London's blue plaque comedians

Morecambe and Wise have been immortalised with a blue plaque at Teddington Studios, where their shows were filmed. It got us thinking, which other famous comedians have been commemorated?

If you thought the leading lights of showbiz always wound up in Thameside penthouses or jolly nice corners of Chelsea, you’d be wrong. After heady years of boozing at the Grafton Arms in central London with fellow Goons Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan decided to spend the Sixties bringing his kids up in the ‘burbs. They settled in the humble borough of Barnet, where the only symbol of Milligan’s phenomenal comedic success was an “above-ground” swimming pool. That, and the fact that Prince Charles once popped round for dinner.

You can visit the childhood home of the Terry and June star in Watford, where Scott attended the local boys’ grammar school before training in accountancy. Suffice to say he Carried On to greater things (sorry).

In a small, Victorian-era cottage in Muswell Hill, one of the most respected comedy actors of the 20th century was raised. Don’t go there expecting to find the real Peter Sellers, though — sources say he had himself surgically removed (actually, he just moved away).

Golders Green was home to this tragically short-lived star for a couple of years in the late Forties. In 1951, having just returned from serving in WW2, he became a resident at the Windmill Theatre in Westminster.

This four foot six inch tall star of music hall entertainment, known for his Big Boot dance routine, was an unlikely trailblazer of modern comedy, inspiring cultural greats from Stravinsky to Monty Python (Michael Palin mimics Little Tich’s dance in a sketch from the Flying Circus). A blue plaque honours his home in Hendon. Check it out, and ponder how he might have practised in those shoes within the confines of any normal-sized dwelling.

english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques