Nook NotesPick a film
Norman Wisdom

Actor

Norman Wisdom

Born February 4, 1915 in Marylebone, London, EnglandDied October 4, 201026 films

Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom,  OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin. These films initially made more money than the James Bond film series,  and secured Wisdom a celebrity status in lands as far apart as South America, Iran and many Eastern Bloc countries, particularly in Albania where his films were permitted by Enver Hoxha – Wisdom was the only Western actor to enjoy this privilege.  Charlie Chaplin famously referred to Wisdom as his "favourite clown".

Read more

Wisdom later forged a career on Broadway and as a television actor, winning critical acclaim for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the television play Going Gently in 1981. It was broadcast on 5 June that year. He toured Australia and South Africa.  After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a hospice was named in his honour.  In 1995 he was given the Freedom of the City of London and of Tirana.  The same year he received an OBE.  Wisdom was knighted in 2000 and spent much of his later life on the Isle of Man. Some of his later appearances included roles in Last of the Summer Wine and Coronation Street,  and he retired from acting at the age of 90 after his health declined.

Start here

The best way into Norman Wisdom's work
Five Children and It posterFirst watchFive Children and It20045.6The Psammead is an 'it', an ancient, ill-tempered sand-fairy with a spider-shaped body, bat-like ears, and snail-like eyes.View film

Filmography

26 films as actor
  1. 2008The Legend of Harrow WoodsWinston
  2. 2007ExpressoThe Vicar (as Sir Norman Wisdom)
  3. 2004Five Children and It
  4. 1997An Audience with Bruce Forsyth
  5. 1992Double X: The Name of the GameArthur Clutton/Maurice Rigby
  6. 1981Going GentlyBernard Flood
  7. 1969What's Good for the GooseTimothy Bartlett
  8. 1968The Night They Raided Minsky'sChick Williams
  9. 1967Androcles and the LionAndrocles
  10. 1966Press for TimeNorman Shields / Emily Shields / Wilfred, the Prime Minister
  11. 1966The Sandwich ManBoxing Vicar
  12. 1965The Early BirdNorman Pitkin
  13. 1963A Stitch in TimeNorman Pitkin
  14. 1962On the BeatNorman Pitkin / Giulio Napolitani
  15. 1962The Girl on the BoatSam Marlowe
  16. 1960The Bulldog BreedOrdinary Seaman Norman Puckle
  17. 1960There Was a Crooked ManDavy Cooper
  18. 1959Follow a StarNorman Truscott
  19. 1958The Square PegPrivate Norman Pitkin / General Otto Schreiber
  20. 1957Just My LuckNorman Hackett / Mr. Hackett
  21. 1956Up in the WorldNorman
  22. 1955Man of the MomentNorman
  23. 1955As Long as They're HappyNorman
  24. 1955One Good TurnNorman
  25. 1953Trouble in StoreNorman
  26. 1948Date with a DreamShadow Boxer