Editing Bernard Manning

{{Short description|English comedian (1930–2007)}}
{{for|the opera singer in Australia|Bernard Manning (singer)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name              = Bernard Manning
| image             = Bernard manning.jpg
| caption           = Manning in 2005
| birth_name        = Bernard John Manning
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1930|8|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Harpurhey]], [[Manchester]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2007|6|18|1930|8|13|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Crumpsall]], Manchester, England
| medium            = Stand-up
| active            = 1950s–2007
| genre             = [[Blue comedy]], [[insult comedy]]
| subject           = [[Ethnicity]], [[women]], [[stereotypes]], [[minority group]]s
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| spouse            = Veronica Finneran<br />(1986; her death)
| children          = 1
| notable_work      = ''[[The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club]]'', ''[[The Comedians (1971 TV series)|The Comedians]]'', The Embassy Club
}}

'''Bernard John Manning''' (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pr-inside.com/controversial-british-comedian-bernard-manning-r157083.htm |title=Controversial British comedian Bernard Manning dies at 76 |date=18 June 2007 |access-date=19 June 2007 |author=PR-inside.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007225403/http://www.pr-inside.com/controversial-british-comedian-bernard-manning-r157083.htm |archive-date=7 October 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/racerow-comedian-bernard-manning-dies-704824.html|title=Race-row comedian Bernard Manning dies|work=The Independent |location=London|date=19 June 2007|access-date=19 June 2007}}</ref> He gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as ''[[The Comedians (1971 TV series)|The Comedians]]'' and ''[[The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club]]''. His act became controversial as attitudes changed, with the result that Manning was rarely seen on television in the last few decades of his career.<ref name="Timesobit">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/bernard-manning-j77zh2wq8hh|title=Bernard Manning|work=The Times|location=London|date=19 June 2007|access-date=15 October 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> However, he continued to perform at live venues until his death.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/ManchesterEveningNews/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=89235844|publisher=[[Manchester Evening News]]|title=Family Notices: Bernard Manning |access-date=18 June 2007 |date=18 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="BBCdies">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6765093.stm|title=Comedy star Bernard Manning dies|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2007|access-date=16 October 2019}}</ref>

==Early life==
Manning was born in [[Harpurhey]], [[Lancashire]], and raised in [[Ancoats]], both poor districts of [[Manchester]], the second of three brothers and two sisters.<ref name="Timesobit" /><ref name="Dixon">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jun/18/guardianobituaries.obituaries1|access-date=18 June 2007 |work=The Guardian| title=Bernard Manning|location=London|first=Stephen|last=Dixon|date=18 June 2007}}</ref> He had [[Russian Jew]]ish ancestry on his father's side, as well as roots in Ireland, and was brought up a "strict Catholic".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=6527 |work=totallyjewish.com |title=Was Bernard a nice Jewish boy? |date=21 June 2007 |access-date=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210081816/http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=6527 |archive-date=10 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/smgpubs/access/1290701541.html?dids=1290701541:1290701541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+19%2C+2007&author=&pub=The+Herald&desc=Bernard+Manning&pqatl=google | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712213312/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/smgpubs/access/1290701541.html?dids=1290701541:1290701541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+19,+2007&author=&pub=The+Herald&desc=Bernard+Manning&pqatl=google | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 July 2012 | work=The Herald | title=Bernard Manning | date=19 June 2007}}</ref> He claimed, in an interview with ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''{{'}}s [[Allison Pearson]], that his paternal grandfather came from [[Sevastopol|Sebastopol]], and changed the family name from Blomberg.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pearson|first=Allison|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4711492/Welcome-to-my-insulting-room.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226163508/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4711492/Welcome-to-my-insulting-room.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 February 2016|title='Welcome to my insulting room'|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 January 1998|access-date=16 October 2019}}</ref>

