Comedian, actor, writer and director who came to prominence in satirical TV sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News
Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"
If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.
Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV...
Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"
If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.
Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV...
- 7/21/2013
- by Stuart Jeffries
- The Guardian - Film News
Best known for roles in Alas Smith and Jones and Not the Nine O'Clock News, the comic also reached No 3 in the music charts
The classic image of Mel Smith was head to head in conversation with Griff Rhys Jones, discussing anything from politics to sex, on Alas Smith and Jones.
Sometimes, in variety show or charity events, either the part of Smith or Jones was played by a celebrity. The show was broadcast from 1984-89 as Alas Smith and Jones and from 1989-98 as Smith and Jones.
Here Smith and Rhys Jones discuss the 60s and the Beatles.
In 1986, Smith parodied the monotonous broadcast of the football results, which were an essential and lengthy part of many news broadcasts at the time.
Smith's career was launched alongside that of Jones, Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson and Chris Langham in Not the Nine O'Clock News, which ran from 1979-82. It featured...
The classic image of Mel Smith was head to head in conversation with Griff Rhys Jones, discussing anything from politics to sex, on Alas Smith and Jones.
Sometimes, in variety show or charity events, either the part of Smith or Jones was played by a celebrity. The show was broadcast from 1984-89 as Alas Smith and Jones and from 1989-98 as Smith and Jones.
Here Smith and Rhys Jones discuss the 60s and the Beatles.
In 1986, Smith parodied the monotonous broadcast of the football results, which were an essential and lengthy part of many news broadcasts at the time.
Smith's career was launched alongside that of Jones, Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson and Chris Langham in Not the Nine O'Clock News, which ran from 1979-82. It featured...
- 7/20/2013
- by Conal Urquhart
- The Guardian - Film News
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