Freddie Frinton

Freddie Frinton

Freddie Frinton, born Frederick Bittener Coo According to the NDR, and the General Record Office (Births, Marriages, Deaths) Frinton's birth name was Coo. The IMDb gives his birth name as Bittener but this appears to have been a mistake.] (17 January 1909 – 16 October 1968) was an English comedian who remains a household name in Germany and Scandinavia because of his performance in "Dinner for One".

Frinton was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, the illegitimate child of a seamstress, and was raised by foster parents. He started working in a Grimsby fish processing plant — where he is said to have entertained his colleagues with parodies and jokes — but was ultimately fired. He moved into music hall (vaudeville) where he enjoyed modest success and renamed himself Freddie Frinton.

During the Second World War he made a moderate breakthrough as a comedian. In 1945, Frinton first performed the sketch "Dinner for One" in Blackpool. As he had to pay a royalty every time he performed the sketch, he bought the rights to "Dinner for One" in the 1950s, which turned out to be a very prescient decision.

At the age of 55, Frinton became a belated success as a plumber character in the popular television sitcom "Meet the Wife", which ran for 40 episodes (the wife was played by Thora Hird). The series is mentioned in the Beatles song "Good Morning, Good Morning" with the line "It's time for tea and "Meet the Wife". In October 1968, at the age of 59, Freddie Frinton died suddenly from a heart attack in London. He is buried at the Westminster Cemetery, Uxbridge Road, Hanwell, London.

This would be the end of the story of a not very well remembered English comedian, were there not a surprising postscript. In 1963, Frinton's "Dinner for One" had been recorded by the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) German television station, and bizarrely, watching the non-subtitled English language sketch on television subsequently became a German New Year's Eve tradition, with the short seeing multiple repeats every year from 1972 onwards. The television cult also caught on in Scandinavia and "Dinner for One" has been a hugely popular permanent, mandatory institution on Danish, Finnish and Swedish Television on New Year's Eve for many years. It is also shown every 23 December on Norwegian Television. It is also shown on the Australian SBS television network on New Year's Eve, and has been for at least the last fifteen years. Interestingly the programme and its main actor Frinton are virtually unknown in Britain.

Ironically for an actor whose roles often comprised playing a drunk Frinton was a teetotaller, having seen in others the damage that alcohol could do.

External links

*imdb name|id=0295795|name=Freddie Frinton

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Freddie Frinton — (* 17. Januar 1909 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Großbritannien; † 16. Oktober 1968 in London; gebürtig Frederic Bittener Coo, seinen Künstlernamen hat er angeblich der Ortschaft Frinton on Sea entliehen[1]) war ein englischer Komiker. Leben Frinton… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Frinton — Freddie Frinton (* 17. Januar 1909 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Großbritannien; † 16. Oktober 1968 in London; gebürtig Frederic Bittener Coo) war ein englischer Komiker. Frinton wurde als unehelicher Sohn der Näherin Florence Elisabeth Coo geboren… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Freddie — ist ein männlicher Vorname. Bekannte Namensträger sind oder waren: Freddie Aguilar (* 1952), philippinischer Rockmusiker Freddie Bartholomew (1924–1992), US amerikanischer Schauspieler Freddie Brocksieper (1912–1990), deutscher Jazz Musiker… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Frinton-on-Sea — 51.8327777777781.2452777777778 Koordinaten: 51° 50′ N, 1° 15′ O …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Freddy Frinton — Freddie Frinton (* 17. Januar 1909 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Großbritannien; † 16. Oktober 1968 in London; gebürtig Frederic Bittener Coo) war ein englischer Komiker. Frinton wurde als unehelicher Sohn der Näherin Florence Elisabeth Coo geboren… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Frederic Coo — Freddie Frinton (* 17. Januar 1909 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Großbritannien; † 16. Oktober 1968 in London; gebürtig Frederic Bittener Coo) war ein englischer Komiker. Frinton wurde als unehelicher Sohn der Näherin Florence Elisabeth Coo geboren… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dinner for One — Filmdaten Originaltitel Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One Produktionsland Deutschland …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Admiral von Schneider — Filmdaten Originaltitel: Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One Produktionsland: Deutschland Erscheinungsjahr: 1963 Länge: 18 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch Stab …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Der 90. Geburtstag — Filmdaten Originaltitel: Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One Produktionsland: Deutschland Erscheinungsjahr: 1963 Länge: 18 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch Stab …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Der neunzigste Geburtstag — Filmdaten Originaltitel: Der 90. Geburtstag oder Dinner for One Produktionsland: Deutschland Erscheinungsjahr: 1963 Länge: 18 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch Stab …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”