He made the first mobile phone call in the UK on 1 January 1985, from St Katherine's Dock, near Tower Bridge in London, to Vodafone's headquarters in Newbury.
He was the straight man of the comic duo, his fictitious toupee and 'short, fat hairy legs' being the butt of countless Morecambe jibes.
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to entertainment.
With Eric Morecambe they received the Top Comedy Act award at the 1973 Sun Awards.
His only break in his long show business career was when he was in the Merchant Navy during the war.