Kurt: /* External links */

2023-01-18T19:06:06Z

External links

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:06, 18 January 2023
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	== External links ==		== External links ==
	* {{IMDb name\|id=0295795\|name=Freddie Frinton}}		* {{IMDb name\|id=0295795\|name=Freddie Frinton}}

	~~{{Authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Frinton, Freddie}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Frinton, Freddie}}

Kurt at 00:52, 11 September 2022

2022-09-11T00:52:01Z

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	\| name = Freddie Frinton		\| name = Freddie Frinton
	\| image = Freddie_Frinton.jpg		\| image = Freddie_Frinton.jpg
	\| caption = ~~in ''[[Make Mine Mink]]''~~		\| caption =
	\| birth_name = Frederick Bittiner Coo		\| birth_name = Frederick Bittiner Coo
	\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1909\|01\|17\|df=y}}		\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1909\|01\|17\|df=y}}
	\| birth_place = [[Grimsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], England		\| birth_place = [[w:Grimsby\|Grimsby]], [w:[Lincolnshire\|]], England
	\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1968\|10\|16\|1909\|01\|17\|df=y}}		\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1968\|10\|16\|1909\|01\|17\|df=y}}
	\| death_place = London, England		\| death_place = London, England

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-09-11T00:41:36Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 19:41, 10 September 2022
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en>Jonny Nixon: Changing short description from "Mid-20th-century English comedy actor" to "English comedian and actor (1909–1968)" (Shortdesc helper)

2022-02-24T06:56:31Z

Changing short description from "Mid-20th-century English comedy actor" to "English comedian and actor (1909–1968)" (Shortdesc helper)

New page

{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Short description|English comedian and actor (1909–1968)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Freddie Frinton
| image = Freddie_Frinton.jpg
| caption = in ''[[Make Mine Mink]]''
| birth_name = Frederick Bittiner Coo
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|01|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Grimsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|10|16|1909|01|17|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| other_names =
| occupation = Comedian, music hall artist, television actor
| years_active =
| spouse =
| partner =
| website =
}}
'''Freddie Frinton''' (born '''Frederick Bittiner Coo''';<ref name="Name">According to the NDR, and the General Record Office (Births, Marriages, Deaths) Frinton's birth name was Coo.</ref><ref name="GRO">General Register Office: Register of Births – Mar 1909 7a [5_]77 Grimsby – Frederick Bittiner Coo</ref> 17 January 1909 – 16 October 1968)<ref>General Register Office: Register of Deaths – Dec 1968 5a 202 Brent, Frederick Frinton aged 54 (59?)</ref> was an English [[comedian]], and [[music hall]] and television actor. He is primarily remembered today as a household name in several [[Northwestern Europe]]an countries for his 1963 television comedic sketch entitled ''[[Dinner for One]]'', a perennial national television broadcast New Year's Eve favourite there, whilst being largely forgotten in his home country.

==Early life==
Frinton was born in Hainton Avenue, [[Grimsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], the child of a [[seamstress]], Florence Elisabeth Coo (born 1892), and was brought up by [[foster parent]]s. He started working in a Grimsby [[fish processing plant]], where he is said to have entertained his colleagues with parodies and jokes, but was eventually sacked. He moved into music hall, where he enjoyed modest success and renamed himself Freddie Frinton.

==Career==
During the [[Second World War]] he made a moderate breakthrough as a comedian. In 1945, Frinton first performed the sketch ''Dinner for One'' in [[Blackpool]]. As he had to pay a royalty every time he performed the sketch, he bought the rights to ''Dinner for One'' in the 1950s, which turned out to be a fateful decision.

In 1964, at the age of 55, Frinton became a belated success as the [[plumber]] husband in the popular television [[British sitcom|sitcom]] ''[[Meet the Wife (TV series)|Meet the Wife]]'', which ran for 40 episodes (the wife was played by [[Thora Hird]]). The series is mentioned in the [[The Beatles|Beatles]] song "[[Good Morning Good Morning]]" with the line "It's time for tea and ''Meet the Wife''".

===''Dinner for One''===
In 1963, Frinton's ''[[Dinner for One]]'' was recorded by the [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk]] (NDR) German television station. The role of Miss Sophie was played by [[May Warden]]. Watching the (unsubtitled) English language sketch on television has subsequently become a German, Austrian, and Swiss [[New Year's Eve]] tradition, with multiple repeats of the comedy short being shown every year from 1972 onwards.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|last=Hooper|first=John|title=British comedy lives on in German television|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/dec/31/broadcasting.germany|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 December 2002|accessdate=4 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="slate">{{cite web|last=Stewart|first=Jude|title=The Mystery of Dinner for One|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2133551/|work=Slate|date=30 December 2005|accessdate=4 January 2011}}</ref>

''Dinner for One'' also found fame in Scandinavia where it has been a hugely popular institution on Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian and Swedish television on New Year's Eve for many years, as well as in Belgium in the original version. It has become so popular that several versions in various [[German language|German]] dialects have been produced and a version was made for [[Netherlands|Dutch]] viewers, with the Dutch actor [[Joop Doderer]] playing Frinton's role. It is shown every 23 December on Norwegian television ([[NRK]] since 1980), and has been shown on the Australian [[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] television network on New Year's Eve for at least the last fifteen years. It also became a family tradition in South Africa when the [[South African Broadcasting Corporation|SABC]] aired it every New Year's Eve during the 1980s and 1990s. The TV short and its main actor Frinton are far less renowned in [[UK|Britain]] than in any of these countries.

Although Frinton originated from Lincolnshire, England, his most famous comedy short has never been shown in full on British television. It received its first UK screening on 23 November 2018 (more than 50 years after it was made) at the [[Campbeltown Picture House|Picture House]] in [[Campbeltown]], [[Argyll and Bute]], as part of a comedy film festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46308669|title=Cult comedy Dinner for One to get UK premiere after 50 years|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=23 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/23/dinner-one-british-comedy-beloved-germans-finally-gets-home/|title=Dinner for One: British comedy beloved by Germans finally gets a home premiere|date=23 November 2018|first=Anita|last=Singh|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]}}</ref> The skit was broadcast to a British audience for the first time on 31 December 2018 on the [[Sky Arts]] channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46620852/|title=Dinner for One: English comedy spices up German New Year|first=Joanna|last=Robertson|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=29 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/dinner_for_one/|title=Dinner For One: Sky Arts comedy special|publisher=[[British Comedy Guide]]|access-date=30 December 2018}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Although he was an actor whose roles often comprised playing being inebriated, Frinton was [[Teetotalism|teetotal]] in real life, having seen in others the damage that alcohol could do.<ref name="g2">{{cite web|last=Simkins|first=Michael|title=Acting drunk can be staggeringly difficult|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/12/drinking-welsh-police-actors|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 November 2010|accessdate=4 January 2011}}</ref>

Frinton was married twice and had five children. His first marriage was to Maisie Basil in 1931; they had one son together. His second wife was Nora Gratton, whom he married in 1945. They had four children: two daughters and two sons.

==Death==
On 16 October 1968, Frinton died suddenly from a [[heart attack]] in London at the age of 59. His body was buried in the [[City of Westminster Cemetery, Hanwell|City of Westminster Cemetery]], in London.

==Partial filmography==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
| 1948 || ''[[Trouble in the Air]]'' || Fred Somers
|-
| 1951 || ''[[Penny Points to Paradise]]'' || Drunkard
|-
| 1953|| ''[[Forces' Sweetheart (film)|Forces' Sweetheart]]'' || Aloysius Dimwitty
|-
| 1956 || ''[[Stars in Your Eyes]]'' || Publican
|-
| 1960 || ''[[Make Mine Mink]]'' || Drunkard
|-
| 1961 || ''[[What a Whopper]]'' || Gilbert Pinner
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0295795|name=Freddie Frinton}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frinton, Freddie}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male actors]]
[[Category:People from Grimsby]]
[[Category:Music hall performers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century British comedians]]

Freddie Frinton - Revision history

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt at 00:52, 11 September 2022

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Jonny Nixon: Changing short description from "Mid-20th-century English comedy actor" to "English comedian and actor (1909–1968)" (Shortdesc helper)