Trivia

He collapsed and died on-stage at The Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury in May 1984, watched by his wife, immediately after appearing in a show with Stan Stennett.

His sudden death, along with Tommy Cooper's, inspired Ronnie Barker to retire at the age of 59 rather than work himself into an early grave.

After appearing on their first television show, Running Wild (1954), Morecambe and Wise received many highly critical and derogatory reviews in newspapers, one of which said "Definition of Television - the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in". Eric carried a cutting of that review in his wallet for the rest of his life.

Avidly involved with charity work on behalf of heart research.

His hobbies included photography and twitching (bird watching).

His real surname was Bartholomew. In Morecambe where he was born there is a pub called the Eric Bartholomew, named in his honour. It is close to a bronze statue of him on the seafront.

He called himself 'Morecambe' after his home town in England, UK

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to entertainment.

He worked as a Bevin boy (i.e. was drafted into coal mining) during World War II, in Accrington, Lancashire.

Wrote a novel, entitled "Mr. Lonely", and a children's book, "The Reluctant Vampire".

Made his professional debut in 1939 in a touring show at the age of thirteen, having won a talent competition over 100 other contestants. There, he first met Ernie Wise.

Like many entertainment personalities, he supported Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 General Election, which is unsurprising considering that he had been paying 83% income tax under Labour since 1974.

He was a lifelong fan of Luton Town Football club, and often wrote material about them for comedy sketches. Eric Morecambe Suite named in his honor at the ground.

Morecambe was one of five comedians pictured on a set of UK postage stamps issued 23 April 1998. His caricatured likeness was on the 26p stamp. The other comedians honored were Tommy Cooper (20p), Joyce Grenfell (37p), Les Dawson (43p), and Peter Cook (63p).

Has a ward at Harefield Hospital, Middlesex in the UK named after him.

Was director of Luton Town FC from 1970 to 1977, when he resigned and became the club's vice-president.

He underwent heart bypass surgery in June 1979, three months after suffering a heart attack.

With Ernie Wise they received the Top Comedy Act award at the 1973 Sun Awards.

Leonard Rossiter, Arthur Lowe, Sid James, Eric Morecambe and Tommy Cooper all died in the theatre.

He suffered a near-fatal heart attack in November 1968. At the time he was drinking heavily and smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day.

Was fond of doing Long John Silver impressions.

He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show"), with his partner-in-comedy, Ernie Wise, numerous times during the 1960s.

Publicly supported Margaret Thatcher in the 1983 General Election.

He was a keen cricket fan.

One of his hobbies was collecting beermats.

Attempts by him and Ernie Wise to succeed in the USA, resulted in failure. American audiences failed to understand the comedy team's humor.