People of a certain age will remember Russ with a lot of affection. He first came to the public as a drummer with the ‘Black Abbots' a mad cap group that imitated a lot of the famous back then and took the mickey out of them well and truly.
He is not seen a lot these days but now and again he will appear in a serious acting role and always does a good job. These days he is in ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’.
Russ Abbott
During the 80s it’s fair to say that one of the most famous people on British telly
was comedian, singer, impressionist and all-
There was a time when he was to Saturday night TV what Ant and/or Dec is now. He used to compete with Noel Edmonds (before good old Noel became a deranged, power hungry maniac) for millions of viewers’ attention each weekend.
Long before Little Britain, his characters and their catchphrases from Russ Abbott’s Madhouse and The Russ Abbott Show were uttered throughout the land. Who could forget lazy racist stereotype C.U. Jimmy and his impenetrable Scottish brogue? Or the miraculous way he blended his Tommy Cooper impression with an iconic superhero to create Cooperman? Or spy rip off Basildon Bond?
And, lest we forget, he took the recently bereaved Les Dennis under his wing when Les lost his comedy partner Dustin Gee to cancer, allowing Les to become Russ’ sidekick, along with Bella Emberg – a fat ugly woman who’s entire show revolved around the fact she was fat and ugly.
Actually, as I write this, it becomes clear why Russ’ appeal dried up. As tastes changed during the nineties, there was no need for variety club meets end of the pier style entertainment on a Saturday night. Everyone wanted to Be A Millionaire, not just Russ.
Still, joking apart, it’s fair to say that Russ Abbott was a consummate professional and a talented performer. Also, it seems that times haven’t changed all that much. turn on the TV on a Saturday night at the moment and you’re just as likely to see Christopher Biggins dancing in a frock or Noel Edmonds publicly losing his mind; it’s like the nineties never happened…
So, what happened to Russ? Well, The Russ Abbott show came to an end in 1991, bringing
to a close a ten-
Russ Abbott
Clearly Russ had proven he could be the king of light entertainment, but times had changed and he was eager to do so too. His next major work after The Russ Abbott Show came in 1993 in a drama called September Song. In this he played the central character Ted Fenwick, a widower who joins his friend Billy Balsam, a comedian, in Blackpool, and where he meets new love.
A success, the show lasted three series and at the same time, the raising of his profile once more meant that Russ could bring back his variety show format and The Russ Abbott Show returned to our screens for two more series, the final curtain coming down for good in August 1995.
After this Russ would pop up in several lightweight dramas, including fading performers’ haven Casualty, Heartbeat and DAbbot's theatre roles include Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the narrator in The Rocky Horror Show. In 2004, he played the part of "Grandpa Potts" in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium and also played Fagin in Oliver!
From July 2007, he took over the role of Roger De Bris in the UK tour of Mel Brooks' The Producers and in 2008, Russ appeared as the Tin Man in the stage production of the Wizard of Oz at the Mayflower in Southampton.
That same year he got the call most British comedy actors over a certain age are just dying for (literally) – to join the cast of Last of the Summer Wine playing Luther 'Hobbo' Hobdyke for the show's 30th series. So that’s where he is now; spending the rest of his professional years careering down a hill in Holm Firth in a bathtub.
They say that working on Roy Clarke’s prehistoric sitcom is a great experience with lots of great personalities so Russ must fit right in. After all, he loves a party with an Atmosphere…
The biography above was taken from Comedy Central I have used this information as it was the best available. I mean no ill will to this excellent site and beg for forgiveness if I have offended by using it. If that is the case please contact me and it will be removed.
Flexible and modern in service and approach, the idea of conceptual service is best presented by
it really suits the new age customer.