The auction of the contents of Eric Morecambe’s home, including a proposal by partner Ernie Wise to split up their act, will be a major event for TV and comedy fans early next year.
Morecambe’s old home, Brachefield, in Harpenden, Hertfordshire is being emptied for the sale of over 700 lots, including personal papers and items from his long comedy career on stage and screen.
Eric was best known as one half of Morecambe and Wise.
The duo were staples on British television from the mid-1960s until 1983, when their final show on Boxing Day got over 11 million viewers on ITV. Eric died of a heart attack, aged just 58, in 1984, after collapsing during a show in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
I quit! Ernie Wise remained “best pal” with Morecambe but saw no future for their act well before they became household names.
Morecambe and Wise Christmas shows were among the most popular programmes in British television history, with guest spots going to some of the world’s biggest stars. The Beatles made some of their first national TV appearances alongside the duo.
In 1977, 28 million people watched the double-act’s festive spectacular.
Morecambe – born John Eric Bartholomew in Morecambe in 1926 – was voted into the top 40 Greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll. He won countless broadcast and entertainment awards during a career that started on stage in his teens.
Among the lots for sale at Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire on January 10th to 11th is a letter that nearly put a stop to that career before it started.
Composed at some point early in their partnership, Ernie Wise writes: “I want to get straight to the point. I want us to break up the act. I’m afraid it won’t work.”
The two-page letter is listed with a £300 to £500 estimate.
Carrying a £5,000 to £8,000 estimate is a portrait by royal artist Richard Stone painted for a TV documentary.
Eric was a director of Luton Town and was gifted this tracksuit in the mid-1970s. It will cost you more than £300 today.
A pair of Eric’s trademark glasses could realise up to £4,000.
The sale comes following the death of Eric’s widow, Joan, who passed away in March 2024.
She had kept Morecambe’s collection intact.
Hansons say: “Everyone loved Morecambe and Wise. Consequently, there are telegrams from Prince Philip and letters from King Charles, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and comedy legends Ronnie Barker and Tommy Cooper.
“There are thousands of photos of Eric with celebrities of the day, some signed and inscribed, including actor Cary Grant. We’ve found costumes from memorable sketches and numerous props including Eric’s famous ventriloquist dummy, Charlie. Eric and Ernie took Charlie to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. The dummy was even in an episode of TV crime series The Sweeney. Every find, every little piece of paper is important. It’s truly remarkable.”
The sale looks to be fertile ground for TV nostalgia fans, but also autograph and antique collectors.