He left school aged 14, worked in a tobacco factory and joined his father's [[greengrocer]]y business,<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Rachel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jun/19/theatrenews.theatre|title=Controversial comedian Bernard Manning dies|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 June 2007|access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref> before joining the [[British Army]] to do his [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|National Service]].<ref name="BBCobit">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3867363.stm|title=Obituary: Bernard Manning|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2007|access-date=18 June 2007}}</ref>

Manning had little thought of entertainment as a career, until posted to Germany where, in his self-written obituary (in which he claimed to have guarded [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] war criminals [[Rudolf Hess]] and [[Albert Speer]] in [[Spandau Prison]], [[Berlin]], just after the [[Second World War]]),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6766611.stm|title=Manning penned his own obituary|work=BBC News|date=19 June 2007}}</ref> he began to sing popular songs to entertain his fellow soldiers and pass the time. This ability led him to put on free shows at the weekends; when he began to charge admission and audiences did not decrease, he realised that there was a possibility of making money from show business.

==Career==
On returning to England, Manning continued to sing professionally, and also worked as a [[Master of Ceremonies|compère]]. He was an effective singer of popular ballads and fronted big bands in the 1950s, such as the [[Oscar Rabin Band]], which included appearances at the [[The Ritz Hotel, London|Ritz Hotel]].<ref name="Timesobit" /> Over the years he began to introduce humour into his compering. This went down well, and Manning slowly moved from being a singer and compère to a comedian.<ref name="BBCobit"/> In 1959, Manning borrowed £30,000 from his father and bought a dilapidated billiard hall on the [[A664 road|A664]] Rochdale Road, and turned it into the Embassy Club. Rather quickly Manning's income substantially increased.<ref name="Dixon" /> The club played host to many other acts, and Manning claimed that [[the Beatles]] performed there early in their career.<ref name="Guardian2006"/>

After much work in comedy clubs and [[Northern England|northern]] [[working men's club]]s in the 1950s and 1960s, he made his television debut in 1971 on the [[ITV Granada|Granada]] comedy show ''[[The Comedians (1971 TV series)|The Comedians]]''.<ref name="BBCobit" /> He compèred ''[[The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club]]'', which began in 1974. In this period, Manning's material was often accepted as being "harmless banter".<ref name="Timesobit" />

He hosted the 1980 documentary short ''The Great British Striptease'', filmed in [[Blackpool]], and had a starring role in a comedy quiz show ''Under Manning'', produced by [[Southern Television]] in 1981.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210521202920/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b77fcbc26 Under Manning, BFI Website]</ref> The series was poorly received and short-lived, and by the 1980s Manning had fallen out of favour with television companies, either because of changing tastes or his failure to compromise with television companies.<ref name="Timesobit" /><ref name="Dixon" /> However his appearances on the northern [[Working Men's Club and Institute Union|Working Men's Club]] circuit continued, playing to packed audiences which he claimed sometimes included people from [[ethnic minority|ethnic minorities]].<ref name="BBCobit" /> 

In 1994, two black waitresses at a charity dinner at a hotel in [[Derbyshire]] took exception to Manning's act and appealed to an industrial tribunal against the management of the hotel for [[racial discrimination]], claiming that the word "[[wog]]" had been used. Manning said in response that "[[wog]]" was "a horrible, insulting word I've never used in my life" but defended use of the words "[[nigger]]" and "[[Racial slur|coon]]" as historical terms with legitimate roots.<ref name="BBCobit"/> The complainants initially lost, but the decision was overturned on appeal and they were awarded an undisclosed sum.<ref>{{cite news|last=Clarke|first=Alison|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/abuse-on-the-premises-1352192.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Abuse on the premises | date=13 November 1996| access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.exeter.ac.uk/rburnley/empdis/1996IRLR596.html|title=''Burton & Rhule v De Vere Hotels'' |access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref> On an appearance on ''[[The Mrs. Merton Show]]'' on 19 March 1998, Manning admitted that he was a racist, which surprised host [[Caroline Aherne]] and went down badly with the audience.<ref name="BBCobit"/>

