Ronnie Barker

Ronnie Barker OBE (born September 25, 1929) is a British comic actor, now retired. His best-known appearances were as Ronnie Corbett[?]'s partner in the long-running TV variety show The Two Ronnies and as Fletch in the sitcom Porridge. He began his broadcasting career with a variety of minor characters in The Navy Lark a navy based radio sit-com on the BBC Light Programme[?], now audible on-line through BBC 7 on Thursdays at 18:30hrs GMT. He performed many satirical skits in The Frost Report[?] and starred with David Jason as a bumbling aristocrat in the TV sit-com "Hark at Barker". Both he and Jason are widely recognised as having an excellent sense of comic timing and delivery, which accounts for their enduring popularity.

Barker briefly came out of retirement to play Winston Churchill's butler - a "straight" role, but with opportunities for comic asides - in the BBC drama The Gathering Storm (?2001) confirm year?