Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker OBE (born
September 25 1929) is a British
comic actor, now retired. His best-known appearances were as
Ronnie Corbett's partner in the long-running TV variety show
The Two Ronnies and as Fletch in the sitcom
Porridge. He began his broadcasting career with a variety of minor characters in The Navy Lark, a navy based
sit-com on the
BBC Light Programme, still available on tape and frequently
rerun on
BBC 7. He performed many satirical skits in The Frost Report and starred with
David Jason as a bumbling aristocrat in the TV sit-com "Hark at Barker". Both he and Jason are widely recognised as having an excellent sense of comic timing and delivery, which accounts for their enduring popularity. Jason apeared in several episodes of
Porridge, and co-starred as the assistant to Barker's stuttering shopkeeper in the sitcom
Open All Hours, written by Roy Clarke (who also wrote
Last of the Summer Wine).
Barker briefly came out of retirement to play Winston Churchill's butler - a "straight" role, but with opportunities for comic asides - in the BBC drama The Gathering Storm 2002.