Les Dawson

Acting

Les Dawson

Born — Died

1931-02-02 — 1993-06-10

Place of birth

Collyhurst, Manchester, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

30 titles

Les Dawson (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife.

Known for

Wogan poster
5.6

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

Wogan

1982

No artwork available
4.1

Pebble Mill was a re-launched version of the 1970s daily chat show Pebble Mill (also known as Pebble Mill At One for a while) which aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The series premiered on October 14, 1991. The show was a mixture of celebrity guests and music. Alan Titchmarsh was a presenter on the show throughout it's complete run. Other presenters included Judi Spiers, Gloria Hunniford and Ross King.

Pebble Mill

1991

An Audience with... poster
5.3

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

An Audience with...

1978

Blankety Blank poster
5.2

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

Blankety Blank

1979

Performance poster
6.3

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.

Performance

1991

Going Live! poster
8.0

Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher. The show was broadcast during the autumn to spring seasons, with other shows such as the 8:15 from Manchester and Parallel 9 taking over during the summer months. It was preceded by Saturday Superstore, and succeeded by Live & Kicking. In 1988, when the second series started, Greene was hurt in a helicopter crash with her then boyfriend, Mike Smith. Guest presenters stood in for her including T'Pau's Carol Decker. Similarly, in 1992-93 during the final series, Schofield was starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and was unable to present the show. A third presenter took his place. Originally, Neighbours actor Kristian Schmid took the role but soon left after problems with his work permit. Various other celebrities to stand in included Shane Richie and Robbie Williams during his Take That days.

Going Live!

1987

Film credits

2000s · 2 titles

Series credits

Wogan poster
5.6

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

Wogan

1982

No artwork available
4.1

Pebble Mill was a re-launched version of the 1970s daily chat show Pebble Mill (also known as Pebble Mill At One for a while) which aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The series premiered on October 14, 1991. The show was a mixture of celebrity guests and music. Alan Titchmarsh was a presenter on the show throughout it's complete run. Other presenters included Judi Spiers, Gloria Hunniford and Ross King.

Pebble Mill

1991

An Audience with... poster
5.3

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

An Audience with...

1978

Blankety Blank poster
5.2

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

Blankety Blank

1979

Performance poster
6.3

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.

Performance

1991

Going Live! poster
8.0

Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher. The show was broadcast during the autumn to spring seasons, with other shows such as the 8:15 from Manchester and Parallel 9 taking over during the summer months. It was preceded by Saturday Superstore, and succeeded by Live & Kicking. In 1988, when the second series started, Greene was hurt in a helicopter crash with her then boyfriend, Mike Smith. Guest presenters stood in for her including T'Pau's Carol Decker. Similarly, in 1992-93 during the final series, Schofield was starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and was unable to present the show. A third presenter took his place. Originally, Neighbours actor Kristian Schmid took the role but soon left after problems with his work permit. Various other celebrities to stand in included Shane Richie and Robbie Williams during his Take That days.

Going Live!

1987

Opportunity Knocks poster
NR

A radio, and later television, talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green, with a late-1980s revival hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and later by previous winner Les Dawson.

Opportunity Knocks

1956

Sykes poster
6.7

Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.

Sykes

1972

Cilla poster
8.0

A mostly live weekly entertainment show starring Cilla Black and her special guests.

Cilla

1968

Seaside Special poster
2.0

A BBC light entertainment show broadcast from 1975 to 1979, filmed in a big top at various British seaside resorts. Originally the big top belonged to various circuses, but in later seasons, the BBC bought its own to be the venue. The programme was developed by producer Michael Hurll.

Seaside Special

1975

Sez Les poster
6.3

Sez Les was a British comedy sketch show that starred Les Dawson, produced by Yorkshire Television, airing on ITV from 1969 to 1976. Roy Barraclough also joined from series four and would go on to become Dawson's most recognisable sidekick. The two most notably appeared together in drag as characters Cissie and Ada. John Cleese, who had quit the Monty Python team's television series, was also present from 1974 in two complete seasons. Other cast members included Norman Chappell, Brian Glover, Brian Murphy and Kathy Staff. Music was provided by Syd Lawrence and his orchestra.

Sez Les

1969

No artwork available
NR

Presented by Mike Smith Stars in the spotlight, personalities at play, and famous faces in unexpected places. Sarah Greene, Jan Ravens, and Tom Brook report the show-business events of the week.

Friday People

1985

The Les Dawson Show poster
5.5

A variety show featuring sketch and stand-up comedy as well as guest appearances, dance numbers and musical performances.

The Les Dawson Show

1978

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

International Cabaret

1966

Dawson's Weekly poster
7.0

Les Dawson puts his innate comic ability to excellent use as the hapless protagonist in this series of comedy plays made by ITV company Yorkshire Television. The series is written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Supporting actors include Roy Barraclough and a wealth of special guests.

Dawson's Weekly

1975

Summertime Special poster
NR

A BBC light entertainment holiday series, following on from the success of their Seaside Special shows, featuring comedy, music and variety guest stars.

Summertime Special

1981

Dawson and Friends poster
7.0

Four hour-long comedy specials with a variety of sketches, songs and stand-up routines.

Dawson and Friends

1977

The Dawson Watch poster
NR

Comedy show set in its own headquarters from which it offers advice, via Les, to the general public on numerous topics including; entertainment, the environment, love and marriage, the media, health, crime, education and much more.

The Dawson Watch

1979

No artwork available
NR

Fast Friends is a short lived game show that aired for one series on BBC One in 1991. Hosted by Les Dawson, it was an adaptation of an unsold pilot produced for US television in 1984 by Jay Wolpert.

Fast Friends

1991

Les Dawson's Christmas Box poster
10.0

A seasonal offering from one of Britain’s most missed comics first seen in 1974 featuring sketches, songs, music and dancing.

Les Dawson's Christmas Box

1974

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Loner

1975