Bernard Manning

was a scum bag

Bernard Manning
Born	August 13, 1930 Ancoats, Manchester, England
Died	June 18, 2007 North Manchester General Hospital, Crumpsall, Manchester, England
Medium	Stand-up
Nationality	English
Subject(s)	Ethnicity, stereotypes, Manchester,
Website	http://www.bernardmanning.com/

Bernard Manning (August 13, 1930 - June 18,2007 ) was a Mancunian stand-up comedian, considered to be one of the greatest comedians of all time according to Channel 4's "Top 100 Comedians of All Time". Manning died in North Manchester General Hospital on June 18, 2007 at the age of 76.

Manning often courted controversy because he was one of the few English comedians whose act still frequently contained views which were commonly aired in Britain in the 1970s but are now seen as socially unacceptable. Critics class much of Manning's humour as racist, though Manning denied this.

Biography

Born in the Ancoats district of Manchester, Manning was of working class Irish Catholic extraction and was an altar boy. He also claimed Jewish roots and to be a descendant of immigrants from Sevastopol. A sign which reads 'Shalom' adorned the front door of his home at Alkrington in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

National Service

Manning left school aged 14, and joined his father's greengrocery business before joining the British Army to serve his national service in Germany. Like many other comedians of the time (including the cast of The Goon Show), Manning had had little thought of entertainment as a career, until his national service posted him to Germany. To pass the time, Manning began to sing popular standards to entertain his fellow soldiers. He proved to be so good at this that eventually he ended up putting on shows at the weekends: when he began to charge admittance (and audiences didn't drop off), he realised that there was the possibility of making money from showbusiness.

Professional career

On returning to the United Kingdom, Manning continued to sing professionally, and also working as a compere. He was an effective singer of popular ballads and fronted many big bands in the 1950s, such as that of Oscar Rabin. Over the years, Manning began to introduce humour into his compering. This went down well, and Manning slowly moved from being a singer/compere to a comedian who also sang.

After much work in comedy clubs and northern Working Men's Clubs in the 1950s and 1960s, Manning made his television debut in the 1970s on Granada TV's stand-up comedy show The Comedians. He went on to compere The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club (1974-77).

The dawn of political correctness led to television companies reducing their bookings of Manning, but his apperances on the Northern Working Mans club circuit continued, playing to packed audiences which, as he claimed, often included people from ethnic minorities.

Manning's style never abated, but the rediscovery of the 1970s led to a minor television revival. Channel 4 took him to Mumbai, India to see how his comedy went down there - badly was the answer. In October 2002, Manning presented one of the Great Lives programmes for Radio 4. He chose to honour the Albanian Roman Catholic nun, Mother Theresa.

The Embassy Club

In his later life, although he still toured Britain, he tended to appear most frequently at The Embassy, the club on the A664 Rochdale Road. Manning owned the club in Harpurhey, Manchester, although his son Bernard Jnr managed it. The club is reputed to have played host to many a rising star - Manning claimed The Beatles performed there early in their career.

Personal life

Manning's wife Vera died of a heart attack in 1986, and as his son Bernard Jnr had moved out of the family home, Bernard moved back in with his mother. In 1995, both his mother and his two brothers died in the same year.

Style

Manning's detractors were convinced he was a bigoted racist, while his family and friends insisted it was all an act to pull in the punters, that Manning was one of the kindest, most charitable, most loving men you could meet.

People from African, Indian, Irish or Pakistani origin, or those of Christian or Jewish faith were all fair game to Manning's logic - but jokes about disabled people or tampons were unacceptable. He was upset when two black waitresses won damages from a Derby hotel because it failed to shield them from Manning's routine at a Round Table dinner, accusing him of calling them "wogs." Manning stated that "niggers" and "coons" were historical terms with respectable roots, while stating: "The term wog - it's a horrible, insulting word I've never used in my life." On the BBC Two's Mrs Merton's television show, Manning came second to Caroline Aherne's character when he supposedly confirmed that he was a racist, but also in the same program said: "I tell jokes. You never take a joke seriously."

Manning did not endear himself to male or female journalists, who would be diaried to interview Manning sat in his vest and Y-fronts, enduring boasts about his Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, appearing with Dean Martin in Las Vegas, the Royal Command performance and meeting both the Queen and the Queen Mother.

Manning was a great believer in family values, who never swore in front of his mother:

I dragged myself up by my bootlaces. I don't drink or smoke, I don't take drugs. I have never been a womaniser. I was brought up right with good parents and I have never been in trouble or harmed no-one. And I love my family.

See also

• Jim Davidson
• Stan Boardman
• Roy 'Chubby' Brown

References

External links

• BBC announcement of Manning's death
• Comedian Manning dies
• [1] Death Announcement
• Bernard Manning's website
• His page at Chortle
• IMDb
• His page at My Manchester
• His tours
• Banned from the Weymouth Pavilion in 2002
• Bernard's episode of Great Lives on Radio 4 - his admiration for Mother Theresa in October 2002

Audio clips

• Bernard tells us why he is the best
• Bernard's trip to the dentist

Video clips

• Bernard's tribute to The Smiths
• At the Gardners Arms in Stockport
• Giving BBC Three his views on modern comedy