Eddie Large - a comic star who brought laughs to Blackpool

Comedian Eddie Large, who died earlier this week, was a familiar and much loved part of the Blackpool entertainment scene.
By Claire Lark
Published 4th Apr 2020, 17:00 BST
Back to 1979 when Fan Dabby Dozzy won the Blackpool Greyhound Little and Large Trophy with Jimmy Krankie and Syd Little and Eddie LargeBack to 1979 when Fan Dabby Dozzy won the Blackpool Greyhound Little and Large Trophy with Jimmy Krankie and Syd Little and Eddie Large
Back to 1979 when Fan Dabby Dozzy won the Blackpool Greyhound Little and Large Trophy with Jimmy Krankie and Syd Little and Eddie Large

Best known as one half of the hugely successful comedy duo Little and Large, Eddie, whose real surname was McGiness, graced the stages of the resort with his comedy partner Syd Little.

Before they became Little and Large they were just Syd and Eddie, a vocal-comedy act working the clubs round Manchester but in October, 1964, a Blackpool booking brought them to the variety stage. The resort’s Queen’s Theatre ran an autumn season of variety and Syd and Eddie appeared way down one of the weekly show bills. It was a humble start for an act that was destined to top the bill in summer seasons at the resort’s Opera House.

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Success was a long time coming and was helped by winning ITV’s Opportunity Knocks in 1971, leading to guest spots on TV and their first BBC-TV series in 1976. The following summer they starred at Blackpool’s North Pier in All Laughter Showtime, along with Frank Carson, Norman Collier and Jim Davidson.

Little and Large hand over a cheque for 1,100, to RNLI crew member David Warburton, at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.Little and Large hand over a cheque for 1,100, to RNLI crew member David Warburton, at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Little and Large hand over a cheque for 1,100, to RNLI crew member David Warburton, at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Syd Little said “There are numerous memories over the years but that very first summer in Blackpool of 1977. We were recording back to back and performing sell out shows. It was incredible. Then six weeks in, Eddie was struck down with peritonitis, Frank Carson was forced to take our place on the bill. I remember him saying he kept praying we wouldn’t be back. We would perform so many more times with him and Norman Collier over the years. Those were fantastic times, very happy indeed.”

“Something that always comes back through talking to people through the years is how loved we were and I didn’t get it - how people had grown up with us on the telly and watched us through their home every Saturday night.”

Related topics:Blackpool