Bernard Manning

{{Infobox comedian

| name = Bernard Manning

| image = Bernard manning.jpg

| caption = Manning in 2005

| birth_name = Bernard John Manning

| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|8|13|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Harpurhey, Manchester, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|6|18|1930|8|13|df=yes}}

| death_place = Crumpsall, Manchester, England

| medium = Stand-up

| active = 1950s–2007

| genre = Blue comedy, insult comedy

| subject = Ethnicity, women, stereotypes, minority groups

| influences =

| influenced =

| spouse = Veronica Finneran
(1986; her death)

| children = 1

| notable_work = The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, The Comedians, The Embassy Club

}}

Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner.{{cite web|url=http://www.pr-inside.com/controversial-british-comedian-bernard-manning-r157083.htm |title=Controversial British comedian Bernard Manning dies at 76 |date=18 June 2007 |access-date=19 June 2007 |author=PR-inside.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007225403/http://www.pr-inside.com/controversial-british-comedian-bernard-manning-r157083.htm |archive-date=7 October 2007 |df=dmy }}{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/racerow-comedian-bernard-manning-dies-704824.html|title=Race-row comedian Bernard Manning dies|work=The Independent |location=London|date=19 June 2007|access-date=19 June 2007}} He gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as The Comedians and The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club. His act became controversial as attitudes changed, with the result that Manning was rarely seen on television in the last few decades of his career.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/bernard-manning-j77zh2wq8hh|title=Bernard Manning|work=The Times|location=London|date=19 June 2007|access-date=15 October 2019|url-access=subscription}} However, he continued to perform at live venues until his death.{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/ManchesterEveningNews/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=89235844|publisher=Manchester Evening News|title=Family Notices: Bernard Manning |access-date=18 June 2007 |date=18 June 2007}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6765093.stm|title=Comedy star Bernard Manning dies|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2007|access-date=16 October 2019}}

Early life

Manning was born in Harpurhey, Lancashire, and raised in Ancoats, both poor districts of Manchester, the second of three brothers and two sisters.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jun/18/guardianobituaries.obituaries1|access-date=18 June 2007 |work=The Guardian| title=Bernard Manning|location=London|first=Stephen|last=Dixon|date=18 June 2007}} He had Russian Jewish ancestry on his father's side, as well as roots in Ireland, and was brought up a "strict Catholic".{{cite web|url=http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=6527 |work=totallyjewish.com |title=Was Bernard a nice Jewish boy? |date=21 June 2007 |access-date=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210081816/http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=6527 |archive-date=10 February 2009 }}{{cite news| url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/smgpubs/access/1290701541.html?dids=1290701541:1290701541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+19%2C+2007&author=&pub=The+Herald&desc=Bernard+Manning&pqatl=google | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712213312/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/smgpubs/access/1290701541.html?dids=1290701541:1290701541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+19,+2007&author=&pub=The+Herald&desc=Bernard+Manning&pqatl=google | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 July 2012 | work=The Herald | title=Bernard Manning | date=19 June 2007}} He claimed, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph{{'}}s Allison Pearson, that his paternal grandfather came from Sebastopol, and changed the family name from Blomberg.{{cite news|last=Pearson|first=Allison|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4711492/Welcome-to-my-insulting-room.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226163508/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4711492/Welcome-to-my-insulting-room.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 February 2016|title='Welcome to my insulting room'|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 January 1998|access-date=16 October 2019}}

He left school aged 14, worked in a tobacco factory and joined his father's greengrocery business,{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Rachel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jun/19/theatrenews.theatre|title=Controversial comedian Bernard Manning dies|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 June 2007|access-date=20 May 2020}} before joining the British Army to do his National Service.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3867363.stm|title=Obituary: Bernard Manning|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2007|access-date=18 June 2007}}

Manning had little thought of entertainment as a career, until posted to Germany where, in his self-written obituary (in which he claimed to have guarded Nazi war criminals Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer in Spandau Prison, Berlin, just after the Second World War),{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6766611.stm|title=Manning penned his own obituary|work=BBC News|date=19 June 2007}} he began to sing popular songs to entertain his fellow soldiers and pass the time. This ability led him to put on free shows at the weekends; when he began to charge admission and audiences did not decrease, he realised that there was a possibility of making money from show business.

