Frankie Howerd Archive Box 33

Four folders of professional correspondence.
1. Folder marked ‘Overseas TV’ containing correspondence between Tessa Le Bars and interested parties, 1977-1991, relating to the possible overseas commercial exploitation of Frankie Howerd’s UK TV work, and possible appearances at overseas comedy festivals, including Just For Laughs in Montreal.
2. Folder marked ‘F. H. Records 1963-2005’ containing correspondence between Beryl Vertue, Tessa Le Bars, and interested parties, relating to Frankie Howard’s work on audio recordings between those dates. Includes:
- Letter from Hugh Mendl of Decca Records to Beryl Vertue, 16 December 1963, informing her that the initial pressing of the record ‘Frankie Howerd at The Establishment’ has now sold out;
- Correspondence between Alan Seifert of EMI Records and Beryl Vertue, 1967-1968, relating to the poor sales of their recording of Alice in Wonderland featuring Frankie Howerd, and agreeing changes to the original contract to allow the record to be re-released at a cheaper retail price;
- Carbons of correspondence between Pye Records and Beryl Vertue, 1970-1971, relating to the recording of the spoof record ‘Up Je T’Aime . . .’, written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and featuring Frankie Howerd and June Whitfield;
- Two copies of the Membership Agreement of the MCPS, with a cover letter dated 29 November 1978.
3. Folder marked ‘Frankie Howerd Radio 1971-1992’ containing correspondence between Beryl Vertue, Tessa Le Bars, and interested parties, relating to Frankie Howard’s radio work between those dates. Includes:
- Undated (early 1970s) typed page of notes relayed by Betty Howard (Frankie’s ever-present sister) following the recording of a radio chat show hosted by Howerd, at which she was present. In the notes she worries that the audience will expect Howard to be funny, and that the BBC should brief its audience well ahead of broadcast that they shouldn’t expect the usual comedy, or they might think that Howerd had ‘failed’:
- An exchange of letters between David Hatch, BBC Head of Light Entertainment, Radio, and Howerd, May 1978, discussing a possible ‘music hall’ format radio show anchored by FH. (The show, produced by Griff Rhys Jones, was made and transmitted in 1980);
- Carbon of letter from Frankie Howerd to Jimmy Mulville, 12 November 1980, apologising for being unavailable for the show ‘Loose Ends’ on Radio 4;
- Correspondence between Tessa Le Bars and the Churchill Educational Trust for the Deaf, 1982, relating to Howerd’s work on behalf of the organisation.
4. Folder containing correspondence between Tessa Le Bars and interested parties, relating to Frankie Howard’s written work between 1976 and 1992. Includes:
- A collection of correspondence from W.H. Allen, publishers of Howerd’s autobiography ‘On The Way I Lost It’ (1976), and Tessa Le Bars, relating to the book’s publication, newspaper serialisation and sales;
- Three page typed list of celebrity invitees to the launch of the above book, held at the Savoy on 12 October 1976;
- Letter from Robert Morley, 25 October 1979, asking for a faux pas anecdote for his forthcoming book ‘Robert Morley’s Second Book of Bricks’;
- Correspondence between Gyles Brandreth, then of Victorama Ltd., and Tessa Le Bars, 1980-1981, floating the idea of Howard writing a book for them, eventually resulting in ‘Trumps’ (Dent, 1982) via the working title Bizaster!. With a small quantity of attendant correspondence relating to publicity for the book;
- Three page letter from the cartoonist Anthony Grant to Frankie Howerd, 17 September 1981, asking for Howerd’s participation in a fund-raising book of caricatures;
- Correspondence between Octopus Books and Tessa Le Bars, 1985, relating to the publication of ‘Howard’s Howlers’ (Octopus for St. Michael, 1985);
- Letter from Carmen Callil, then of Chatto & Windus, to Frankie Howerd, 3 August 1987, inviting Howerd to write his memoirs, with a carbon of Howerd’s polite refusal. With a quantity of similar approaches from a variety of publishers, resulting in the same response;
- Approach from a freelance researcher of the Carry On films requesting anecdotes from the set, resulting in a refusal from Howerd.

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