Frank Carson 1926-2012: Obituary

Frank Carson was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 6, 1926 from a family of Italian descent. He began his working life as a plasterer and electrician before joining the Parachute Regiment.

He served in the Middle East for three years during the 1950s, before he tried his hand at stand-up comedy. Carson soon became popular on Irish television and later moved to England. He appeared in the music hall show The Good Old Days and eventually hit the mainstream with his appearances on talent show Opportunity Knocks, which he won three times.



Carson went on to reach further fame by appearing alongside fellow comics including Charlie Williams, Bernard Manning, Mike Reid and Jim Bowen in The Comedians in the 1970s. Over the next two decades he would appear in various UK television shows including Who Do You Do? and The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club.

The comic played Paddy O'Brien in the Spike Milligan sitcom The Melting Pot in 1975, but the series was cancelled after just one episode. He later became a staple of Saturday morning children's show Tiswas, as well as appearing in several radio productions, including Pull The Other One with David Frost in the 1980s.



Pope John Paul II knighted the comedian into the order of St Gregory in Rome in 1987, in recognition for his Northern Ireland charity work. He helped raise £130,000 for the Royal Victoria Hospital Children's Cancer Ward in 1986.

Of his knighthood, he told the Daily Mail: "He kissed me and said I was a wonderful man. I was in there for 17 minutes - the priests time it. President Reagan only got 11, so that was nice."

Carson also served as Mayor of Balbriggan in North Dublin twice, where he also spent his honeymoon. He returned to doing stand-up at the height of the alternative comedy boom in the 1980s, and was performing hundreds of shows each year up until as recently as 2008.



He was perhaps best known for his catchphrases "It's a cracker!" and "It's the way I tell 'em!", as well as his self-deprecating humour and his gentle mocking of fellow Irishmen.

In 2004, Carson was scheduled to appear in the ITV1 reality series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, but was eventually axed due to the high insurance costs in relation to his poor health and age.

In September 2009, Carson appeared on stage at the North Pier Theatre for the midweek season run of The Comedians in Blackpool, where he lived in later life. He became seriously ill in 2009 after a routine hernia operation, and underwent replacement knee surgery in July of that year. In August 2011, he had an operation to remove a tumour from his stomach.



Frank Carson passed away from his illnesses at his home in Blackpool at the age of 85. His family said in a statement: "He went peacefully at his home in Blackpool surrounded by his greatest fans - his extended family. We will be taking him home to Belfast to lay him to rest and celebrate his joyful life.

"It's quieter down here now. God help them up there!"

> Frank Carson dies, aged 85
> Frank Carson dies: Celebrity tributes
> Frank Carson dies: His career on television - video

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