Person    | Male  Born 8/9/1921  Died 11/4/2001

Harry Secombe

Actor, comedian and singer. Born Harry Donald Secombe in St Thomas, Swansea where he grew up. In WW2 he served in the Royal Artillery, and whilst in North Africa he first met Spike Milligan. After the war, he joined the cast of the Windmill Theatre, where he met Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers. The Goon Show was the result of these meetings and Secombe played Neddie Seagoon until the show ended in 1972. He appeared in several films, including 'Oliver!' in which he played Mr Bumble the Beadle, and on stage, he created the title role in the musical 'Pickwick'.
He had his own television show for several years, and was a presenter of the religious programmes, 'Songs of Praise' and 'Stars on Sunday'. When Milligan heard of Secombe's death, he jokingly said that he was glad he had died first because he didn't want him singing at his funeral. Secombe however had the last laugh, as one of his recordings was played at Spike's memorial service. 

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Harry Secombe

Commemorated ati

Last Goon Show

The Camden Palace was home to the Goon Show through the 1950s.

Read More

Spike's statue - Goons

This little group shows Secombe, Milligan and Sellers, holding "Goons" script...

Read More

The Goon Show

{Caricatures of the four comedians, followed by:} The Goon Show, 1951-1960, f...

Read More

Other Subjects

Redgrave family

Redgrave family

The acting dynasty, fully documented at Wikipedia. The photo shows, left to right: Lynn Redgrave, Jemma Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, Corin's wife Kika Markham, Luke Redgrave, Annabel Clark (Lynn's da...

Group, Cinema, Seriously Famous, Theatre

1 memorial
Laurence Cowen

Laurence Cowen

Scriptwriter, playwright, film and theatre director, and author. Born Laurence Cohen and also wrote as Lesser Columbus. Born Hull, or Newcastle-upon-Tyne (sources differ). Died Hampstead. Married t...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial
Esme Percy

Esme Percy

Esme Percy, once famous as a producer and star of stage and 50 films, but forgotten since his death in 1957. Born London of French ancestry, as Saville Esmé Percy. A good looking stage star and th...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial
Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge

Photographer and motion picture pioneer. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames. He changed his name, probably inspired by the recent discovery in Kingston of a Saxon coronation stone...

Person, Cinema, Photography, USA

3 memorials
Coronet Cinema - Camberwell

Coronet Cinema - Camberwell

Opened in 1913, as Camberwell Central Cinema, it suffered bomb damage but was reopened in 1945. It closed in 1948 and was being used for storage when a bad fire in 1957 prompted the decision to dem...

Building, Cinema

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Richard Moore

Richard Moore

Father of Capt. Francis W. Moore, M.C. whose name appears on the memorial erected by his father. If Moore Snr. really did the carving on the monument then he was a talented sculptor and we are surp...

Person, Benefactor, Sculpture

1 memorial
George Halfhide

George Halfhide

Successful seal engraver. 1796 in business with John Barnes. 1800 the business moved to 7 Coventry Street and shortly after Halfhide was in business on his own. His son, also George, joined the bus...

Person, Benefactor, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Charles Macklin

Charles Macklin

Actor and playwright. Probably born in County Donegal, Ireland in about 1699. Lived in Bow Street.. Died at home in Tavistock Row.

Person, Theatre, Ireland

1 memorial
Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

Experimental physicist, especially electro-magnetics (remember Faraday's Law?). Born in Newington Butts but brought up near Oxford Street. Trained as a bookbinder and here he was given tickets to s...

Person, Science, Seriously Famous

9 memorials
Francis Barraud

Francis Barraud

Painter based in Liverpool. Born London or Liverpool (sources differ). Son of Henry, also an artist, and brother to Mark, a theatre scenery painter, whose dog Nipper, he (possibly with another brot...

Person, Art

1 memorial