In the early 70's, Charlie Williams was a household name and one of Britain's funniest and most loved comedians. He was unusual at the time for a number of reasons, partly because comedy was his second career, he had previously been a professional footballer, but mainly because he was black. And in the early 70's black people had no presence on UK TV. He also had the broadest of Yorkshire accents, which meant he was novel and definitively original. I truly believe few people had ever considered that this mixture of skin colour and voice could possibly go together. He delivered his jokes in a gentle, almost charming way, with a slight hesitant delay and cheeky grin. His material drew hugely on his own humble beginnings, deeply rooted in working class England and this was a large reason for his amazing popularity. He also joked about his own colour, something that had never been tackled before, his famous line to hecklers being 'If tha don't shut up, I'll come and move in next door to thee'. This was typical Charlie Williams - saying what he knew the white man was thinking and fearing. Some believe this merely added to the prejudice and negativity directed at black people at that time of racial tension. Others saw him as a pioneer - he was Britain's first black comedian. In 2000 this was finally recognised when he gained a lifetime achievement Black Comedy Award, having 'broken down barriers'.
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Charles Adolphus Williams was born on the 23 December 1927. He was mixed race, his father was a Barbadian who had moved to Yorkshire, become a greengrocer and married a local girl. Charlie was brought up in the village of Royston on the Barnsley Canal. He was a teenager during the war and at 14 worked at Upton Colliery where he turned out for the works football team. His talent was such that at 19 he signed as a professional for Doncaster Rovers. It took the centre half a number of seasons to break into the first team but he eventually did so in 1955 and by the time he retired in 1959 he had played 171 games for the Rovers. Just as he was Britain's first black comic he was also just about Britain's first black footballer, certainly a rarity in an exclusively white dominated sport. He is remembered as a hard defender, solid rather than spectacular. When asked if he was ever any good at football he replied 'No. But I was good at stopping those that were ' ! He scored just one goal in his career, ironically against Barnsley.
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His entry into showbiz was as a singer with The Jeffrey Trio, where Charlie sang the songs of his hero Nat King Cole. His patter between songs was so funny that he eventually dropped the music for comedy and plyed his trade on the tough Northern working men's club circuit. Without a huge amount of talent, he would not have survived. His big break came in 1971 when he was given a regular TV spot on Granada's The Comedians, a programme for stand up comedians. The material in the series was largely racist or sexist and would not be acceptable on our screens today. But it brought Charlie into our homes each week and his infectious laugh and warm manner made him an instant hit. His jokes observed British working class life perfectly, easy for Charlie given his own up-bringing. 'So I said to the boss ' I've worked here for twenty years and this is the first time I've asked for a raise'. The boss said ' I know - that's why you've worked here for twenty years'. His catchphrase was ( in his lovely Yorkshire accent ) 'me old flower'.
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Charlie had a few good years in the limelight during which time he also had his own Granada series It's Charlie Williams and published an autobiography 'Ee-I've Had Some Laughs'. He also hosted the game show The Golden Shot for a short while. But by the second half of the 70's, Charlie's material was getting less acceptable for prime time TV and he largely returned to working the clubs. He retired in 1995 and was awarded the MBE in 1999 for his charity work. Charlie Williams died on the 2 September 2006 after a long illness.
Charlie was undoubtedly a very funny man. He was mild and affable. And we loved how he laughed at his own jokes. The audience listened as if drawn to a magnet.
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''This little lad was telling his teacher about their new house. 'It's smashin' teacher' he says. 'Ive got a room of my own, my brothers got a room of his own, and my two sisters have rooms of their own. But poor old mum - she's still in with Dad.'"
And finally a one liner that was typical of his act :
"My mother-in-law is a terrible cook. In fact she's got the only dustbin in her street with ulcers!"
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Charlie..............you were a good 'un. In fact, Charlie me old flower, thee were a right good 'un !
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