Wisdom created one of the most enduring characters in screen comedy, the dishevelled, put-upon underdog in ill-fitting suit and tuned-up cap, struggling against the world ­ and his own clumsiness.

He was in the mould of the archetypal clown, parading his pratfalls and slapstick in more than a dozen films of the Fifties and Sixties - playing a character usually called Norman (and often Norman Pitkin). In three of the most celebrated - The Early Bird, The Square Peg and A Stitch In Time, he worked for a Mr Grimsdale, leading to the urgent cry that was to become his catchphrase.

There was struggle, too, in his own early life. His mother left home when he was nine, leaving him in the charge of his alcoholic father.

His father gave him away to a family in Deal, Kent. The young Norman eventually tracked down his father, only to have the door slammed in his face when he showed up. He never saw him again.

Leaving school at 13, he became an errand boy with a grocery store, He also worked as a a coal miner, waiter and cabin-boy, where the crew would make him box for money.

As a teenager, he slept rough on the streets until someone suggested he join the army, seeing service in India and finally finding somewhere he felt he belonged. He later said his time with the 10th Royal Hussars was the happiest of his life and it was in the military - like so many stars of his generation - that he discovered his love of performing.

He left the army in 1946 and made his stage debut at the late age of 31. But his rise was meteoric and he was a West End star within two years.

His success made him a natural for TV and then the films that made him such an icon. The underlying message of the goodness of the common man made his films, famously, the only Western entertainment allowed in Communist Albania, where he remains an unlikely folk hero.

Wisdom's career waned with the demise of black and white film.. His first colour picture, coming relatively late in 1965's The Early Bird, robbed his antics of their simple charm.

A few TV series in the Seventies spelt the decline of his career, and in 1980 moved to semi-retirement in the Isle of Man.

A knighthood in 2000 (he, of course, feigned a trip as he met the Queen) and well-placed cameos late in life in the likes of Coronation Street, Last Of The Summer Wine and the big-screen versions of Five Children And It have helped revive his profile. But he will always be known as the clumsy, well-meaning man with the signature tune Don't Laugh At Me 'Cos I'm A Fool.

CV

A boring one-trick pony. The only time he was funny or talented was when he starred at the London Palladium in a strike-breaking show with Bruce Forsyth.

DrTeeth, November 2010

I was sad to hear that Sir Norman had passed, but his memories never died. I'm watching his films in stitches laughing what a legend! thanks a million Norman.

dawn richards, October 2010

Thankfully, he didn't "retire" anywhere near where I live. I just can't bear the false "Who, me? Really?" mugging he's made so much of over the last 10 years.

Ray Girling, August 2008

When I first saw Norman Wisdom, I was a young guy living in Glasgow, Scotland. The movie was Trouble in Store. Normally, so called comedians from England left me cold, Scottish comedians were in much the same class... terrible, however when I saw Norman Wisdom in that movie I laughed so hard it hurt. There are two movies that stand out in my mind as truly funny, one was Mr Hulot's Holiday, and the other of course was Trouble In Store.

Alex McNeilly, May 2007

Sir Norman was filming his new 10 minute movie entitled Expresso on our doorstep here in North Worcestershire in early January - here is the link to the BBC Midlands today clip.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/bb_rm_fs.stm?news=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nol_storyid=6250183 Enjoy!!!

Phil Dent, January 2007

Norman Wisdom made a difference in my life, he showed me how to laugh, and it was that laughter that has sustained me through many a rough patch in my life, thank you Sir Norman.

Anita Savage, January 2006