| Ronald Balfour Corbett (born December 4, 1930), commonly accredited as Ronnie Corbett is a British comedian and actor, best known as one of the The Two Ronnies.
He has worked in film and television since the 1950s, appearing in Crackerjack as a regular. He played a minor part in Casino Royale.
He rose in prominence in the 1960s and his BBC television comedy sketch show with
Ronnie Barker, The Two Ronnies, lasted from 1971 to 1987. This show saw both Barker and Corbett performing various comedy sketeches and musical numbers. Additionally, in
the middle of the show, Corbett would present a lengthy monologue. Sitting in a large leather chair (emphasising his small size),
and usually wearing a golfing V-neck sweater, he would tell a simple joke over the space of several minutes, often deliberately
allowing himself to lose his train of thought. Although seemingly improvised, these were tightly scriped affairs.
Corbett is perhaps best known as the comedian's straight-man and achieved a unique cult status in this way - a relatively
small individual who loves to play golf, he often became the butt of other comedian's jokes, even when he wasn't present and even
if there wasn't an obvious connection between him and the comedian in question.
His best known role away from The Two Ronnies is as Timothy Lumsden in the sitcom Sorry. He has continued to play minor
parts occasionally since the end of this - notably playing Griselda in a television
production of Cinderella in 2000, and
recently reformed with Ronnie Barker for more episodes of The Two Ronnies.
Corbett has lived for many years in Shirley, Croydon.
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