Missed this when it happened but it’s still fairly recent, so here we are: British entertainer Bernie Clifton finally released his autobiography, “Crackerjack to Vegas,” and has been on tour in the U.K. to promote it.
Bernie featured on this site as the 115th stranger, back in December 2018. I met him in Hull, England, where he was performing in the local “panto” — an English institution, taking fairy tales and loading them with innuendo, audience call-and-response, drag queens, and humor with more corn than an Iowan field. Bernie, then 82, told me about his start in showbusiness, being part of the British TV hit “Crackerjack,” a more recent trip with fellow entertainers to Las Vegas, and more. Here’s the summary of his book:
What took him so long? Growing up in wartime St. Helens (where a bomb missed his head by a few yards), Bernie began his career as a teenage singer with a local dance band. This was the first step on the long and winding road that took him to a Royal Variety Show where he reduced our late Queen to tears of laughter and then, after many years of touring, to a standing ovation in Las Vegas. Bernie takes us along on his hilarious journey, explaining how he failed as a plumber but made it to Beijing as a trombonist. We read about his exploits piloting his ‘Flying Ostrich’ microlight (without a licence) and keeping fit with the odd London marathon… on the back of an ostrich! We also learn of his penchant for practical jokes which helped him keep sane.