When 23-year-old Liverpudlian comedian Jimmy Tarbuck was given his own show – It’s Tarbuck – in 1963, he became the youngest comedian in Britain ever to have his own TV series.
Just two years previously he had been working the clubs and pubs of his hometown and other cities in the north, just one more comic face among the many. Then he was snatched out to stardom.
Tarbie was assisted in the first (1963) series by Amanda Barrie and Ronnie Corbett. Guests on that series included boxer Billy Walker, Henry McGee, Bob Todd, The King Brothers and Brenda Lee.
In the 1971 series (where he was assisted by regulars Peter Gordeno and Kenny Lynch), his guests included Clodagh Rodgers, Mike and Bernie Winters, Kenneth McKellar, Moira Anderson, Russ Conway, Matt Monro, Norman Collier and Nina.
Guests on the 1973 series included Gilbert O’Sullivan, Olivia Newton-John, Clodagh Rodgers (again), Buddy Greco, Bobby Moore, Linda Hooks, Rita Webb, Tom Jones and Lulu. His regular cast for the series comprised Kenny Lynch once more, Josephine Tewson, Frank Williams and the Mike Sammes Singers.
Jack Parnell and his Orchestra provided the musical accompaniment for all three series’.
Jimmy Tarbuck
Kenny Lynch
Josephine Tewson
Frank Williams
Rita Webb
Jack Parnell & His Orchestra
Mike Sammes Singers
