[Deathwatch] Barry Took, British Comedian, 73

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

British Comedian Barry Took Dies 
Sun Mar 31,12:30 PM ET 

LONDON (AP) - Barry Took, one of Britain's most famous comedians and
comic writers who helped produce such shows as "Monty Python's Flying
Circus," died Sunday at the age of 73, his family announced.
  
Took, once described as one of the funniest men in Britain, died at a
north London nursing home after a battle with cancer, his family said.

Took had an unusually long career as a standup comic, radio
scriptwriter writer, television executive and film critic.

He was responsible for celebrated radio series like "Round the Horne,"
"The Army Game," "Educating Archie" and "Bootsie and Snudge." The shows
were a vital part of British life in the austere decades after World
War II, when food rationing lasted for years and the country struggled
to adjust to its diminished role in the world.

Took also worked on the U.S. television show, "Laugh In."

A native of London, Took was dogged by self-doubt, depression, domestic
problems and ill-health. His two marriages ended in divorce.

Leaving school at the age of 15, he worked as any office boy and a
cinema projectionist before serving in the air force, where he was
involved in entertainment programs.

Took later worked as a stage hand and comic. In his autobiography, "A
Point of View," he recalled that he once did 12 shows in the city of
Wolverhampton without raising a single laugh.

In 1957 he began working with fellow comic Marty Feldman, and they went
on to create and write some of the most successful radio shows of the
1960s. The pair turned out scripts at a rapid pace, often compiling
four or five shows a week.

Although his working life revolved around comedy, Took once said: "I
don't like comedians very much because I don't like neurotic people. I
think they should go and get cured. I'm mad too but I'm as cured as I
can get."

Dubbed Baron von Took by a television executive, he was involved in
plans for a show called "Baron von Took's Flying Circus" which
eventually became "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

In later life, Took wrote film reviews for Punch magazine and did panel
shows on radio.

Took is survived by two daughters and two sons.