Norman Wisdom
Acting • Born 1915-02-04 – Died 2010-10-04
Biography
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin. These films initially made more money than the James Bond film series, and secured Wisdom a celebrity status in lands as far apart as South America, Iran and many Eastern Bloc countries, particularly in Albania where his films were permitted by Enver Hoxha – Wisdom was the only Western actor to enjoy this privilege. Charlie Chaplin famously referred to Wisdom as his "favourite clown". Wisdom later forged a career on Broadway and as a television actor, winning critical acclaim for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the television play Going Gently in 1981. It was broadcast on 5 June that year. He toured Australia and South Africa. After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a hospice was named in his honour. In 1995 he was given the Freedom of the City of London and of Tirana. The same year he received an OBE. Wisdom was knighted in 2000 and spent much of his later life on the Isle of Man. Some of his later appearances included roles in Last of the Summer Wine and Coronation Street, and he retired from acting at the age of 90 after his health declined.
Filmography
53 credits
The Bulldog Breed
Movie • 1960
Ordinary Seaman Norman Puckle
The Night They Raided Minsky's
Movie • 1968
Chick Williams
What's Good for the Goose
Movie • 1969
Timothy Bartlett
The Square Peg
Movie • 1958
Private Norman Pitkin / General Otto Schreiber
A Stitch in Time
Movie • 1963
Norman Pitkin
Follow a Star
Movie • 1959
Norman Truscott
Just My Luck
Movie • 1957
Norman Hackett / Mr. Hackett
Man of the Moment
Movie • 1955
Norman
On the Beat
Movie • 1962
Norman Pitkin / Giulio Napolitani
One Good Turn
Movie • 1955
Norman
Press for Time
Movie • 1966
Norman Shields / Emily Shields / Wilfred, the Prime Minister
The Early Bird
Movie • 1965
Norman Pitkin
Trouble in Store
Movie • 1953
Norman
Up in the World
Movie • 1956
Norman
The Girl on the Boat
Movie • 1962
Sam Marlowe
Norman Wisdom: His Story
Movie • 2010
Himself : Archive footage
Norman Wisdom: Trouble On Tour
Movie • 2008
Self
As Long as They're Happy
Movie • 1955
Norman
Double X: The Name of the Game
Movie • 1992
Arthur Clutton/Maurice Rigby
An Audience with Bruce Forsyth
Movie • 1997
The Golden Gong: The Story of Rank Films - British Cinema's Legendary Studio
Movie • 1985
Self
Going Gently
Movie • 1981
Bernard Flood
There Was a Crooked Man
Movie • 1960
Davy Cooper
The Sandwich Man
Movie • 1966
Boxing Vicar
Androcles and the Lion
Movie • 1967
Androcles
The Unforgettable Norman Wisdom
Movie • 2011
Himself (archive footage)
Where on Earth Is Katy Manning?
Movie • 1998
Date with a Dream
Movie • 1948
Shadow Boxer
The Legend of Harrow Woods
Movie • 2008
To See Such Fun
Movie • 1977
The Secret Life of Norman Wisdom Aged 92¾
Movie • 2008
Self
Look at Life: A Dog's Life
Movie • 1959
Self
Thora Hird Tribute
Movie • 2003
Self
Innes Lloyd: The Producer
Movie • 2025
Self (archive footage)
Cue Here for Laughs with John Virgo
Movie • 1994
Self
Bergerac
TV • 1981
Vincent
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
This Is Your Life
TV • 1955
Dalziel & Pascoe
TV • 1996
Between The Sheets
TV • 2003
Maurice Hardy
Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
TV • 1973
Nobody
Norman
TV • 1970
The Last Detective
TV • 2003
Lofty Brock
Last of the Summer Wine
TV • 1973
Man Carrying Gnome (uncredited)
It's Only TV But I Like It
TV • 1999
Self
Playhouse
TV • 1974
Bernard Flood
Style Challenge
TV • 1996
An Audience with...
TV • 1978
Self
Casualty
TV • 1986
Mr. Cole
Wogan
TV • 1982
Self
A Little Bit Of Wisdom
TV • 1974
Norman
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
Last of the Summer Wine
TV • 1973
Billy Ingleton