Ronald Chesney (born René Lucien Cadier; 4 May 1920 – 12 April 2018) and Ronald Wolfe (born Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff; 8 August 1922 – 18 December 2011) were British television comedy

scriptwriters A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

, best known for their 1960s and 1970s

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

s '' The Rag Trade'' (1961–63, 1977–78), '' Meet the Wife'' (1963–66), '' On the Buses'' (1969–73) and '' Romany Jones'' (1972–75). When their partnership began in the mid-1950s, Chesney was already known to the public as a

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

player.

Early life

Ronald Chesney

Chesney, who was of French descent, was the son of Marius, a silk trader, and Jeanne (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

'' Basset). He left the French Lycée school in London at the age of 16, and began using his English name. He became a

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a ...

player, performing professionally from the age of 17. Touring the ABC Cinema chain, he played on BBC Radio broadcasts from 1937, the first being ''Palace of Varieties''. Declared unfit to serve in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

because of the removal of a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

-infected kidney, he taught the harmonica to troops in a BBC radio series, which ran for 42 weeks, beginning in 1940. After the war, he began to diversify into the classical repertoire. Chesney became a well-known performer, entertaining troops, performing at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

and

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, and working with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

and Gracie Fields. He was President of the National Hohner Song Band League (later the

National Harmonica League HarmonicaUK (formerly the National Harmonica League) is a UK-based organisation for harmonica players and enthusiasts of all styles of harmonica – chromatic, diatonic, tremolo, chord, bass – and music – traditional, blues, popular, jazz and ...

) from 1951.

Ronald Wolfe

Wolfe was born in London, a cousin of actor Warren Mitchell, and the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents ran a kosher restaurant in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed a c ...

, which served performers from the variety theatre across the road. He was educated at the Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School in Islington. For a while he was a stand-up comedian. "I came from vaudeville and music halls", he once said. During the Second World War, he was an army radio operator, and after being demobbed he worked as a radio engineer for Marconi. In the early 1950s, he began to write for the Jewish comedian Max Bacon; after Bacon introduced him to the BBC, Wolfe contributed material for radio shows. ''Starlight Hour'' (1951), broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, was a series which featured Beryl Reid. Wolfe became Reid's regular writer, providing material for her characters, Brummie Marlene and the naughty schoolgirl, Monica. After Reid joined the cast of the radio comedy series '' Educating Archie'', Wolfe joined the writing team for the series which

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

had created. The series featured

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews.

Chesney and Wolfe's projects

Early collaborations

Chesney's harmonica playing was featured as a musical interlude on ''Educating Archie''; this led to his first meeting with Wolfe in 1955. They wrote the show's last four seasons, initially with another of the show's writers, Marty Feldman. A one-off special for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

in 1956, entitled ''Here's Archie'', was written by Wolfe, but still featured Chesney with his harmonica act. It also starred Irene Handl. The first regular television work for Chesney and Wolfe, writing in partnership with Feldman, was in 1958 when ITV franchise holder

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

made a television version of ''Educating Archie''. Persuaded by Wolfe, Chesney soon gave up performing professionally, so that they could form a writing partnership. He did, however, tutor Sylvia Syms for her harmonica-playing role in the film '' No Trees in the Street'' (1959). By this time, they had also written material for

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele re ...

and

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A life ...

, including pantomimes for both. The sitcom ''It's A Deal'' (1961) turned out to be their last work for radio. It starred

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

as a dishonest property developer, with

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeev ...

as his partner, but lasted for only a single series of 13 episodes.

''The Rag Trade''

Around the same time, the two men created '' The Rag Trade'' (1961–63), starring Peter Jones as Harold Fenner, ungenerous head of Fenner Fashions, Miriam Karlin as the shop steward, Paddy, and

Reg Varney Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the LWT sitcom '' On the Buses'' (1969–73) and its t ...

as the foreman trying to mediate the conflict between employer and employed in a London East End sweat-shop. Sheila Hancock and

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'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Esma Cannon. Directed (and produced) by Dennis Main Wilson, Karlin wrote in her autobiography that Main Wilson had an "amazing capacity for picking the right people" for a cast. Rejected by Associated-Rediffusion, who thought factory workers would not watch it, the pitch was picked up by

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

and Denis Norden who were then comedy advisers for BBC Television. Unusually for the time, the series featured strong female roles, who it has been said gained the best lines, and it was a popular and critical success, being watched by more than 11 million viewers. Karlin's chain-smoking character had the catchphrase "Everybody out!" "I know all about working people and the struggles of the small businessman," Ronald Wolfe once said. "Writers who come from orthodox middle-class backgrounds can’t write ''The Rag Trade''-type show. They just don’t know what makes the man in the street laugh." The show was turned into a stage version which had a run in

London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government bui ...

at the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

in 1962.

