Date of Birth : Feb 20th 1912
English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British Carry On films. Eric Barker first appeared in films as a child actor, including in 1916 with an early production of Tom Brown’s Schooldays playing the role of the sickly Arthur.
He later became one of the most familiar faces in British comedy in his day. Eric Barker gained his renewed start in show business during World War II, when he was part of the armed forces radio show Merry Go Round, which he helped to write. After the war the show continued, though renamed The Waterlogged Spa, with Barker and his wife, fellow actor Pearl Hackney. His “Steady Barker” catchphrase and verbal stumbling over words beginning with the letter ‘h’ became well known to audiences. The show’s success led to Barker’s starring in other radio shows, where he achieved a sizeable following due to his versatility at doing voices.
In the 1950s he moved into television and films. On television he wrote and appeared in his own show, The Eric Barker Half-Hour, a black-and-white comedy sketch show on the BBC. The cast included his wife, Nicholas Parsons and Deryck Guyler. It ran for three series (21 episodes) between 1951 and 1953, and was broadcast fortnightly on Wednesdays around 9.00pm. Such was his success that it led to him writing his own autobiography Steady Barker in 1956.
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