Memorial to Bernie Winters, Golders Green Crematorium

Bernie Winters (born Bernie Weinstein; 6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991), was an English comedian, actor, musician & TV presenter, and the comic foil of the double act

Mike and Bernie Winters Mike and Bernie Winters were an English comedy double act, consisting of brothers Mike Winters, born Michael Weinstein (15 November 1926 – 24 August 2013) and Bernie Winters, born Bernard Weinstein (6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991). The act ...

with his older brother, Mike. Winters later performed solo, often with the aid of his St Bernard dog, Schnorbitz.

Biography

Bernie Winters was born Bernard Weinstein, at the City of London Maternity Hospital, 102 City Road, Holborn, on 6 September 1930. His father was a bookmaker. Bernie served in the merchant navy and performed as a musician at dances and weddings before forming the double act Mike & Bernie Winters with his brother Mike, whom he called "Choochie-Face" on stage. In October 1957 the duo appeared on ''

Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...

'' and were described in the ''Daily Mirror'' as top comics for Britain's teenage TV audience. They had been recommended to the show's presenter

Josephine Douglas Josephine Douglas (6 October 1926 – 12 July 1988) was a British actress and TV and film producer. Her original name was Jo Doll (née Reckitt). She played a pioneering role as a woman in television production at a time when it was dominated by ...

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele re ...

with whom they had been on a stage tour. They both left the show the same day that she did, on 10 May 1958. The two brothers split up in 1978, and Bernie hosted his own comedy show, ''Bernie'' (1978–1980) for ITV. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Bernie also presented ''The Big Top Variety Show'', a television series of variety shows from a circus ring. In 1984 he presented the second series of the game show ''Whose Baby?'' He also became a regular on shows such as '' Punchlines'' and '' Give Us A Clue'' and gave an impression of Bud Flanagan on television and later on stage, with Leslie Crowther as Flanagan's partner Chesney Allen. Winters was a member of the show business fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats. Winters appeared as himself in

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

sitcom '' Bottle Boys'' in 1985. On 14 August 1990, after several months of discomfort and stomach pains, he had a nine-hour operation on his stomach. Cancer was removed. However, though he was never told, Winters' condition was already terminal, and he died on 4 May 1991, at The London Clinic at the age of 60. Bernie 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), ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 8 May, and his ashes interred in the Garden of Remembrance. A memorial plaque was erected in the West Memorial Court there.

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (1958) – Himself * '' Idol on Parade'' (1959) – Joseph Jackson * '' Jazz Boat'' (1960) – The Jinx * '' Let's Get Married'' (1960) – Bernie * '' In the Nick'' (1960) – Jinx Shortbottom * '' Johnny Nobody'' (1961) – Photographer * '' Play it Cool'' (1962) – Sydney Norman * '' The Cool Mikado'' (1963) – Bernie * '' Simon, Simon'' (1970) – Man on roof with book * '' Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair'' (1979) – Mr. Pringle * ''Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza'' (1981) – Blue comedian

References

External links

* *The 1967 albu
Mike and Bernie Winters In Toyland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Bernie 1929 births 1991 deaths English male television actors English male comedians Jewish English male actors Jewish English comedians Male actors from London Deaths from stomach cancer People from Islington (district) Golders Green Crematorium 20th-century British male actors 20th-century English comedians Deaths from cancer in England