Harry Enfield

Harry Enfield

Date of birth: 30-05-1961
A former milkman, Harry Enfield started his comedy career as an impressionist on Spitting Image, but shot to fame Channel 4's Saturday Live, first in the guise of Greek kebab-shop owner Stavros, then with the iconic Eighties builder Loadsamoney.

He appeared both as Loadsamoney and his peniless Geordie counterpart Bugger-All-Money at he Nelson Mandela Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988, before the character was killed off as Enfield felt he was becoming a hero, rather than a parody,.

He landed his own BBC show in 1990, first with Harry Enfield's Television Programme, and then Harry Enfield and Chums, the change in title acknowledging the contribution of co-stars Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke. Characters included Tim, nice but dim, Smashie and Nicey, Wayne and Waynetta Slob, Mr Cholmondley-Warner and Kevin the Teenager - who would star in his own film, 2000's Ibiza-set Kevin & Perry Go Large.

Many of Enfield's characters have gone on to front advertising campaigns, and he created a spoof life coach for a series of TV commercials for Burger King in 2005.

In 1992, he played Dermot in the first series of Men Behaving Badly on ITV. But it was not considered a success and the commercial broadcaster did not recomission it. When the BBC picked it up, Enfield was replaced by Neil Morrissey.

He has also made a number of one-offs, including Sir Norbet Smith - A Life for Channel 4 in 1993, and Norman Ormal– A Very Political Turtle for BBC one in 1998. He also presented a guide to opera, one of his passions, for Channel 4 in 1993.

Enfield's successful partnership with Whitehouse ended in the mid-Nineties, with his partner going on to create The Fast Show. In 2000, Enfield signed a lucrative deal with Sky One to create a new batch of characters for Harry Enfield's Spanking New Show - but it failed to replicate the success of his BBC shows.

In 2002 Enfield returned to the BBC with Celeb, based on the Private Eye comic strip about ageing rockstar Gary Bloke, but it only lasted one series.

Enfield's awards haul includes the 1998 British Comedy Award for top BBC1 Comedy Personality and Silver Roses of Montreux in 1990 (for Norbert Smith), 1995 (Smashie And Nicey - End Of An Era) and 1998 (Harry Enfield and Chums).

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Sarah Vine: Harry Enfield groped my breasts

And then he wrote a sketch about them, Daily Mail columnist claims

Daily Mail writer Sarah Vine claims Harry Enfield fondled her breasts at a Downing Street party – then wrote a sketch about it.

The columnist came forward with her story in today’s paper after TV producer Daisy Goodwin told how she was groped by Daniel Korski, now a Tory Mayor of London hopeful, when he was a former special adviser to David Cameron. 

Korsi denies the incident, but today Vine – the ex-wife of Leveliing-Up Minister Michael Gove – says Enfield did a similar thing to her at a party early in Cameron's premiership  – ‘probably late 2010’. 

She wrote: ‘I was standing around, as you do, glass in hand, chatting to various people, when Harry Enfield, the comedian, joined the conversation. I remember it was very loud, and everyone was a bit hyper, all over-excited about being there. Enfield, I think, was slightly in his cups.

‘I can't remember what I was wearing but it must have been some kind of party dress because at one point my gay friend commented on it and said — in a fruity Oscar Wilde sort of voice — that it made my breasts look "rather magnificent".

‘Everyone laughed — including Enfield, who concurred. He then said something along the lines of "do you mind if I have a go?" before reaching out, grabbing them in both hands and sort of jiggling them around with a vigorous enthusiasm that, I must confess, rather took me and everyone else by surprise.

‘Afterwards, I really wasn't sure what to make of it. I wasn't particularly upset — after all, he did it in full view of everyone, so it wasn't threatening or sinister. But it did rather take the wind out of my sails. In the end, I decided to file it under "someone having a bit of fun at my expense".’

However in 2012 she featured in one of the recurring sketches in which Enfield and Paul Whitehouse played two posh old duffers obsessed with whether public figures are gay.

The Harry & Paul skit centred on  Gove, with Enfield’s character saying:  I met his wife once, she's a fine woman. I wanted to grope her breasts.'

'Did you ask her why she married a queer?' says Whitehouse.

'No, I wanted to grope her breasts,' says Enfield. 'Have you seen his wife?'

‘No,' says Whitehouse.

'You'd like to grope her breasts, you really would,' says Enfield, 

‘Well I should put him down as a queer,’ declares Whitehouse as if recording a solemn verdict, ‘And add an asterisk here saying "wife's breasts gropeable".’

Vine said today: ‘Maybe that was Enfield's way of apologising. Or at least acknowledging his behaviour.’

But she does not appear to hold the incident against the comedian, too much, adding: ‘My point is: life is a rich tapestry, and not all the stitches are even. We do and say things that later, with hindsight, seem more than a shade inappropriate. But does that make us bad people? Not necessarily. Ten years is a long time. People grow and change.’

Chortle has approached Enfield’s agent for comment.

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Published: 28 Jun 2023

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