Barry Took

The son of a manager at the Danish Bacon Company, Took was born in Victoria Road, Muswell Hill,[2][3] north London and lived in Winton Avenue, Bounds Green. When he was evacuated to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire during the Second World War, he ran away from his assigned home there, cycling 20 miles to Peterborough to get a train back to London.[4] He attended Stationers School[5] but left at age 15.[2] His older brother Philip would eventually work for the US Space Program before dying as a young man.[3]

With his limited education, Took found work as an office boy for a publisher and a cinema projectionist.[3][6] During his period of National Service in the RAF in which he played the trumpet,[3] he began performing and later worked as a stand-up comedian, eventually becoming a West End revue performer, working on For Amusement Only and For Adults Only.

In terms of his comedy writing, Took's best work was written in collaboration with Marty Feldman, whom he first met in 1954.[7] The two men wrote for several television shows in the 1950s and '60s, including The Army Game and its spin-off Bootsie and Snudge. He co-wrote Beyond Our Ken for two series (1958–59) with Eric Merriman for BBC Radio before leaving after a disagreement with his fellow writer. With Marty Feldman he wrote most episodes of Round the Horne; the intermittent partnership between them continued until 1974.[7]

In the late 1960s Took became comedy advisor to the BBC and was responsible for bringing together the performers who formed Monty Python's Flying Circus, before moving to the United States to work briefly on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In.[6] He returned to the UK in early 1970, was involved in setting up the BBC series The Goodies, although he had returned to take up the position of Head of Light Entertainment at London Weekend Television. He resigned from this position when Stella Richman, his superior and the Director of Programming, was dismissed.[4] On the Move (1975–76), a programme linked to a national campaign to promote adult literacy, was written by Took and featured Bob Hoskins and Donald Gee. He was involved in two further television series on the issue, Your Move and Write Away.[6]

In 1977 Took hosted his own comedy sketch show, Took and Co. Also featuring Robin Bailey, Chris Emmett, Andrew Sachs and Gwen Taylor, the series ran for seven episodes late at night on ITV.

In 1979 he became chairman of The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4, a role he filled until 1981 and again from 1986 to 1995. In the same year he became a presenter of Points of View, staying with the programme for 7½ years.[6]

Took also hosted the BBC Radio 2 comedy panel game The Impressionists, which included Peter Goodwright, Roger Kitter, David Jason and Dave Evans and, in 1998, the single-season revival of Twenty Questions titled Guess What?.

He had seven books published, including his autobiography and several histories of comedy.[6] He also wrote Kenneth Williams's life story for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography in 1996.[1]

During his time with the Royal Air Force he met his first wife, Dorothy "Dot" Bird, who was serving in the Women's Royal Air Force.[2] They married in 1950[4] and had three children (Barry, Susan and David), but were later divorced. In 1964[3] he married Lynden "Lyn" Leonard, this second marriage resulting in a daughter named Elinor. The couple separated in 1999[8] and eventually divorced.[2] He also spoke publicly about his experiences with depression and undergoing extensive psychotherapy for several years.[2][3]

After suffering from bladder cancer during the 1970s,[3] in 1999 he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus,[8] and suffered a stroke four weeks after undergoing major surgery.[9] He died at age 73 on Easter Sunday, 2002 in a nursing home in Enfield, Middlesex.[10]

• A Point of View (1990)

• Barry Took at IMDb
• Barry Took at British Comedy Guide
• Barry Took – Comedy Zone
• BBC News article reporting his death