artist in the country. Since the fall of Communism, Wisdom has been involved in much work supporting Albanian children's charities.

In 1947 was in a Summer Season at Scarborough on a bill that included a conjuror who, having difficulty with part of his act, suggested that Norman come up on stage from the audience to assist him. That was when he bought his 'Gump Suit'.

Norman & Doreen had one son, Michael (born 1945), and Norman & Freda had two children, Nick Wisdom (born 1953) and Jaqui Wisdom (born 1954).