CHARACTERS AND CARICATURES (PART THREE) - CELEBRITY SECRETS WITH TIM LEATHERBARROW

Several months ago, Tim Leatherbarrow kindly allowed me to integrate a series of his satirical, celebrity sketches into two fun-packed articles I eventually wrote and published. One of these articles focused on filmic facts (click here to read that), while the other one turned its attention towards TV-related trivia (ditto). So now some time has passed and I can see how popular each article has become, I thought it would be a jolly good idea for Tim and I to jump back into the fray with our third collaboration... celebrity secrets not generally known by the public.

Celebrity Secrets: Early on in their career, The Beatles managed to make a record in Hamburg, Germany, with another fairly popular singer called Tony Sheridan. The only problem with this, though, is that they were hired to be Tony's backing group and ordered to change their name to something less offensive. Well, in German, the word 'Beatles' sounds an awful lot like the word 'Piedels', which is a term used to define male genitalia. 

Celebrity Secrets: At face value, the 'Carry On' series of films depicted a slice of British silliness that bombarded certain figures of authority with crass humor and sexual innuendo. But upon closer inspection, I'm afraid to say that most of the cast disliked being associated with these films because they were underpaid and perpetually typecast into similar roles. So much so, in fact, that some of them suffered from depression (Kenneth Williams), alcoholism (Joan Sims), as well as fragile mental health (Charles Hawtrey). 

Celebrity Secrets: If you're a fan of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, then I'm sure you must have heard that they've both worked together on two of Bruce's films: 'Fist of Fury' (where Jackie played one of the Jingwu Students, before doubling for the main villain when he was finally kicked through a wall), as well as 'Enter the Dragon' (where Jackie played one of the guards Bruce beats up nearing its conclusion). What some people might not know, though, is that one of Jackie's classmates, Yuen Wah (from The Peking Opera School), doubled for Bruce in both of these films, mainly by performing backflips and other acrobatic acts.  

Celebrity Secrets: Common consensus has previously stated that the first Western was made in America by Edwin S. Porter in 1903 and went by the name of, 'The Great Train Robbery'. However, recent evidence has shown that the first Western was made four years earlier in Blackburn, England, and featured a young girl being kidnapped by Native Americans before being rescued in a gunfight.

Celebrity Secrets: When they first formed, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, and Michael Bentine, decided to call themselves 'The Goons' because they liked the way it sounded and wanted to be named after a race of tall, lumbering simpletons, who were sometimes featured in the popular 'Popeye' series of cartoons. But, for some unknown reason, the BBC didn't like their idea, and so they named 'The Goons' the 'Crazy People' instead. Well, that's until they eventually found out that their audiences often got them confused with another group of English comedians, 'The Crazy Gang'.  

So, what did you think of that, dear reader? Was it good? Was it bad? Or was it ugly? Either way, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below, and don’t forget to check out the website belonging to the amazing artist who supplied me with these iconic images, Tim Leatherbarrow... illustrator for hire.