Thursday 20 March 2008

The Personalities Behind Steptoe & Son


The Curse Of Steptoe on BBC Four last night gave us an interesting insight into the animosity fostered between the two actors who played the characters.

Harry Corbett and Wilfred Brambell disliked each other. They were "chalk and cheese", Corbett being a womanizer and possibly leaning leftwards, politically speaking; Brambell being conservative in nature, dapper, old-fashioned in outlook, a confirmed bachelor. They hadn't very much in common; ironic really, since this made their characters so credible on television.

I thought that Brambell was ultimately a somewhat tragic character himself, never completely reconciled with himself, personally. He drank heavily, which was frustrating for his co-star, Corbett, since he forgot his lines occasionally.

And yet they both needed each other to be Steptoe and Son, one of the most successful double acts on television at the time. I always enjoy watching them; never tire of the legendary Steptoe and Son.

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