Manning never toned down his act, but he had a minor television career revival towards the end of his life, including [[Channel 4]] taking him to [[Mumbai]] to perform.<ref>[http://www.scotsman.com/news/tasteless-bombay-mix-1-1290848 Tasteless Bombay mix], ''[[Scotland on Sunday]]'', 23 June 2003</ref> In October 2002, he participated in a ''[[Great Lives]]'' programme for [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]]. He chose to honour the Roman Catholic nun [[Mother Teresa]].<ref name="BBCobit"/> In 2003, Manning was initially reported to have been booked to play a [[British National Party|BNP]] rally. He denied this, telling the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'': "It's a lot of bollocks. I don't know where I'm working. Speak to my agent. I don't know about any BNP nonsense. I would not do it anyway. Do you think I'm fucking barmy?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2007/06/18/5442/bernard_manning_dies |title=Manning to play BNP rally... but he denies the booking |work=chortle.co.uk |date=4 August 2003 |access-date=18 June 2007 }}</ref> In 2006, he appeared at the 45th birthday party of chef [[Marco Pierre White]].<ref name="Guardian2006">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,982897,00.html|work=The Guardian |location=London |date=23 June 2003|access-date=18 June 2007|title='It's an act, innit' |last=Hattenstone|first=Simon}}</ref>

From 1999 his son, Bernard Manning Jr, managed the Embassy Club, shortly after his father had a mini stroke and became deaf in one ear. He considered his father's act inappropriate for bookings and sought to turn the club into an [[alternative comedy]] venue.<ref name="Timesobit" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Margolis|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/oct/07/features11.g2|title=Shut up, dad|work=The Guardian|date=7 October 1999|access-date=16 October 2019}}</ref>

==Comedic style==
[[Race (classification of human beings)|Race]], [[human sexual behaviour|sex]], and [[religion]] were the core material for many of Manning's jokes. Manning's family and friends said that his controversial ways were all an act. He lived next door to an Indian physician's family, who have appeared in many newspaper articles over the years to defend Manning. Satya Rudravajhala, the widow of Visveswara Rao Rudravajhala, wrote a eulogy that was published in the local paper, the ''Middleton Guardian'', conveying the family's sentiments.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |title=Manning was no racist, says Asian neighbour |publisher=M.E.N. Media |date=28 June 2007 |access-date=13 December 2010 |work=Middleton Guardian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016211209/http://menmedia.co.uk/middletonguardian/news/s/529637_manning_was_no_racist_says_asian_neighbour |archive-date=16 October 2011 }}</ref>

In interviews with journalists, Manning would remind them of his appearance with [[Dean Martin]] in [[Las Vegas]] and meeting [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]]. He said he was a great believer in [[family values]] who never swore in front of his mother, stating: "I dragged myself up by my bootlaces. I don't drink or smoke, I don't take drugs. I have never been a womaniser. I was brought up right with good parents and I have never been in trouble or harmed no-one. And I love my family."<ref name="BBCobit" />

By the early 1980s Manning's style of comedy was being seen as increasingly out-dated and [[Political correctness|politically incorrect]].<ref>Wilmut, R and Rosengard, P ''Didn't You Kill My Mother-In-Law: The Story Of Alternative Comedy In Britain.'' {{ISBN|978-0-413-17390-4}}</ref> Later detractors criticised his style of humour, with journalist and television presenter [[Esther Rantzen]] commenting in 1992 that, "for me, he's always been the villain of comedy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ7GbuAIEfU |title=Bernard Manning: Heroes of comedy |date=17 June 2014 |publisher= youtube.com |access-date=29 July 2023 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Manning named his house in [[Alkrington]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/Greater_Manchester_Boroughs/images/Manchester_OM_FR.jpg |title=Greater Manchester Ward and Borough map |publisher=[[Boundary Commission for England]] |access-date=9 April 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070301235519/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/Greater_Manchester_Boroughs/images/Manchester_OM_FR.jpg <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 1 March 2007}}</ref><ref name="GM Gazetteer">{{cite web |url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazza.htm |title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer |publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office |access-date=20 June 2007|at=Places names – A|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144214/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazza.htm}}</ref> "[[Shalom]]",<ref>{{cite web|last=Hodkinson|first=Mark|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/city-remain-a-gift-to-manning-vgq3scfpbx9|title=City remain a gift to Manning|work=The Times |location=London |date=20 March 1999 |access-date=18 June 2007|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Guardian2006"/> the [[Hebrew]] word for "[[peace]]". 

