Biography:
Norman Wisdom was born in the London district of Marylebone to Frederick and Maude Wisdom. His father was a chauffeur and his mother a dressmaker. After a difficult and poverty-stricken childhood he joined the army and began to develop his talents as a musician and stage entertainer.
Early career
After he left the army he went into show-business, gradually becoming one of Britain's most successful stars. In 1954 he released the best-selling single that is still closely associated with his name, "Don't Laugh At Me (Cause I'm A Fool)".
Moving into film in the 1960s, he created an accident-prone, clownish character called Norman Pitkin, a lovable fool who appeared in several successful films, most notably The Early Bird (1965). His famous and widely imitated cry as Pitkin was "Mr Grimsdale! Mr Grimsdale!"
Later career
In 1967, he was widely praised for his performance as a serious actor in The Night They Raided Minsky's, but his career began to decline in the 1970s and he was out of favour with British tastes in comedy for many years. On 11 February 1987 Norman Wisdom was the subject of Thames Television's This Is Your Life.
He became widely popular again in the 1990s, helped by the young comedian Lee Evans, whose act was heavily influenced by Wisdom's work. The highpoint of this new popularity was the knighthood he received in 1999 from Queen Elizabeth II.
After he was knighted, true to his accident-prone persona, he couldn't resist pretending to trip on his way out off the platform.
Popularity in Albania
Norman Wisdom is a well-known and loved cult film icon in Albania and was the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the Communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.
The archetypal Wisdom plot where the common working man gets the better of his bosses was considered ideologically sound by Hoxha. In 1995, he visited the post-Stalinist country, where to his surprise he was greeted by many appreciative fans and the then president of Albania, Sali Berisha.
Retirement
He announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on 4 February 2005, apparently his 90th birthday. He intends to spend his retirement spending more time with his family, playing golf and driving around the Isle of Man, where he now lives (and is a neighbour of John Rhys-Davies).
Trivia
He is a supporter and a former board member of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C.
In 1998, a newly discovered asteroid was named 17826 Normanwisdom (sic) in his honour.
He claimed that his left leg is half an inch (1.25 cm) shorter than his right.
Member of the Grand Order of Water Rats
Works
Films and Television
1948 A Date with a Dream
1948-1950 Wit and Wisdom
1953 Trouble in Store
1954 One Good Turn
1955 As Long as They're Happy
1955 Man of the Moment
1956 Up in the World
1957 Just My Luck
1958 The Square Peg
1959 Follow A Star
1960 There Was a Crooked Man
1960 The Bulldog Breed
1962 On The Beat
1962 The Girl on the Boat
1963 A Stitch in Time
1965 The Early Bird
1966 The Sandwich Man
1966 Press for Time
1967 Androcles and the Lion
1968 The Night They Raided Minsky's (also known as The Night They Invented Striptease)
1969 What's Good for the Goose (aka Girl Trouble)
1970 Norman
1970 Music Hall
1973 Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
1974 A Little Bit of Wisdom
1981 BBC PlayHouse : Going Gently
1988 The 1950's: Music, Memories & Milestones
1992 Double X: The Name of the Game (Double X, Run Rabbit Run)
1994 Last of the Summer Wine — "The Man Who Nearly Knew Pavarotti"
1998 Where On Earth Is ... Katy Manning
2000 Last of the Summer Wine — "The Coming of the Beast"
2002 Last of the Summer Wine — "A Musical Passing for a Miserable Muscroft"
2002 Dalziel and Pascoe — "Mens Sana"
2003 Between the Sheets
2004 Coronation Street (guest appearance)
CDs and Vinyl
The Very Best of Norman Wisdom
Wisdom of a Fool
Nobody's Fool
Follow A Star
1957 Original Chart Hits
Follow A Star/Give Me A Night In June
Happy Ending/The Wisdom Of A Fool
Big in Albania - One Hit Wonderland
Books
Lucky Little Devil: Norman Wisdom on the Island He's Made His Home (2004)
My Turn: Autobiography (2002)
Don't Laugh At Me / Cos I'm A Fool (1992) (two volumes of autobiography)
Norman also played a big part in the Tony Hawks book, One Hit Wonderland. Tony and Norman had a top twenty hit in Albania in 2002 with a song called "Big in Albania" written by Hawks and Oscar winning lyricist Tim Rice.