Career

On returning to England, Manning continued to sing professionally, and also worked as a compère. He was an effective singer of popular ballads and fronted big bands in the 1950s, such as the Oscar Rabin Band, which included appearances at the Ritz Hotel. Over the years he began to introduce humour into his compering. This went down well, and Manning slowly moved from being a singer and compère to a comedian. In 1959, Manning borrowed £30,000 from his father and bought a dilapidated billiard hall on the A664 Rochdale Road, and turned it into the Embassy Club. Rather quickly Manning's income substantially increased. The club played host to many other acts, and Manning claimed that the Beatles performed there early in their career.

After much work in comedy clubs and northern working men's clubs in the 1950s and 1960s, he made his television debut in 1971 on the Granada comedy show The Comedians. He compèred The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, which began in 1974. In this period, Manning's material was often accepted as being "harmless banter".

He hosted the 1980 documentary short The Great British Striptease, filmed in Blackpool, and had a starring role in a comedy quiz show Under Manning, produced by Southern Television in 1981.[https://web.archive.org/web/20210521202920/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b77fcbc26 Under Manning, BFI Website] The series was poorly received and short-lived, and by the 1980s Manning had fallen out of favour with television companies, either because of changing tastes or his failure to compromise with television companies. However his appearances on the northern Working Men's Club circuit continued, playing to packed audiences which he claimed sometimes included people from ethnic minorities.

In 1994, two black waitresses at a charity dinner at a hotel in Derbyshire took exception to Manning's act and appealed to an industrial tribunal against the management of the hotel for racial discrimination, claiming that the word "wog" had been used. Manning said in response that "wog" was "a horrible, insulting word I've never used in my life" but defended use of the words "nigger" and "coon" as historical terms with legitimate roots. The complainants initially lost, but the decision was overturned on appeal and they were awarded an undisclosed sum.{{cite news|last=Clarke|first=Alison|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/abuse-on-the-premises-1352192.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Abuse on the premises | date=13 November 1996| access-date=6 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://people.exeter.ac.uk/rburnley/empdis/1996IRLR596.html|title=Burton & Rhule v De Vere Hotels |access-date=6 January 2015}} On an appearance on The Mrs. Merton Show on 19 March 1998, Manning admitted that he was a racist, which surprised host Caroline Aherne and went down badly with the audience.

Manning never toned down his act, but he had a minor television career revival towards the end of his life, including Channel 4 taking him to Mumbai to perform.[http://www.scotsman.com/news/tasteless-bombay-mix-1-1290848 Tasteless Bombay mix], Scotland on Sunday, 23 June 2003 In October 2002, he participated in a Great Lives programme for Radio 4. He chose to honour the Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa. In 2003, Manning was initially reported to have been booked to play a BNP rally. He denied this, telling the Daily Mirror: "It's a lot of bollocks. I don't know where I'm working. Speak to my agent. I don't know about any BNP nonsense. I would not do it anyway. Do you think I'm fucking barmy?"{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2007/06/18/5442/bernard_manning_dies |title=Manning to play BNP rally... but he denies the booking |work=chortle.co.uk |date=4 August 2003 |access-date=18 June 2007 }} In 2006, he appeared at the 45th birthday party of chef Marco Pierre White.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,982897,00.html|work=The Guardian |location=London |date=23 June 2003|access-date=18 June 2007|title='It's an act, innit' |last=Hattenstone|first=Simon}}

From 1999 his son, Bernard Manning Jr, managed the Embassy Club, shortly after his father had a mini stroke and became deaf in one ear. He considered his father's act inappropriate for bookings and sought to turn the club into an alternative comedy venue.{{cite news|last=Margolis|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/oct/07/features11.g2|title=Shut up, dad|work=The Guardian|date=7 October 1999|access-date=16 October 2019}}

Comedic style

Race, sex, and religion were the core material for many of Manning's jokes. Manning's family and friends said that his controversial ways were all an act. He lived next door to an Indian physician's family, who have appeared in many newspaper articles over the years to defend Manning. Satya Rudravajhala, the widow of Visveswara Rao Rudravajhala, wrote a eulogy that was published in the local paper, the Middleton Guardian, conveying the family's sentiments.{{cite news|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |title=Manning was no racist, says Asian neighbour |publisher=M.E.N. Media |date=28 June 2007 |access-date=13 December 2010 |work=Middleton Guardian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016211209/http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |archive-date=16 October 2011 }}

In interviews with journalists, Manning would remind them of his appearance with Dean Martin in Las Vegas and meeting the Queen. He said he was a great believer in family values who never swore in front of his mother, stating: "I dragged myself up by my bootlaces. I don't drink or smoke, I don't take drugs. I have never been a womaniser. I was brought up right with good parents and I have never been in trouble or harmed no-one. And I love my family."