Manning was a lifelong [[Manchester City F.C |Manchester City]] supporter.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harper|first=Nick| url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,945827,00.html |title=Bernard Manning |work=The Guardian|location=London |date=16 May 2003 |access-date=18 June 2007 |publisher=Guardian News and Media}}</ref> He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' on 27 November 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eofftv.com/t/thi/this_is_your_life_1969_main.htm |title=This Is Your Life (1969–1993) |publisher=Eofftv.com |access-date=13 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422082302/http://www.eofftv.com/t/thi/this_is_your_life_1969_main.htm |archive-date=22 April 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref> For many of his later years, he was a [[Teetotalism|teetotaller]] and a [[diabetic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3123234.stm |title=Carry on drinking?|last=Bayman|first=Hannah|date=19 September 2003|access-date=19 June 2007|work=BBC News}}</ref>

Having been admitted two weeks earlier for a [[kidney]] complaint, Manning died in [[North Manchester General Hospital]] at 3:10 pm on 18 June 2007.<ref name="BBCdies" /> He was 76.<ref name="MEN2">{{cite news|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1009476_bernard_manning_dead.html|publisher=M.E.N. Media|title=Bernard Manning dead|date=18 June 2007|access-date=18 June 2007|work=Manchester Evening News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420225748/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1009476_bernard_manning_dead.html|archive-date=20 April 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He had written his own [[eulogy]], which appeared as an obituary in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' two days later.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6766611.stm|title=Manning penned his own obituary|work=BBC News|date=19 June 2007|access-date=16 October 2019 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
In March 2007, he was ranked 29th on the list of the 100 Greatest Stand Up comedians in a poll conducted by [[Channel 4]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/C/comedy_standups/results/results.html|publisher=Channel 4 |location=UK|title=One hundred greatest stand-ups |access-date=18 June 2007}}</ref> The writer and performer [[Barry Cryer]] said when Manning died: "The thing about Bernard was that he looked funny, he sounded funny and he had excellent timing. It was just what he actually said that could be worrying."<ref name="BBCdies" />

In 2010, [[BBC Four]] commissioned [[Alice Nutter (writer)|Alice Nutter]] to write a biographical drama based on Manning's life. The screenplay was completed but cuts to the channel's budget led to the piece never being filmed.<ref>Steve Bottoms, 'Struggling to be Human', in the programme for the 2013 West Yorkshire Playhouse production ''My Generation''.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|543235}}
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/greatlives/manning_teressa.shtml Manning's episode of ''Great Lives'' on Radio 4 – his admiration for Mother Teresa in October 2002]
*[http://www.embassymanchester.co.uk Bernard Manning's Embassy Club (His Club in Manchester, now an event venue)]
*[https://archive.today/20130505123843/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23402009-stars-turn-out-to-pay-respects-to-controversial-comic-bernard-manning.do Stars turn out to pay respects to controversial comic Bernard Manning – Evening Standard]

===Audio clips===
*[http://se1media.com/livinglegends/media/Interview%20with%20Bernard%20Manning.mp3 Manning's last ever interview with Opal Bonfante "How I want people to remember me"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620093957/http://se1media.com/livinglegends/media/Interview%20with%20Bernard%20Manning.mp3 |date=20 June 2007 }}

===Video clips===
*{{YouTube|HiMlTFAWkyw|Bernard Manning in live stand-up, 29 May 2005}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Bernard}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Manchester]]
[[Category:Comedians from Manchester]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:English people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:Manchester Regiment soldiers]]
[[Category:People from Alkrington]]
[[Category:People from Ancoats]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
[[Category:Oscar Rabin Band members]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies]]
[[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]]