The Patton Brothers, comprising Jimmy Elliott (20 August 1931 – 26 July 2019) and Brian Elliott (born 13 December 1933), were an English 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' ...

and the two older brothers of Barry and Paul Elliott, the Chuckle Brothers. They began their career as a

in the 1950s.

Biography

The brothers' father, Jimmy Elliott, was a comedian who later became known as Gene Patton. Jimmy and Brian grew up in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, like their brothers the Chuckle Brothers, but were born in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. Their other brother Colin never became an actor; he was a car mechanic. Their sister, Sheila, a dancer, was married to the actor

Bill Waddington William Joseph Waddington (10 June 1916 – 9 September 2000) was an English actor, comedian and co-author who was born in Oldham, Lancashire. In later life he achieved stardom as the pompous ex-serviceman Percy Sugden in Granada Television ...

. When Jimmy left school in 1946, he joined "Britain's Dead End Kids" and appeared in five pantomimes before Brian joined him. The brothers got their big break in 1956 when they performed in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' as Chinese policemen. Over the course of their career they appeared alongside British pantomime favourites such as

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

and

John Inman Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in ''Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and the spin-off series ''Grace and Favour.'' He ...

. Both Jimmy and Brian made appearances in the children's television series ''

ChuckleVision ''ChuckleVision'' is a British children's comedy television series created by Martin Hughes and the Chuckle Brothers for the BBC. It starred Barry and Paul Elliott as the Chuckle Brothers and occasionally their older brothers, Jimmy, and Bria ...

'' alongside their younger brothers Paul and Barry. Jimmy's character was known as "No Slacking" due to the

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 ...

that he constantly used to berate the Chuckle Brothers; Brian's was known as "Get Out of It!" for similar reasons. Prior to ''ChuckleVision'', all four brothers had appeared together on the game show '' 3-2-1'' in 1982 and the talent show ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: ...

''. In 2015, Jimmy became engaged to a 25-year-old ''ChuckleVision'' fan whom he had met via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. The couple married in 2017. Jimmy died in July 2019, aged 87.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patton Brothers 1931 births 1933 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Comedians from South Yorkshire English comedy duos English male comedians English male stage actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from South Yorkshire British parodists Actors from Rotherham Brother duos Slapstick comedians Comedians from Kent Male actors from Kent