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Norman Edward Vaughan (10 April 1923 – 17 May 2002) was an English comedian who led a long and successful career in the
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, appearing occasionally in films.


Early life

Vaughan was born in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and began a stage career at the age of 14 with a boys' theatrical troupe, the Eton Boys Choir, singing " D'ye ken John Peel". A few years later, he formed a dance trio called The Dancing Aces, and toured with it until he was called up to the join the Army in 1945. He served as a sergeant in Italy and the Middle East. During his military service he appeared in Army shows with
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
and
Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...
, who were later to form the
Goons The Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) was a private paramilitary group established in 1972 by the elected tribal chairman, Dick Wilson under authority of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. It operated on the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Indian Re ...
. In 1951, he appeared with Secombe again, when they performed on the same bill in variety. After two years of doing variety shows in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Vaughan returned to Britain to appear in a summer season of shows called ''Twinkle''. By the end of the decade he was the compere of a show starring
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
.


Television career

Vaughan was by now becoming known as an entertainer and his big break came when he stepped into
Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series ''Sunday Night ...
's shoes to host ''
Sunday Night at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...
''. The show was broadcast live and was a national institution, often reaching 20 million viewers. Vaughan used catch-phrases like "swinging!" and "dodgy!", which were accompanied by thumbs-up or thumbs-down gestures. He was a popular host for the long-running television programme (1962–1965). He also hosted ''
The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...
'' (during 1972 and 1973), taking over from
Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', ''Celebrity Squares'', ''Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Early ...
. Vaughan appeared in a 1960s TV advertising campaign for
Cadbury's Roses Cadbury Roses are a selection of machine wrapped chocolates made by Cadbury. Introduced in the UK in 1938 (as a competitor to Quality Street launched by Mackintosh's in 1936), they were thought to be named after the English packaging equipment ...
chocolates which included the slogan "Roses Grow On You". On television, he was also a regular guest on variety and quiz shows, including ''
Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show ''The Hollywood Squares, Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Mon ...
'', ''
Give Us a Clue ''Give Us a Clue'' is a British televised game show version of charades which was broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel from 1979 to 1984, followed by Michael Parkinson from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two ...
'' and '' Larry Grayson's Generation Game'', as well as being compere of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''Pebble Mill Showcase''.


Theatre career

Vaughan had already launched a successful career as an actor. His stage appearances include ''In Order of Appearance'' at the
Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya John Hidalgo Moya (5 May 1920 – 3 August 1994), ...
, a tour of ''
Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Late ...
'' with
Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.A Bedful of Foreigners ''A Bedfull of Foreigners'' (or ''A Bedful of Foreigners'') is a British farce written by Dave Freeman and first performed in the West End in 1973. It is about two couples on holiday in France who are accidentally assigned to the same hotel room ...
'' and ''
No Sex Please, We're British ''No Sex Please, We're British'' is a British farce written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, which premiered in London's West End on 3 June 1971 at the Strand Theatre. It was panned by critics, but ran until 5 September 1987, transferri ...
''. He also appeared in a number of pantomimes.


Later years

Vaughan devised the television game show ''
Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...
'' (1981), which was presented by
Jim Bowen James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show ''Bullseye'', ...
. He made few television or film appearances after 1974, other than appearing as himself in the
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
show ''Tell Me Another'' (1976–1979); as a seaside entertainer in the sex comedy '' Come Play with Me'' (1977); again as himself in ''
Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Ac ...
'' (1991); and featuring in a TV tribute to Sir
Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...
(2001).


Death

He died, aged 79, in the
Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...
in East London, on 17 May 2002, from injuries sustained in a road accident on 17 April at
Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...
. He was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
in
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...
on 23 May 2002. His ashes are in the Southern Garden (Bed L) but he has a memorial plaque in the West Memorial Court.


Personal life

Vaughan was married to Bernice, a former dancer, and they had one son, David.


Selected filmography

* '' You Must Be Joking!'' (1965) * ''
Doctor in Clover ''Doctor in Clover'' is a British comedy film released in 1966, starring Leslie Phillips. The film is based on the novel of the same title by Richard Gordon. It is the sixth of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. The film was released i ...
'' (1966) * '' Twinky'' (1969) * '' Come Play with Me'' (1977) * ''
Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Ac ...
'' (1991)


Catchphrases

*Thumb up – "Swinging"; thumb down – "Dodgy".Eric Partridge, Paul Beale (Editors)
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.
Taylor & Francis, November 2002. ; p. 322


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Norman 1923 births 2002 deaths Comedians from Liverpool English game show hosts English male comedians King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers Road incident deaths in London 20th-century English comedians Golders Green Crematorium Military personnel from Liverpool British Army personnel of World War II