Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Norman Wisdom(1915-2010)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Norman Wisdom
A naive young Amish woman runs away from her home in Pennsylvania to New York City, where she hopes to act in religious stage plays but ends up performing in Burlesque theatre.
Play trailer3:02
The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
6 Videos
82 Photos
Sir Norman Wisdom has become the great British clown in the mold of Sir Charles Chaplin with his little man in the ill fitting suit and cloth cap. His character is an everyman, much put upon but struggling through to a (usually) happy ending. He was brought up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father disowned him. He joined the British Army at age 14 as a band boy and learnt to play the clarinet, drums and xylophone. In 1941, he went to India with the army and became a comedian by clowning around in camp concerts. When demobbed, he returned home and decided to try to get on the stage but couldn't find an agent who was interested in him.

After marrying his fiancee, Freda Simpson, he spent five weeks in America searching for an agent and work without success. On his return to Britain, he eventually found an agent resulting in him making his first stage appearance at Collins Music Hall on December 17, 1946. Over time, his talent and his popularity grew resulting in him making his first major film Trouble in Store (1953) followed by One Good Turn (1955). Before long, he was writing the screenplays for eight of his films, including The Square Peg (1958), Follow a Star (1959), A Stitch in Time (1963) and The Early Bird (1965). In addition to writing the screenplays, he also composed numerous songs including his theme song "Don't Laugh at Me ('Cause I'm a Fool)".
BornFebruary 4, 1915
DiedOctober 4, 2010(95)
BornFebruary 4, 1915
DiedOctober 4, 2010(95)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Won 1 BAFTA Award

Photos82

Lana Morris and Norman Wisdom in Trouble in Store (1953)
Norman Wisdom in The Early Bird (1965)
Norman Wisdom in The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
Denholm Elliott, Jason Robards, and Norman Wisdom in The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
Norman Wisdom in The Bulldog Breed (1960)
Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom visiting Times Square in New York
Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom in Man of the Moment (1955)
Norman Wisdom in Man of the Moment (1955)
Norman Wisdom in The Bulldog Breed (1960)

Known for

Norman Wisdom in A Stitch in Time (1963)
A Stitch in Time
7.0
  • Norman Pitkin
  • 1963
Norman Wisdom in The Square Peg (1958)
The Square Peg
6.8
  • Norman Pitkin
  • General Schreiber
  • 1958
Trouble in Store (1953)
Trouble in Store
6.6
  • Norman
  • 1953
Norman Wisdom in The Early Bird (1965)
The Early Bird
6.7
  • Norman Pitkin
  • 1965

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Labrats
    • (voice)
  • Norman Wisdom playing the part of the vicar in the 2007 film Expresso.
    Expresso
    • (as Sir Norman Wisdom)
  • Bill Owen, Peter Sallis, and Brian Wilde in Last of the Summer Wine (1973)
    Last of the Summer Wine
  • Jonathan Bailey, Freddie Highmore, Poppy Rogers, Jessica Claridge, and Alec Muggleton in Five Children and It (2004)
    Five Children and It
  • Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)
    Coronation Street
  • Between the Sheets (2003)
    Between the Sheets
  • Peter Davison in The Last Detective (2003)
    The Last Detective
  • Evil Calls: The Raven (2002)
    Evil Calls: The Raven
  • Dalziel and Pascoe (1996)
    Dalziel and Pascoe
  • Casualty (1986)
    Casualty
  • Double X: The Name of the Game (1992)
    Double X: The Name of the Game
  • Terence Alexander, Sean Arnold, Annette Badland, Deborah Grant, Lindsay Heath, Celia Imrie, David Kershaw, Geoffrey Leesley, Thérèse Liotard, Nancy Mansfield, Tony Melody, John Nettles, Cécile Paoli, John Telfer, and Mela White in Bergerac (1981)
    Bergerac
  • BBC2 Playhouse (1973)
    BBC2 Playhouse
  • David Halls and Peter Hudson in Hudson & Halls (1976)
    Hudson & Halls
  • Norman Wisdom in A Little Bit of Wisdom (1974)
    A Little Bit of Wisdom

Writer

  • Just Wisdom
  • Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
  • What's Good for the Goose (1969)
    What's Good for the Goose
  • Press for Time (1966)
    Press for Time
  • Norman Wisdom in The Early Bird (1965)
    The Early Bird
  • Norman Wisdom in A Stitch in Time (1963)
    A Stitch in Time
  • On the Beat (1962)
    On the Beat
  • Norman Wisdom in The Bulldog Breed (1960)
    The Bulldog Breed
  • Jerry Desmonde and Norman Wisdom in Follow a Star (1959)
    Follow a Star
  • Norman Wisdom in The Square Peg (1958)
    The Square Peg

Producer

  • What's Good for the Goose (1969)
    What's Good for the Goose

Videos6

Trailer
Trailer 2:31
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:27
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:38
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:03
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:08
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:02
Trailer

Personal details

Edit
    • Sir Norman Wisdom OBE
    • February 4, 1915
    • Marylebone, London, England, UK
    • October 4, 2010
    • Ballasalla, Isle of Man, UK(natural causes)
    • October 7, 1947 - 1968 (divorced, 2 children)
  • Other works
    World of Wisdom, Musical collaboration between Norman and Rick Wakeman, a devout fan.
  • Publicity listings
    • 6 Print Biographies
    • 54 Articles
    • 15 Pictorials
    • 31 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    June 6, 2000: Awarded a Knighthood by the Queen, he deliberately tripped as he left the ceremony. The Queen was reported as being very amused by his antics! Norman Wisdom stated: "I couldn't help it, I did a little trip.".
  • Quotes
    I can never tell a joke, I've always found it easier to just fall over
    • Lop-sided grin Falling over
    • Trouble in Store
      (1953)
      £5,000

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.