Maybe he was born with it
Following on in the family business usually means becoming a restaurateur, a butcher or a mob boss. But for Dick Emery, the family business was comedy. His parents were successful double act Callan and Emery. They raised their son in the back rooms of music halls across the country, and he watched his parents make audience howl with laughter every night. It wasn't until their divorce in 1926 that his mother realised young Dick was a chip off the old blocks. She nurtured his talent and encouraged him to perform as often as possible.

Babe in arms
His mother could never have known that her support would keep him away from the front lines during World War II. Instead of strapping on an army issue rifle, he became part of Ralph Reader's Gang Show and entertained the troops. When the war ended, Emery made an easy transition into TV and radio, playing bit parts on other comedians' shows, including The Tony Hancock Show. The 1957 sitcom The Army Game gave Emery his first big hit. He worked alongside stars Geoffrey Sumner, William Hartnell and Michael Medwin, playing Private 'Chubby' Catchpole. Someone out there liked him, because just six years later, he was offered The Dick Emery Show.

Grandfather of sketch
Do you love The League of Gentlemen, Monty Python and Little Britain? Then thank Dick Emery. During the run of the perennially popular The Dick Emery Show, he invented sketch comedy. His collection of regular (but highly irregular) characters would appear on each episode. They included: sex-starved Hettie, the aging spinster; the toothy vicar; Kitchener Lampwick, a wheezy old soldier; the skin-headed Bovver Boy; and the ridiculously camp Clarence ("Hello, Honky Tonks!). But most memorable was Randy Mandy, who managed to read a double entendre into every comment, no matter how innocent. Her famous declaration, "Ooh, you are awful! But I like you" was the "Suits you sir!" of the 60s. Emery's enormous TV success lasted for more than 20 years, and was only interrupted upon his death in 1983.

Sky of blue and sea of green
Though he's remembered as a TV icon, Emery also appeared in feature films throughout his career. His first film role, as Mr Nodule in 1956's The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn, was alongside the awe-inspiring team of Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. He also took a turn flanking Sid James and Joan Sims in Carry On: The Big Job in 1965. In 1972, Randy Mandy's catch phrase inspired Ooh, You Are Awful, the movie, starring Emery and Derren Nesbitt. Most notably, though, he co-starred with John, Paul, George and Ringo as Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.D (The Nowhere Man) in The Beatle's surrealist animated classic, Yellow Submarine.