Biografia

He claimed that making Open All Hours (1976) was the happiest experience of his career.

His best friends were Ronnie Corbett and David Jason.

He was particularly devastated by Richard Beckinsale's death. He was so upset he couldn't work for several days.

He thought about retiring at age 56 after the deaths of Eric Morecambe and Tommy Cooper and working himself into an early grave was playing on his mind. He decided to retire on New Years Day, 1988 at the age of 59. David Jason was disappointed but respected his decision.

He was cremated at a private humanist funeral at Banbury Crematorium, which was attended only by family and close friends A public memorial service for Barker was held on 3 March 2006 at Westminster Abbey, with some 2,000 people in attendance. David Jason, Richard Briers, Josephine Tewson, Michael Grade, and Peter Kay all read at the service, while others in attendance included Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Leslie Phillips, Lenny Henry, Dawn French and June Whitfield. A recording of Barker's rhyming slang sermon from The Two Ronnies (1971) was played, and while the cross was in procession in the aisle of the abbey, it was accompanied by four candles instead of the usual two, in reference to the Four Candles sketch. Barker was the third comedy professional to be given a memorial at Westminster Abbey, after Joyce Grenfell and Les Dawson.

It's better to make people laugh than cry.

I knew with Porridge (1974) from the first episode. It was in front of an audience which is a wonderful sounding board as to how well it's going. My wife was in the audience for that and she said afterwards 'This is going to be a big success' and she was right.

[on the death of Jon Pertwee] I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. It was always great fun and we had a lot of laughs. Jon was always very nattily dressed. He was certainly the smartest looking Doctor Who (1963). I last saw him at a party I gave last summer. He was in good spirits and looked very healthy.

We had hoped to have been bringing you Arthur the Human Chameleon, but this afternoon, he crawled across a tartan rug and died of exhaustion.

The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on.