Harold Berens (born Isadore Harold Berenbaum; 4 March 1903 – 10 May 1995) was a British comedian and character actor.

Biography

He was born into a Jewish family in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, the son of a tailor, and grew up and was educated in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

, and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. After his father built up a successful business in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, he moved there, and began performing at

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

parties organised by his father. After completing his education he worked as a shirt salesman, primarily to a show business clientele, while developing his own talent for comedy, especially his ability to imitate a wide range of different

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

s, at private functions. In the 1930s he opened his own shop in

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

, London, where he styled himself as "Shirtmaker to the Stars". One of his customers was

Carroll Levis Carroll Richard Levis (March 15, 1910 – October 17, 1968) was a Canadian talent scout, impresario and radio and television broadcaster, mainly working in Britain. Biography Born in Toronto and brought up in Vancouver, the son of a murdered po ...

, who thought that Berens was too professional a performer to perform in his regular amateur talent shows, and recommended that he audition for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He won the support of

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

producer

Ernest Longstaffe Ernest Longstaffe (5 April 1884 – 23 November 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and radio producer. He was born in Newport, Essex, the son of the landscape painter Edgar Longstaffe. He started his career in concert parties and summ ...

, who used him in radio programmes from the late 1930s and wrote some of his scripts. Berens compered broadcasts by

Maurice Winnick Maurice Winnick (28 March 1902 – 26 May 1962) was an English musician and dance band leader of the British dance band era. Biography Born in Manchester, Winnick studied violin at the Manchester College of Music, where he proved to be a "chil ...

and his orchestra from the

Dorchester Hotel The Dorchester is a five-star hotel located on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its 1930s furnis ...

, and then, in 1939, started compering shows by

Jay Wilbur James Edward Wilbur (1898–1968) was a British bandleader and prolifically recorded musician identified with and influential in the era of British dance band music. Wilbur was born Wilbur Blinco in 1898 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He ...

and his band for

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he made regular broadcasts for the services, and by 1941 was well known for his comedy routines, in which one of his characters was Mrs Twiddleswitch. He became known as "The Man with a Thousand Voices." "Harold Berens 1903-1995", ''Jewish Lives Project''
Retrieved 28 November 2020 He featured regularly in the radio series ''Hoop-La'', with

Robb Wilton Robert Wilton Smith (28 August 1881 – 1 May 1957), better known as Robb Wilton, was an English comedian and actor. He was best known for his filmed monologues during the 1930s and 1940s, in which he played incompetent authority figures. His tr ...

and

Max Wall Maxwell George Lorimer (12 March 1908 – 21 May 1990), known professionally as Max Wall, was an English actor and comedian whose performing career covered music hall, films, television and theatre. Early years Wall was born Maxwell George ...

, and became more popular after 1945 playing the role of a Cockney ignoramus on ''Ignorance Is Bliss'', chaired by

Stewart MacPherson (Charles) Stewart Macpherson (29 March 1865 – 27 March 1941) was an English musician of Scottish descent. He was born in Liverpool, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with both George Alexander Macfarren and Walter Cecil Macf ...

, which was a BBC adaptation of the American show ''

It Pays to Be Ignorant ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' is a 1942–51 radio comedy show which maintained its popularity during a nine-year run on three networks for such sponsors as Altria Group, Philip Morris, Chrysler, and DeSoto (automobile), DeSoto. The series was a sp ...

''. According to

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née Barham ...

, Berens' exclamations of "What a Geezer!" became a national

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , pp.13-14 By 1947, it was said that he had done over 2,000 radio broadcasts. He also appeared in four

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

s. He continued to feature on radio through the 1950s, notably as Mrs Mosseltoff on the show '' Ted Ray Time''. He also developed a career as a supporting actor in films and television. His first film appearance was in ''

Candlelight in Algeria ''Candlelight in Algeria'' is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason, Carla Lehmann and Raymond Lovell. The story is loosely based on an October 1942 secret conference in Cherchell, Algeria between American gen ...

'' (1944), followed by appearances in '' Third Time Lucky'' (1949), '' Up for the Cup'' (1950), ''

Man from Tangier ''Man from Tangier'' (U.S. title: ''Thunder over Tangier'') is a 1957 British second feature crime film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Robert Hutton, Lisa Gastoni and Martin Benson. It was written by Paddy Manning O'Brine. Plot A cr ...

'' (1957), and ''

The Pure Hell of St Trinian's ''The Pure Hell of St Trinian's'' is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Frank Launder and starring Cecil Parker, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell and Eric Barker. It was written by Launder, Sidney Gilliat and Val Valentine, and set in the fict ...

'' (1960), among others. He also appeared in such television shows as ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'' and '' It's a Square World''. His final film appearances came in ''

Trail of the Pink Panther ''Trail of the Pink Panther'' is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in ''The Pink Panther'' series, the first film in the series following Sellers' death and also the last in which he ...

'' (1982), ''

Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British ...

'' (1991), and ''

Carry On Columbus ''Carry On Columbus'' is a 1992 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Jim Dale, Bernard Cribbins, Maureen Lipman, Peter Richardson and many other British comic actors. It was written by Dave Freeman and John Antrobus. I ...

'' (1992). Berens died in London in 1995, aged 92.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berens, Harold 1903 births 1995 deaths 20th-century British comedians Jewish British male actors