Memorabilia from the BBC's first comedy star

Arthur Askey’s lifetime collection of showbiz memorabilia is set to go under the hammer next month.

The Liverpool-born  comic became a household name in the BBC’s first regular radio comedy series, Band Waggon, in 1938, and counted Margaret Thatcher and Eric Morecambe among his fans.

A total of 220 lots will are to be sold off by Hansons Auctioneers on November 13, including scripts, clothes and personal effects, as well as photographs and letters from a career spanning more than 60 years. 

The auction also includes letters from comedians such as Stan Laurel and the actor Sir Laurence Olivier, revealing just how respected  Askey was by his peers, as well as a get-well letter from Thatcher sent shortly before his death in 1982, aged 82, saying: ‘I do hope that you are not in too much pain. Denis and I are thinking of you.’

Also included is correspondence from another Prime Minister, Ted Heath, who described himself as one of the comedian’s ‘immeasurable fans, as well as telegram from Paul McCartney who, as a schoolboy, inherited Askey’s desk at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys.  

Victoria Sheppard from Hansons Auctioneers said: ‘It is difficult to overstate how big a comedian Arthur Askey was in his day and what a trailblazer he was for British comedy. 

‘He was one of the few entertainers to make the successful transition from the old music hall to the emerging broadcast era of radio and television. Along the way he was the also the first comedian to popularise the catchphrase and master ad lib."

‘His warm, sometimes surreal style was a forerunner to later British comedians who mixed slapstick with smart wordplay.’

The sale also includes both editions of The Big Red Book presented to Askey after his appearances on This is Your Life  in 1959 and 1974.

Askey, who was 5ft 2in tall, and famed for his distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, was the only comedian who made Eric Morecambe starstruck. 

His son Gary said: ‘Arthur was a massive inspiration, living proof that a British entertainer from humble beginnings in the north of England could go on to become a big star of stage and screen.

‘Whenever we were in Arthur’s company, my father acted as if he was the company of a king or a president, so reverential did he become. He was always quiet in Arthur’s company, you could say star struck. It wasn’t often my father was quiet in someone’s company, so this notable and unique.’

 Photos in the sale also show Askey as a family man.

His granddaughter Jane Stewart said: ‘My pint-sized grandad literally glowed with energy and joy doing what he always wanted to do from a very young age – entertain. He was big hearted, a generous performer who literally wanted to spread happiness. A cheeky chappie whose life was dedicated to brightening your day. 

‘I used to love grandad and grandma coming over for Sunday lunch, mum pulled out all the stops, and after they would retire to the living room to watch the football, while I snuck into my parents’ bedroom to watch the black and white movies.

‘I also loved going to the theatre and into granddad's dressing room with the smell of greasepaint, the costumes hanging all over the place, grandad’s makeup spread out on the dressing table, and all the buzz and chatter. 

‘When we went to see him in panto, usually on Boxing Day we would normally be sitting at the front or near to it, and a some point he would mention we were in and ask us to stand and take a bow.’

The catalogue will be online from October 30 at www.hansonslive.co.uk 

Published: 16 Oct 2025