The late Sir Bruce Forsyth was a British showbiz giant, with a career spanning some 73 years. The biggest breakthrough in his long career came when he was selected as host of ITV’s long-running Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1958, and it’s only fitting that the great entertainer’s ashes were placed beneath the Palladium’s stage after his death in 2017.
A plaque on the great theatre’s wall reads: “Without question the UK’s greatest entertainer, he rests in peace within the sound of music, laughter and dancing… exactly where he would want to be”.
But Sir Bruce might not be entirely happy about that, according to his former colleague Anton du Beke.
The showbiz knight enjoyed a career spanning over 70 years (Image: Getty)
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Anton, who was for many years a professional dancer on Strictly, partnering the likes of Ann Widdecombe, Esther Rantzen and Kate Garraway, before replacing Bruno Tonioli on the judging panel in 2021.
Commenting on the fact that the ashes of another TV great, Des O’Connor, were placed next to Sir Bruce’s beneath the Palladium stage in 2020, Anton told the Daily Mail: “I know that Brucie would have been furious about this because he was never a double act.”
Anton isn’t quite correct. In fact, Bruce appeared on the Palladium stage with another variety legend in 1961 – forming a short-lived but much-loved double act. Bruce and Norman Wisdom filled an entire show themselves after it was threatened with cancellation as the result of industrial action.
Anton thinks Sir Bruce would be disappointed to know he shares his honour with Des O’Connor (Image: Getty)
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He first performed as Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom in 1942 (Image: Getty)
On Sunday, February 16, no members of actors’ union were permitted to appear on the live broadcast from the Palladium – ruling out virtually every performer scheduled to appear.
However, neither Bruce nor Norman were bound by the picket line, as they were instead members of the rival Variety Artistes’ Federation.
In a largely improvised performance, the pair sang, danced and joked their way through the entire show – which featured an anarchic sketch about decorators trying to put up wallpaper that went on to become part of TV history.
Bruce, whose TV career began before the start of World War II, first hosted Sunday Night At The London Palladium in 1958 and performed his one man show there for the last time in 2015.