Extract: Sunshine And Laughter by Louis Barfe

An extract from Barfe's biography of Morecambe and Wise. This passage talks about their wives Doreen Blythe and Joan Bartlett, who didn't like each other.

Doreen Wise: Truth about my little Ernie Wise

Ernie Wise died aged 73 after a series of strokes which left him with a 50 per cent loss of sight and hearing . The last five years of his life were tough although the public was unaware of his private torment.

Doreen Wise reveals how she sacrificed having children

Enter a lost world of entertainment with this celebration of the postwar heyday of variety. Michael Grade is our qualified guide - he joined the family theatrical agency in 1966 - and delivers a warm and funny show, full of good anecdotes. That's because he lets veteran entertainers and agents do much of the talking - Val Doonican, Doreen Wise (widow of Ernie), Bruce Forsyth, Ken Dodd, Roy Hudd, Barry Cryer and Janet Brown among them. Although largely filmed at the London Palladium, many of their recollections concern the third-rate halls or "number threes" - Attercliffe Palace in Sheffield and Bilston Theatre Royal keep cropping up. Unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons, as are tales of theatrical digs. In contrast, a parade of clips features comics, ventriloquists, dancers, jugglers and animal acts - from Max Miller to Memory Man, and Kardoma the flag act to Koringa the lady snake charmer. Nostalgia, social history... however you label it, there's nothing po-faced about this supremely entertaining show.