Jackie Wright

But after 1983, ill health forced him to leave the show, although previously unaired footage of him in sketches filmed in previous years was incorporated into new Benny Hill shows up to 1985.

syndication in 1979, Jackie became a cult favorite in the States, to such an extent that a fan club sprung up in America and 'the little bald guy' received offers to star in his own show.

In addition, Wright also appeared with such comics as Dick Emery and Jim Davidson, and on Frankie Howerd's short-lived Whoops Baghdad! (1973) as well as in the movie Three for All (1975). After Benny's show made it to U. S.

One of twelve children, Jackie Wright started out as a body builder in the car trade, even working for a time in America upholstering Cadillacs. After the Depression he drifted back to his native Belfast and travelled the country as a music-hall trombonist and supporting comic. By the 1960s, Jackie had drifted into television work as an extra on shows such as Z Cars (1962), and it was in that capacity that he was discovered by Benny Hill who first had him on as a supporting player on his last BBC shows in 1968, and then after Hill moved to Thames where Jackie was a constant recipient of head tappings from Benny.