British comedian Duncan Norvelle, 66, died on Dec. 12, after a series of strokes. Norvelle is kind of problematic: beginning in the ‘80s, he played a stereotypical simpering, giggling gay man, complete with “Catch me!” catchphrase. Kind of like John Inman of Are You Being Served?, except that Inman really was gay, and Norvelle was straight. I have to admit I was not offended by his YouTube clips, mostly because I could not understand one word of his Leicestershire accent. Besides touring onstage, he appeared on numerous TV shows, most recently last year. Norvelle claimed in a recent interview that he hit upon his stage persona when doing an unbought pilot for Blind Date: “one of the producers was gay, and he wanted me to do it like that, and it was hilarious.” Oh, professor, I beg to differ . . .
Related Posts
