Michael Howard (comedian)

{{Short description|British actor and comedian (1916–1988)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Michael Howard

| image = Comedian_Michael_Howard.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|03|04}}

| birth_place = Holywell Green, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1988|02|18|1916|03|04}}

| death_place = London, England

| restingplace =

| othername =

| occupation = Actor and comedian

| yearsactive =

| spouse = {{Nowrap|Betty Kelly (1938–19 ?, divorce)
Peggy Evans (1949–1956, divorce)

June Howard (?–1967, divorce) {{cite web|url=http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=274373739459&category=14890&pm=1&ds=0&t=1600131329772&cspheader=1|title=Newspaper clipping}}}}

| children = 3

| website =

| awards =

}}

Michael Howard (4 March 1916 – 18 February 1988) was a British actor and comedian.{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba506521e|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623222011/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba506521e|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 June 2019|title=Michael Howard|website=BFI}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=74438|title=Michael Howard|website=www.aveleyman.com}}

His parents were the Scottish Congregational minister, psychologist and academic John Grant McKenzie and Margaret Ann née Murray."Dr. J. G. McKenzie", The Times (London), 20 May 1963, p. 16.

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed at various theatres in Britain and America.{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/tyh/michael-howard|title=Michael Howard - Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}} He became a resident comic at the Windmill Theatre in London in 1941.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/michael-howard-p33508|title=Michael Howard - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}

He wrote and starred in a number of comedy shows for BBC Radio including For the Love of Mike, Leave it to the Boys, The Michael Howard Show and Here's Howard.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/79c5da3d021948c3bb4204f6408ea9b7|title=Michael Howard in * FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE'|date=25 October 1946|publisher=|issue=1204|pages=23|via=BBC Genome}}{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/44d75b5083c14ea6a9d39f37674841e6|title=First House Michael Howard in 'HERE'S HOWARD'|date=13 January 1950|publisher=|issue=1370|pages=30|via=BBC Genome}} The last was adapted for BBC Television and was transmitted from 14 March to 20 June 1951.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/heres_howard/|title=Here's Howard - BBC1 Stand-Up|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11803728/Peggy-Evans-actress-obituary.html|title=Peggy Evans, actress - obituary|date=14 August 2015|publisher=|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}

He married Betty Kelly in 1938, with whom he had one child, Harriet. They later divorced and in 1949 he married the actress Peggy Evans, with whom he had two children, Annabelle Howard and Ian Howard.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7vPDQAAQBAJ&q=Michael+Howard+The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=PA1718|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|date=16 May 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781526111968|via=Google Books}}

The 1956 'Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen' Annual gives, on Page 71, the following titles of Howard's then most recent "Films": I See a Dark Stranger; It Always Rains on Sunday; A Sister to Assist 'Er; Front Page Story; and, Out of the Clouds.