Editing Jimmy Edwards (section)

===Stage and film===
In December 1958, Jimmy Edwards played the King in [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s ''[[Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein musical)|Cinderella]]'' at the [[London Coliseum]] with [[Kenneth Williams]], [[Tommy Steele]], [[Yana (singer)|Yana]] and [[Betty Marsden]]; Bobby Howell was the Musical Director.

On 2 April 1966, he played at the last night of [[Melbourne]]'s [[Tivoli circuit|Tivoli Theatre]]. His final words closed a tradition of [[Australia]]n [[music hall]]. "I don't relish the distinction of being the man who closed the Tiv. Music hall's dead in Britain. Now this one's dead, there's nowhere to go. I'll either become a character comedian or a pauper."<ref>Van Straten, F (2003) ''Tivoli'' p. 233; Lothian Books, Melbourne, Australia {{ISBN|0-7344-0553-7}}</ref>

Edwards frequently worked with [[Eric Sykes]], acting in short films that Sykes wrote: ''[[The Plank (1967 film)|The Plank]]'' (1967), which also starred [[Tommy Cooper]]; alongside [[Arthur Lowe]] in the remake of ''[[The Plank (1979 film)|The Plank]]'' in 1979; and in ''[[Rhubarb (1969 film)|Rhubarb]]'' (1969), which again featured Sykes. The films were not silent but had very little dialogue. He also appeared in ''[[The Bed Sitting Room (film)|The Bed Sitting Room]]'' (1969) as Nigel, a man who lives in a left luggage compartment after being mistaken for a suitcase.

Edwards and Sykes toured British theatres with their farce ''[[Big Bad Mouse]]'' which, while scripted, let them ad lib, involve the audience and break the "[[fourth wall]]". The show initially had a six-week run at the [[Palace Theatre, Manchester|Palace Theatre]], [[Manchester]] during which Edwards and Sykes had followed the script, with these performances greeted with universally poor reviews. Sensing that cancellation was imminent Edwards told Sykes that he intended to "have a bit of fun" with the show and for what was expected to be the last week of the run the two stars began to deviate heavily from the script. However the new, more improvised version proved a success with audiences and led to a long run for the show at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]].<ref>Eric Sykes, ''Eric Sykes' Comedy Heroes'', Virgin Books, pp. 60–61</ref>

Sykes was replaced by [[Roy Castle]] in later runs in its three-year residency at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]] in London's [[West End theatre|West End]] and in tours of the [[Middle East]] and [[Australia]]. Edwards and Sykes also performed the show for [[Rhodesia]]n troops at the request of the country's prime minister, [[Ian Smith]], a controversial event at the time.<ref>Slide 2018, [https://books.google.com/books?id=j8xgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 p. 213]</ref> Edwards also starred in the stage revival of ''[[Maid of the Mountains]]''.