Les Dawson

 
At first glance Les Dawson was an old school comic telling dated mother-in-law jokes, first glances can be wrong and they were as far as Les is concerned. He was an intellectual comedian packaged as a working class northerner. His linguistic dexterity made him a unique comedian for his generation, his working class rooted comedy was enjoyed by all classes.

He is well remembered for his out of tune piano playing, the Lancashire ladies Cissie and Ada (alongside Roy Barraclough) and the chauvinistic Cosmo Smallpiece. Yet that isn't all the story. His sketch show Sez Les ran for 57 episodes between 1969 and 1976, it was John Cleese's first stop after leaving Monty Python.
Similar series followed over the next few years and then gameshow appearances, where more famously on Blankety Blank Les ripped up the gameshow host rule book.
There's still more, it wasn't just sketch shows and light entertainment, Les appeared in a Galton & Simpson penned sitcom, Dawson's Weekly, again alongside Roy Barraclough. There were even acting appearances, notably playing the central figure Nona in the TV play of the same name, appearing with Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall. Les played the aged grandmother of the title with a voracious appetite that eventually went a little too far.
After working the club circuit, Les' big break was on the TV talent show Opportunity Knocks, which Les later hosted on one of its revivals. He continued to perform shows nationwide and was a regular pantomime performer, his Widow Twankey was a joy!
So that must be Les' career? Well no, Les was also a well published author and asked that he be remembered as a writer. Serious and comic novels and two volumes of autobiography were part of his oeuvre.
Les' official website.
Here's Les & John Cleese from Sez Les


With Roy Barraclough as Cissie and Ada

and a bit more around the piano