Freddie Frinton, born Frederick Bittiner Coo, was an English comedian, and music hall and television actor. He is primarily remembered today as a household name in several Northwestern European countries for his 1963 television comedic sketch entitled Dinner for One, a perennial national television broadcast New Year's Eve favourite there, whilst being largely forgotten in his home country.
Early life
Frinton was born in Hainton Avenue, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, the illegitimate child of a seamstress, Florence Elisabeth Coo, and was brought up by foster parents. He started working in a Grimsbyfish processing plant, where he is said to have entertained his colleagues with parodies and jokes, but was eventually sacked. He moved into music hall, where he enjoyed modest success and renamed himself Freddie Frinton.
Career
During the Second World War he made a moderate breakthrough as a comedian. In 1945, Frinton first performed the sketch Dinner for One in Blackpool. As he had to pay a royalty every time he performed the sketch, he bought the rights to Dinner for One in the 1950s, which turned out to be a fateful decision. In 1964, at the age of 55, Frinton became a belated success as the plumber husband in the popular television sitcomMeet the Wife, which ran for 40 episodes. The series is mentioned in the Beatles song "Good Morning Good Morning" with the line "It's time for tea and Meet the Wife".
''Dinner for One''
In 1963, Frinton's Dinner for One was recorded by the Norddeutscher RundfunkGerman television station. The role of Miss Sophie was played by May Warden. Watching the English language sketch on television has subsequently become a German, Austrian, and Swiss New Year's Eve tradition, with multiple repeats of the comedy short being shown every year from 1972 onwards. Dinner for One also found fame in Scandinavia where it has been a hugely popular institution on Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian and Swedish television on New Year's Eve for many years, as well as in Belgium in the original version. It has become so popular that several versions in various German dialects have been produced and a version was made for Dutch viewers, with the Dutch actor Joop Doderer playing Frinton's role. It is shown every 23 December on Norwegian television, and has been shown on the Australian SBStelevision network on New Year's Eve for at least the last fifteen years. It also became a family tradition in South Africa when the SABC aired it every New Year's Eve during the 1980s and 1990s. The TV short and its main actor Frinton are far less renowned in Britain than in any of these countries. Although Frinton originated from the East of England, his most famous comedy short has never been shown in full on British television. It received its first UK screening on 23 November 2018 at the Picture House in Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, as part of a comedy film festival. The skit was broadcast to a British audience for the first time on 31 December 2018 on the Sky Arts channel.
Personal life
Although he was an actor whose roles often comprised playing an inebriate, Frinton was teetotalin real life, having seen in others the damage that alcohol could do. Frinton was married twice and had five children. His first marriage was to Maisie Basil in 1931; they had one son together. His second wife was Nora Gratton, whom he married in 1945. They had four children: two daughters and two sons.