Later 1960s shows

Chesney and Wolfe repeated their success with the BBC sitcom '' Meet the Wife'' (1964–66) starring Thora Hird and Freddie Frinton. It was originally a one-off ''

Comedy Playhouse ''Comedy Playhouse'' is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including ''Steptoe and Son'', '' Meet the Wife'', ' ...

'' pilot called "The Bed" (1963). Again, this featured working class characters and humour. Frinton's character was a plumber, while Hird's had social aspirations. It ran for five series. In 1964, for Australian television, they wrote the first six episodes of a 13 episode comedy series, ''Barley Charlie'', concerning the inheritance by two sisters of a run down garage with one lazy employee. The partnership wrote ''

The Bed-Sit Girl ''The Bed-Sit Girl'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1966. Created by Chesney and Wolfe for Sheila Hancock, ''The Bed-Sit Girl'' aired for two series. Hancock played Sheila Ross, a typist who lives in a bedsit and ...

'' (1965–66) for Sheila Hancock, who played a young typist frustrated by her current life. One of the series' characters, a neighbour (played by Derek Nimmo) of Hancock's title character, carried over to a follow-up series: ''Sorry I'm Single'' (1967) starred Nimmo as a callow mature student sharing a house with three young women. '' Wild, Wild Women'' (1969), starring

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'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Pat Coombs and set in 1902, was effectively a period-drama variation on ''The Rag Trade'', but only one series was produced.

''On the Buses''

Their next series was ITV's '' On the Buses'', which ran from 1969 to 1973, leading them to be called the Other Two Ronnies. Rejected by the BBC, it was commissioned by Frank Muir, now Head of Entertainment at the then recently established

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

, who said it was "rather at the baked beans end of my menu". The series had an audience of up to 20 million, and was more popular at the time than '' Dad's Army''. It starred Reg Varney as bus driver Stan Butler, with Bob Grant as his bus conductor Jack Harper. Doris Hare was his Mum (originally played by Cicely Courtneidge), Michael Robbins his brother-in-law Arthur,

Anna Karen Ann Harrison McCall (19 September 1936 – 22 February 2022), professionally known as Anna Karen, was a British actress best known for playing Olive Rudge in the ITV sitcom '' On the Buses'' from 1969 to 1973 including its film spin-offs and ...

as his plain sister Olive. Stephen Lewis as bus inspector Cyril Blake, usually referred to as 'Blakey', delivered the series' catchphrases "I 'ate you, Butler" and "I'll get you for this, Butler". Both Varney and Grant's characters were womanisers; it was a decidedly un-politically correct series, with women objectified and ethnic minorities used inappropriately for humour. As David Stubbs wrote for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' in 2008, Grant and Varney were playing "two conspicuously middle-aged men" pursuing "an endless array of improbably available 'dolly birds'". The series, although a rating success, was nevertheless critically derided at the time of its first broadcast. It led to three film spin-offs, which Chesney and Wolfe both co-wrote and co-produced. The first of these was more successful at the British box office than the year's

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

film '' Diamonds Are Forever'' (1971). ''On the Buses'' American remake, '' Lotsa Luck'' (1973–74), ran for a season on NBC. When ''On the Buses'' ended, Wolfe and Chesney followed it with '' Don't Drink the Water'' (1974–75), which starred Stephen Lewis's Blakey character abroad in Spain with his sister (played by Pat Coombs). It lasted for two series.

Later work

The ITV sitcom '' Romany Jones'' ran from 1973 to 1975, with an initial pilot in 1972, was set on a caravan site. Originally it starred ''Dad's Army'' actor James Beck (who died in 1973, after recording the second series) with Jo Rowbottom and Jonathan Cecil also appearing. It lasted four series, being the most successful in the ratings of their series after ''On the Buses''. It led to a sequel, featuring the characters played by

Arthur Mullard Arthur Ernest Mullard ( né Mullord; 19 September 1910His obituary in ''The Times'' gives his date of birth as 10 November 1910 but conflicts with the birthdate given in his death registration. His year of birth appears as 1908, 1910, 1912 and ...

