Laurence Peter Rowley, better known as Laurie Rowley (30 July 1941 – 16 August 2009) was an English

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

writer. He is most famous as a sketch writer, working on shows such as ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'' and ''

Not the Nine O'Clock News ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show that was broadcast on BBC2 from 16 October 1979 to 8 March 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, the show features satirical ...

'', for which he wrote the "Darts" sketch, which

satirised Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or ...

the heavy drinking habits of

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

players at the time.

Biography

Born 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 ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Rowley was educated at the St Augustine's Catholic School as a child. After leaving school he had jobs as a shower fitter, a manager of a 10-pin bowling alley, a magician, a

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** B ...

caller and a shopkeeper. He turned to comedy in the 1970s, first by winning caption competitions in the satirical magazine '' Punch''. He later attempted to become a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

but was not successful. Rowley then became a comedy writer, first sending in sketches to the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

comedy series ''

The News Huddlines ''The News Huddlines'' was a BBC Radio 2 topical comedy sketch show starring Roy Hudd that ran for fifty one series from 1975 until 2001. Each episode lasted for half an hour and consisted of topical sketches, songs and one-liners. Performers T ...

'' in 1976, and later to the BBC television sketch series ''The Two Ronnies''. Rowley later went on to write for another BBC sketch series, ''Not the Nine O'Clock News''. Amongst the sketches he wrote were the "Darts" sketch, which is a satirical sketch mocking darts players of the period who were regularly seen drinking

alcoholic beverages Drinks containing alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered non-alcoholic. Many societies have a di ...

heavily on television. The sketch affected the game itself, because it caused it fall in popularity, with people believing it to be a game for drunks. As a result, professional darts organisations put in rules banning the drinking of alcohol during a match. Rowley then went on to write sketches for other shows and people, including ''

Alas Smith and Jones ''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smith and Jones'' for six ...

'', ''

Hale and Pace Hale and Pace were an English comedy double-act that performed in clubs and on radio and television in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo was made up of Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with the ''Hale and Pace'' television show ...

'', ''

Scotch and Wry ''Scotch and Wry'' is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and Jo ...

'', ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'', ''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radi ...

'', ''

A Kick Up the Eighties A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' and ''Clive Anderson Talks Back''. He also wrote longer pieces, including an ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...

''-like drama for Channel 5 called ''Hospital!'' in 1997, a follow-up in 2001 called ''Hotel!'', and a sitcom starring

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

called ''

Dr Willoughby ''Dr Willoughby'' is a British sitcom broadcast on ITV from 14 November – 13 December 1999. The show was set on the set of a fictional soap opera, also called Dr Willoughby and followed the often over dramatic storylines and the personal live ...

'' in 1999. His work won Rowley several awards. In 1987 he won a

Sony Radio Academy Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

for his series of plays entitled ''Huddwinks''. He also won the Rose d'Or in 1989 for his work on ''Hale and Pace''. At the time of his death, Rowley was working on a semi-serious book about the history of

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

, a radio play and speeches. He died of a heart attack whilst getting ready for a meal. Rowley was married to Joyce Arnold, but they later divorced. He had a son, Les and a daughter, Johanne. He has 5 grandchildren, Madeleine, Stephanie, Aoife, George and Dan.

References

General * * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Laurie 1941 births 2009 deaths Writers from Leeds English comedy writers English television writers British magazine writers English satirists English radio writers English magicians 20th-century English screenwriters