British comic actor Norman Wisdom, who played bumbling characters in slapstick films of the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 95, his agent said on Monday.
Wisdom usually played the underdog who eventually triumphs over adversity to win success and the girl.
Charlie Chaplin is said to have called him his favourite clown.
Wisdom later won acclaim for straight stage and television roles.
His films included Trouble in Store, which earned him a Bafta Award and, in 1966, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway musical Walking Happy.
In a bizarre twist to his career, he became an icon in communist Albania, where his movies were among the few western cultural products permitted. After the overthrow of communism, he visited the country and was warmly welcomed.
“It was like Beatlemania in Albania,” his agent, Johnny Mans, said. “Even the men would come up to him and kiss him.” – (Reuters)