Bill Kerr dies at 92

South African born Australian Bill Kerr died yesterday watching his favourite show on television, the American show Seinfeld, at his home in Australia . He was the last of the major cast members of the 1950's radios "Handcock's Half Hour" to leave this earth, and once a familiar voice to millions and still can be heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra, even today.  

He was born on 10th June 1922 into the lime light, and his first appearance was on the stage in his mothers arms. He use to famously say "I was such a hit, I retired in 1922 and made a comeback at seven". He grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia and by the age of 10 he began to work in radio for ABC in 1932 and preformed child parts for about 8 years, making his first of many feature film appearances in 1934 as a blind child. Eventually the Second World War came and interrupted the his career.

After the war he moved to Britain and worked in variety shows and went to appear on BBC radio series Variety Bandbox. He was billed as s "the boy from Wagga-Wagga.", a place many of the British audience thought of as a comically surreal, end of the earth, magical place somewhere left of Narnia. During the time on the on the show he used the catch phase "I'm only here for four minutes." which became the trademark of his act.

In the fifties Bill Kerr became the Australian lodger in the hit radio show "Handcock's Half Hour"a show that is till being repeated today on BBC radio 4 Extra. Originally his character was brighter than Tony Handcok's, the shows star, but as the programme was developed he became dim-witted character who became the butt of Hancock's jokes. In all he made 102 episodes of the of the radio show, but never appear in the television version of the show because the writers, Galton and Simpson realised they would need a smaller cast for the television version of the show.

He wasn't just know to radio audiences during this time, he was also well known for his theatrical success appearing on the West End stage in both plays and musicals. In addition to this he worked on many films such as "The Dam Busters" in 1955 and "The Wrong Arm of the Law" in 1963. This and other work kept him in Britain until 1979 when he returned to his native Australia to settle in Perth where he concentrated on character roles and appeared in many films, plays and on television until he retired in 2006.

For me I will remember him in "Handcock's Half Hour" as a voice that became familiar to me as my love of radio grew as child, a format I still prefer to that of television. So influential where the shows that he made with Tony Handcock and Sid James that they were included in the underground radio stations of the BBC's Wartime Broadcasting Service (WTBS). A radio service designed to provide information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack. 

I wish family, friends and his many fans all over the world many laughs in the future after the sadness of his pasting is no more. He left us countless hours of his work to enjoy for many years to come and for new generations to enjoy.