Comedy Career
His early career and training introduced him to wireless and radio communication, and this, coupled with work in the BBC's War Reporting Unit from about 1944 was ultimately to prove to be a conduit into the media.
While based in Birmingham, between 1947 and 1951, Unwin made his first accidental broadcast. Whilst testing equipment, he handed the microphone to broadcaster F.R. "Buck" Buckley who ad-libbed a spoof commentary about an imaginary sport called "Fasche". Buckley then encouraged Unwin to join in and introduced him as "Codlington Corthusite", handing back the microphone - he continued in Unwinese.
The recording was played back to two BBC producers, who added some sound effects. The recording was eventually broadcast on Pat Dixon's Mirror of the Month programme and after receiving a good response led to another sketch in which Unwin was interviewed as a man from Atlantis being asked about life in the sunken city. The broadcast produced Unwin's first fan mail, from Joyce Grenfell who had been impressed by his performance. Since Grenfell was Unwin's heroine, the encouragement gave Unwin a tremendous boost and he was inspired to break into show business.
After the war, but still with the BBC, whilst in Egypt and recording a series of shows by Frankie Howerd, the star was taken ill at the last minute and Unwin was pushed onto the stage and told to "do a turn".
Back in the UK, Unwin began to do more on the performing side. His next major breakthrough came when producer Roy Speer introduced him to leading comic Ted Ray. Once Ray had heard Unwin talking he said simply: "I want him in the series." The series was The Spice of Life which also featured June Whitfield and Kenneth Connor. During the mid 1950s, Unwin did about a dozen of these shows and in the process met agent Johnnie Riscoe and daughter Patsy who were to become his managers for the rest of his career. By the end of the fifties Unwin had ventured into the film industry, winning a part in the 1956 Cardew Robinson film Fun at St Fanny's.
Read more about this topic: Stanley Unwin (comedian)
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