Radio Days
Born in Shepherd's Bush, London, Brough began his radio career in 1944 in ventriloquism (audiences didn't mind the fact that you couldn't see him) but in 1950 he debuted Archie, a mischievous child who domineered his mentor. Archie's chief characteristics were his Savile Row tailored blazers and manic eyes. Archie followed in the tradition of the American ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy.
His radio series based around the character - Educating Archie - featured in support the likes of Dick Emery, Freddie Sales, Benny Hill, Tony Hancock, Hattie Jacques, Bruce Forsyth, Harry Secombe, Beryl Reid and even a young Julie Andrews as the girlfriend of Archie; Eric Sykes was one of the series main writers in the early 1950s. The show often averaged 15 million listeners, and a fan club boasted 250,000 members.
Read more about this topic: Peter Brough
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