By the early 1980s Manning's style of comedy was being seen as increasingly out-dated and politically incorrect.Wilmut, R and Rosengard, P Didn't You Kill My Mother-In-Law: The Story Of Alternative Comedy In Britain. {{ISBN|978-0-413-17390-4}} Later detractors criticised his style of humour, with journalist and television presenter Esther Rantzen commenting in 1992 that, "for me, he's always been the villain of comedy".{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ7GbuAIEfU |title=Bernard Manning: Heroes of comedy |date=17 June 2014 |publisher= youtube.com |access-date=29 July 2023 }}

Personal life

Manning named his house in Alkrington{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/Greater_Manchester_Boroughs/images/Manchester_OM_FR.jpg |title=Greater Manchester Ward and Borough map |publisher=Boundary Commission for England |access-date=9 April 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070301235519/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/Greater_Manchester_Boroughs/images/Manchester_OM_FR.jpg |archive-date = 1 March 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazza.htm |title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer |publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office |access-date=20 June 2007|at=Places names – A|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144214/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazza.htm}} "Shalom",{{cite web|last=Hodkinson|first=Mark|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/city-remain-a-gift-to-manning-vgq3scfpbx9|title=City remain a gift to Manning|work=The Times |location=London |date=20 March 1999 |access-date=18 June 2007|url-access=subscription}} the Hebrew word for "peace".

Manning was a lifelong Manchester City supporter.{{cite news|last=Harper|first=Nick| url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,945827,00.html |title=Bernard Manning |work=The Guardian|location=London |date=16 May 2003 |access-date=18 June 2007 |publisher=Guardian News and Media}} He was the subject of This Is Your Life on 27 November 1991.{{cite web|url=http://www.eofftv.com/t/thi/this_is_your_life_1969_main.htm |title=This Is Your Life (1969–1993) |publisher=Eofftv.com |access-date=13 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422082302/http://www.eofftv.com/t/thi/this_is_your_life_1969_main.htm |archive-date=22 April 2012 |df=dmy }} For many of his later years, he was a teetotaller and a diabetic.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3123234.stm |title=Carry on drinking?|last=Bayman|first=Hannah|date=19 September 2003|access-date=19 June 2007|work=BBC News}}

Having been admitted two weeks earlier for a kidney complaint, Manning died in North Manchester General Hospital at 3:10 pm on 18 June 2007. He was 76.{{cite news|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1009476_bernard_manning_dead.html|publisher=M.E.N. Media|title=Bernard Manning dead|date=18 June 2007|access-date=18 June 2007|work=Manchester Evening News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420225748/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1009476_bernard_manning_dead.html|archive-date=20 April 2013|df=dmy-all}} He had written his own eulogy, which appeared as an obituary in the Daily Mail two days later.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6766611.stm|title=Manning penned his own obituary|work=BBC News|date=19 June 2007|access-date=16 October 2019 }}

Legacy

In March 2007, he was ranked 29th on the list of the 100 Greatest Stand Up comedians in a poll conducted by Channel 4.{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/C/comedy_standups/results/results.html|publisher=Channel 4 |location=UK|title=One hundred greatest stand-ups |access-date=18 June 2007}} The writer and performer Barry Cryer said when Manning died: "The thing about Bernard was that he looked funny, he sounded funny and he had excellent timing. It was just what he actually said that could be worrying."

In 2010, BBC Four commissioned Alice Nutter to write a biographical drama based on Manning's life. The screenplay was completed but cuts to the channel's budget led to the piece never being filmed.Steve Bottoms, 'Struggling to be Human', in the programme for the 2013 West Yorkshire Playhouse production My Generation.

References

External links

{{IMDb name|543235}}
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/greatlives/manning_teressa.shtml Manning's episode of Great Lives on Radio 4 – his admiration for Mother Teresa in October 2002]
[http://www.embassymanchester.co.uk Bernard Manning's Embassy Club (His Club in Manchester, now an event venue)]
[https://archive.today/20130505123843/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23402009-stars-turn-out-to-pay-respects-to-controversial-comic-bernard-manning.do Stars turn out to pay respects to controversial comic Bernard Manning – Evening Standard]

=Audio clips=

[http://se1media.com/livinglegends/media/Interview%20with%20Bernard%20Manning.mp3 Manning's last ever interview with Opal Bonfante "How I want people to remember me"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620093957/http://se1media.com/livinglegends/media/Interview%20with%20Bernard%20Manning.mp3 |date=20 June 2007 }}