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Ronald William George Barker was born in Bedford in 1929. At one stage he considered becoming a bank manager, the kind profession he would later parody mercilessly in his sketches.
But he chose the theatre instead, appearing in plays and on the radio before breaking into television.
In 1971, he teamed up with Corbett for the first Two Ronnies series, a show based on deft wordplay and comic timing that attracted up to 17 million viewers at its peak.
It ended with a gag that has become a national institution.
In a spoof of a news broadcast, Corbett would bid the audience "goodnight from me", to which Barker, who towered above him, would add "and it's goodnight from him".
Barker received an OBE, awarded by the state for distinguished work, and won many accolades including most recently a special tribute from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2004.
He once said in an interview: "I would like to be remembered as one of the funniest men that people have seen on television. 'He made us laugh, he did make us laugh, God bless him'."
Barker was survived by his wife, Joy Tubb, a daughter and two sons.
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We here at EuroFusion offer our condolences to the family and friends of a true comedic legend; Ronnie Barker.
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Source: Yahoo News
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