जीवनी

He is often quoted as saying that although Monty Python was brilliant it marked the start of a decline in comedy.

His treatment of Hattie Jacques in their last few years working together was so bad that her sons banned him from attending her funeral and memorial service.*The Sykes family dispute this saying Eric was invited to the funeral and memorial service but was unable to attend as he was working in Australia; his children attended in his absence.

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.

He was enormously successful on 70s TV, teamed with Hattie Jacques playing his heavyset but timid sister in a number of settings, particularly with the series, Sykes (1972).

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to drama.

I'm proud of being a vaudevillian, the last of my line. A lot of people think my entertainment is candy-floss. Well, entertainment is too aggressive these days, all 'in your face'.

If comedians want to make a social comment they can go to the House of Commons. I don't swear or do anything suggestive, and I've held onto that belief because when you're on stage you're a role model.

It's a load of crap to say that comedians want to play Hamlet. A good comedian has more Hamlet in him than any straight actor.

I was trying to create the act that didn't have one word in it, the complete mime act, and I'm still trying.

If you understand comedy, you understand life. Drama, death, tragedy - everybody has these. But with humor you've got all these, and the antidote. You have found the answer. It doesn't follow that because you are a good comedy writer, you're a happy fellow. I've got one of the most miserable faces in the world. I am only happy when I am working. If I'm not working, I get screwed up because my time is going, my life is slipping by.