HUMPHREY LYTTELTON
(23 May 1921 - 25 April 2008)
affectionately known as
"HUMPH"
affectionately known as
"HUMPH"
"...And so, as the 4x4 of destiny on the level crossing of fate stalls in the path of the speeding freight train of doom, and the signalman of time rushes to fetch his camera..." it is time to say farewell to jazz legend, cartoonist (co-creator, with Wally Fawkes of the wonderful Flook), humorist and incomparable, irreplaceable, chairman of the BBC's "antidote to panel games", I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue...
If you don't know Humph (above centre, with Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer and Tim Booke-Taylor) or have never heard ISIHAC, then there's nothing I can say to convey the brilliance of his dry, deadpan humour and impeccable comic timing or what he meant to millions of listeners to the show... If you do... well, then you don't need me to tell you!
Last Tuesday, the Clue team were due to record the programme at the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth but the chairman - who had never signed a long-term contract for the show which began in 1972! - was indisposed. Rob Brydon took the chair and opened with a pre-recorded - and utterly characteristic - message from Lyttelton...
"I'm sorry I can't be with you today as I am in hospital --- I wish I'd thought of this sooner!"
To the very end he made us smile. Thanks for all the laughs, Humph, and the great music.
Here he is, with the Harlem Ramblers, playing 'If I Could Be With You'.
Poor Samantha, what will she do now she can no longer sit on Humph's left hand...?!
You'll find quite a few memorable lines from the wrinkled forehead of radio's greatest quiz show on Wikipedia's entry for I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue. And you can visit Humphrey Lyttelton's web-site and leave your thoughts on its 'Remember Humph' page.
As we journey through life, discarding baggage along the way, we should keep an iron grip, to the very end, on the capacity for silliness. It preserves the soul from dessication.- Humph
Image (top): The Walter Hanlon Archive
11 comments:
I always loved the final Samantha joke at the end of I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue...
Tis a sad day indeed !! :(
Samantha is off to sample some beers and whiskies at the Radio 2 party. She says she expects to enjoy having a pint and a stiff Johnny Walker chaser.
What a busy girl Samantha was:
Samantha's going out now for an ice cream with her new Italian gentleman friend. She says she's looking forward to licking the nuts off a large Neapolitan.
And who but Humph could make such innuendo-laden remarks - at 6:30 on Radio 4 - and get away with it?!
And don't forget that Mrs Trellis from South Wales will be utterly bereft too!
Oh dear! Of course I meant NORTH Wales - don't know what came over me....
DIVA - Yes, poor Mrs T! Who will she write to now...?
I guess the only person who might be excused for giving a sigh of relief at Humph's passing is his perennial victim, Lionel Blair...
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is my favourite Radio 4 prog. Surely it can't survive without that hilarious, darling man. Such a loss! A sad day indeed. :-(
Bleak news. Rather strangely however, his obituary in the guardian today was written by the also deceased George Melly. That would unnerve me. Walking around whilst my obituary has already been written...
BELA - You are right, of course, but I can't imagine the BBC letting it rest in peace... Which of the their over-used voices will they hand it to, I wonder...
JOHN - Not to worry, I've only said the nicest things about you... ;-)
Actually, joking aside, I used to write obits for The Times: the great thing was you didn't have to wait until the person died to get paid!
GILL writes...
I always had a fantasy that I would meet Humph and he would explain the rules of Mornington Crescent to me....... I'm so sad that is never going to happen now.
Its best not to say you don't know what the rules of Mornington Crescent are.It only opens you up to a lot of sympathetic and patronising stares !
Is there anyone to replace Humph ? As we are reminded this month of the 20th anniversary of the passing of possibly the greatest panellist ever - Kenneth Williams, there is surely a decreasing number of qualified raconteurs to replace him.
GILL - I'm sure only the lovely Samantha understands the rules of Mornington Crescent - and then only because she made the right connections with a senior manger in TFL and remembered to touch in and touch out...
BOLL - Dear Mr Williams! However much Graham Norton shamelessly impersonates him on Just a Minute he'll never succeed in emulating Ken's ruthlessly hilarious style... Irreplaceable! Just as was, from the same game, the wonderful Peter Jones... But, contrary to all the beliefs of humanism, panel games do tend to find life after death...
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