On 14 May 1926, John Eric Bartholomew was born to parents George and Sadie.

He was later to become known as Eric Morecambe, and to bring joy to the lives of millions as half of Britain's best loved comedy act.

His mother, Sadie, was determined to see her only child make a success of his life, and took work as a waitress to raise funds for his dancing lessons. Eric, however, did not enjoy these lessons ... although they were to be of great importance once Eric and Ernie had teamed up.

Eric Bartholomew (the John had been dropped more or less from the outset) entered and won a series of talent contests. One of the most important of these was a contest in Hoylake in 1939. The prize for this win was an audition with Jack Hylton. Along with Hylton, a young man named Ernest Wiseman was also present at the audition. This was the first meeting with his future partner, but it was to be some time before the two of them got together.

Three months after the audition, a telegram arrived from Hylton inviting Eric to join a revue called "Youth Takes A Bow" at the Nottingham Empire. Two months into the run, Eric became aware of a rumour that Ernie Wise was to be joining the show. Ernie was already a familiar voice from Arthur Askey's "Bandwagon" show on the radio.

Eric and Ernie were soon good friends, and started to develop a double act. One Friday night in Liverpool, the two were allowed to perform their double act for the first time (in addition to their solo spots). Hylton was impressed enough to allow them to perform the act every night at their next stop, Glasgow.