Harry H. Corbett - Early Life

Early Life

Corbett was born in Rangoon, Burma, where his father, George, was serving as a company quartermaster sergeant in the South Staffordshire Regiment of the British Army, stationed at a cantonment as part of the Colonial defence forces. Corbett was sent to England after his mother Mary died of dysentery when he was 18 months old. He was then brought up by his aunt, Annie Williams, in Earl Street, Ardwick, Manchester and later on a new council estate in Wythenshawe. He attended Ross Place and Benchill Primary Schools; although he passed the scholarship exam for entry to Chorlton Grammar School, he was not able to take up his place there and instead attended Sharston Secondary School.

Corbett enlisted in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, and served in the Home Fleet on the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire. After VJ-Day in 1945 he was posted to the Far East, where he was involved in quelling unrest in New Guinea and reportedly killed two Japanese soldiers there whilst engaged in hand to hand fighting. He was then posted to Tonga, but deserted and remained in Australia before handing himself in to the Military Police. His military service left him with a damaged bladder following an infection and a red mark on his eye caused by a thorn which was not treated until late in his life.

On returning to civilian life, Corbett trained as a radiographer before taking up acting as a career, initially in repertory. In the early 1950s, he added the initial "H" to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty. He joked that "H" stood for "hennyfink" – a Cockney pronunciation of "anything". In 1956 he appeared on stage in The Family Reunion at the Phoenix Theatre in London.

From 1958 he began to appear regularly in films, coming to public attention as a serious, intense performer in contrast to his later reputation in sitcom. He appeared in television dramas such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (as four different characters in different episodes between 1957 and 1960) and Police Surgeon (1960). He also worked and studied Stanislavski's system at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal in Stratford, London.