British children’s entertainer Barry David Elliot, otherwise known as one half of the Chuckle Brothers, passed away on Sunday surrounded by his family after a period of ill health.
According to reports, the children’s TV star had known since last summer that his time was short, but kept the news from his fans so that he could continue to perform alongside his brother.
Go deeper with GlobalData
After more than 50 years as part of the comedic duo, it was seemingly a hard gig for Elliot to give up.
He worked tirelessly to entertain right until the end. While the future of the show is now in doubt, the Chuckle Brothers were in the process of filming a new Saturday night entertainment show, Chuckle Time, despite being in their 70s.
That follows five decades on the stage, radio, small screen, mobiles and tablets. To mark Elliott’s death, Verdict looks back at the success of the Chuckle Brothers and the shows that took them to the top.
A timeline of the Chuckle Brothers
1967
Opportunity Knocks
The Chuckle Brothers’ first success came in the late 60s when they won Opportunity Knocks, a talent show that inspired future programmes like Britain’s Got Talent. Other notable former contestants include magician Paul Daniels and actress Bonnie Langford.
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By GlobalData1979
Lennie and Jerry
The Chuckle Brothers took to the screen in 1979, appearing in the comedy sketch series Lennie and Jerry hosted by entertainers Lennie Bennett and Jerry Stevens. The brothers appeared on numerous other comedy shows over the next year, before finally landing a show of their own.
1980
A Merry Morning
The Chuckle Brothers were handed their own show, A Merry Morning, in which they entertained some 250 children on Christmas morning. This was the start of their long careers in children’s television.
1987
ChuckleVision
This was peak Chuckle Brothers. ChuckleVision helped to turn the comedic duo into British stars, forever embedding that iconic “to me, to you” catch phrase in the minds of anyone born in the 1980s or 1990s. The show ran for 22 years, 21 series and 292 episodes, eventually reaching its end in 2009.
1995
To You to Me
Following their success on television, the pair took a punt at music in 1995, releasing an 11-track album titles To You To Me.
1996
To Me, To You!
Off the back of ChuckleVision’s success, the Chuckle Brothers started To Me, To You!, a children’s game show where young contestants compete for coconuts on a desert island.
2010
Celebrity Coach Trip
While younger generations had grown bored of ChuckleVision, those that had watched the Chuckle Brothers during their peak were still huge fans. They voted the Chuckle Brothers as the winners of reality game show Celebrity Coach Trip in 2010.
2010
An Audience With The Chuckle Brothers
To celebrate their long history in the entertainment industry, the Chuckle Brothers put on a special stage show in 2010. This was made up of comedy sketches and Q&A sessions with the audience.
2014
To Me, To You (Bruv)
The Chuckle Brothers returned to music in 2014, releasing the charity single To Me, To You (Bruv) with British rapper Tinchy Stryder. The song raised money for the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
2016
Chuckle World
The Chuckle Brothers tried a new medium in 2016, releasing their first mobile game, Chuckle World. The official Chuckle Brothers app has received good reviews. It currently averages 4.5 stars from 140 reviews on the Google Play Store.
2018
Chuckle Time
While it is unclear whether Chuckle Time will ever actually air, the pair was in the process of filming the new show for Channel 5. Similar to shows like You’ve Been Framed!, the Chuckle Brothers react to funny videos uploaded to the internet.
Chuckle Brothers net worth: How much does 50 years of entertainment earn you?
It is clear that the Chuckle Brothers loved doing what they did. They continued to provide entertainment to the masses even when they no longer needed to.
The pair made considerable fortunes thanks to the success of ChuckleVision.
According to reports, Barry Elliott had amassed £20m by the time of his death. Assuming that the two brothers split their earnings equally, the Chuckle Brothers net worth would then stand at around £40m.