and Queenie Watts moving into a council house, entitled '' Yus, My Dear'' (1976). The latter series, which had comparatively low ratings, has a reputation, shared with ''Romany Jones'', of being one of the worst-ever sitcoms. In 1977, following the BBC's rejection of a new pilot episode, ''The Rag Trade'' was revived by LWT for the ITV network, with Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin returning; it lasted for two series. Anna Karen was "transplanted" into the cast (as Anthony Hayward expressed it in 2011) to play her Olive character from ''On The Buses''. Karlin, however, encouraged to return to the role by a promise from Chesney and Wolfe of a more ethnically diverse cast, ultimately regretted her involvement, believing the sole black character was merely a token. Their last two series as a comedy scriptwriting partnership were ''Watch This Space'' (BBC 1980) set in an advertising agency with Liza Goddard, Peter Blake and Christopher Biggins, and ''

Take a Letter, Mr. Jones ''Take a Letter, Mr. Jones'' is a British sitcom starring John Inman and Rula Lenska that aired for a single series of six episodes produced by Southern Television for the ITV network from 5 September to 10 October 1981. It was created by Ron ...

'' ( Southern 1981), a role-reversal comedy created for John Inman, which also starred Rula Lenska. An episode of ''

'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Fren ...

'' (1989) and ''Fredrikssons Fabrik – The Movie'' (1994) were the partnership's last scripts.

Later life

From the 1980s, Wolfe taught comedy writing at London's City University in 1986 and 1988. His text book ''Writing Comedy'' first appeared in 1992. He was also a contributor to ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' newspaper. ''Ronnie Wolfe – My Life in Memoirs'' appeared in 2010. Written 20 years earlier, it was launched at BAFTA in November 2010. Chesney was no longer a regular harmonica player in his last years; he preferred to play jazz on his grand piano at home. Wolfe died on Sunday 18 December 2011, aged 89, three days after sustaining head injuries from a fall at a care home in London. He had married Rose Krieger in 1953; she served as his secretary and estimated that she had typed 95% of his scripts. The couple had two daughters. "He was the most incredible husband and we had 58 years of superb marriage harmony", his wife said in tribute. Chesney died at Kingston Hospital on 12 April 2018, aged 97. He was survived by his wife Patricia, to whom he was married for 70 years, and their two children, Marianne and Michael.

Television credits

* ''Here's Archie'' (1956) BBC * '' Educating Archie'' (1958–59) Associated-Rediffusion/ITV * '' The Rag Trade'' (1961–1963, 1977–1978) BBC, LWT/ITV * ''

'' – "The Bed" (1963, pilot for ''Meet the Wife'') BBC * '' Meet the Wife'' (1964–1966) BBC * ''Barley Charlie'' (1964) Nine Network, Australia * ''

'' (1965–66) BBC * ''Sorry I'm Single'' (1967) BBC * ''According To Dora'' (1968–69) BBC * ''Comedy Playhouse'' (Series 7) – "Wild, Wild Women" (1968, pilot) BBC * '' Wild, Wild Women'' (1969, series) BBC * '' On the Buses'' (1969–1973) LWT * ''The Other Reg Varney'' (1970, repeated as ''The Reg Varney Comedy Hour'' in 1972) LWT * '' Romany Jones'' (1972, pilot) Thames Television/ITV * ''Romany Jones'' (1973–75, series) LWT/ITV * '' Don't Drink the Water'' (1974–75) LWT/ITV * '' Yus, My Dear'' (1976) LWT/ITV * ''Comedy Special'' – "

The Boys and Mrs B ''The Boys and Mrs B'' is a 1977 British comedy television special. Written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, it was originally intended as pilot for a sitcom but was made as a one off special. It was produced and directed by Dennis Main Wil ...

" (1977) BBC * '' Watch This Space'' (1980) BBC * ''

'' (1981) Southern/ITV * ''

'' (1989, episode "Down the Drain", series 5) BBC

Film credits

* '' I've Gotta Horse'' (1965) * '' On the Buses'' (1971) * '' Mutiny on the Buses'' (1972) * ''

Holiday on the Buses ''Holiday on the Buses'' is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Bryan Izzard and starring Reg Varney and Doris Hare. The film is the third and final spin-off film from the ITV sitcom ''On the Buses'' and succeeded the films ''On the Buses'' ...

'' (1973) * ''Fredrikssons Fabrikk – The Movie'' (Norway 1994)

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* * * * http://www.thejc.com/news/people/42391/ronnie-wolfe-takes-his-buses-down-memory-lane {{DEFAULTSORT:Chesney and Wolfe English male screenwriters Screenwriting duos English television writers British male television writers