''Little and Large'' were a British comedy

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

comprising straight man

Syd Little Syd Little (born Cyril John Mead; 19 December 1942) is an English comedian who was the straight man in the double act Little and Large, with Eddie Large. Life and career Born in Blackpool, Little was raised in Manchester. After leaving Yew ...

(born Cyril John Mead; 19 December 1942) and comic

Eddie Large Edward Hugh McGinnis (25 June 1941 – 2 April 2020), better known by the stage name Eddie Large, was a British comedian. He was best known as one half of the double act Little and Large, with Syd Little (the stage name of Cyril Mead). Early l ...

(born Edward Hugh McGinnis; 25 June 1941 – 2 April 2020).

Comedy duo

They formed their partnership in 1962, originally appearing as singers in local pubs around north-west England. According to an interview with Eddie Large in ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' newspaper (11 January 2019), they went professional in October 1963. After deciding to concentrate on comedy, Little and Large's big break came in 1971 when they appeared on ITV talent show '' Opportunity Knocks''. They won the programme's vote, turning them into household names virtually overnight. Within five years, the duo had their own prime-time show on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

called ''The Little and Large Tellyshow''. It began with a pilot episode in 1976, which earned the pair a commission for a series in 1977. However, the duo transferred to

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

with a new show called ''

The Little and Large Show ''The Little and Large Show'' was a sketch comedy series broadcast on BBC1 between 1 May 1978 and 20 April 1991. Its first series was entitled just ''Little and Large ''Little and Large'' were a British comedy double act comprising straight m ...

'' from 1978, and remained on the channel for over a decade until its cancellation in 1991. At its peak, the series was watched by an estimated nearly 15 million people each week.

was generally the funny man while

was the more serious 'straight guy'. Eddie Large performed a number of impressions, particularly cartoon characters like

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Deputy Dawg Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character, featured on the animated television series of the same name that aired from 1960 to 1964. Background The character of Deputy Dawg originated in 1959 as part of a projected series entitled ''Possible ...

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...

Barney Rubble Barney Rubble is a fictional character who appears in the television animated series ''The Flintstones''. He is the diminutive, blond-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. His best friend is his next ...

and

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

,'The Story of Light Entertainment' BBC Two, 25 February 2012 while Syd Little simply stood next to him, looking perplexed and distressed. Large's onstage catchphrase (to describe Little) was "Supersonic". They continued to appear in theatres and pantomimes, including ''Babes in the Woods'', written by Ian Billings. The partnership's popularity peaked in the 1980s but, as mainstream comedy moved away from their

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

style towards

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

, it dwindled. Eddie Large was told he might have a heart attack at any moment. The partnership split up when Large had to have a heart transplant. Syd Little performed on

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s, such as the ''QE2'', during September 2007, and used to run The "Little" Restaurant at the Strawberry Gardens pub and now runs a restaurant in the oldest pub in his home town Fleetwood, called The Steamer. Eddie Large remained in showbusiness. Large said in a 2010 interview he had not spoken to Syd Little for several years. They did subsequently have a reunion in 2018 when they appeared on ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'', ''Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), ...

'', featuring in the sketch serial "Saturday Knight Takeaway", and in February 2019, appearing together on ''

Pointless Celebrities ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but ob ...

''. They reached the head-to-head round (in effect, the semi-final). On 2 April 2020, Eddie Large died after contracting coronavirus while receiving treatment for heart failure. Large had suffered from kidney and heart problems for a number of years .

References

External links

* {{authority control British stand-up comedians British male television actors British television personalities British comedy duos 1962 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England