How Mike and Bernie Winters Died, the Truth Is Just Sad
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Did you know that Mike and Bernie Winters, the iconic British comedy duo, once performed without making eye contact on stage? Did you know that a disagreement over switching agents sparked a decline in their relationship that eventually led to a public and painful breakup?
▬Contents of this video▬
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Humble Beginnings
01:01 - A Glimpse of Stardom
01:55 - A Golden Era
03:19 - Brothers Torn Apart
04:29 - The Final Straw
05:16 - Life After the Double Act
06:22 - A Sad Farewell
07:50 - Outro
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In this facts-packed video, we explore the captivating story of Mike and Bernie Winters, brothers who became household names in the United Kingdom from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. We start by unraveling their early days, where two young boys fueled by ambition and humor set out to conquer the world of entertainment. Their impeccable comic timing and memorable sketches marked the beginning of a golden era of British television.
As we journey through their rise to fame, we delve into their career peaks and how they carved a unique space for themselves in the world of comedy. The video covers their glittering glory days, filled with laughter and applause, as they became emblematic figures in British showbiz.
But every story has its shadows, and the Winters' tale is no different. The video unfolds the gradual decline in their relationship that started in the Seventies and escalated into a profound personal and professional rift. From disagreements over agents to refusing to speak backstage, their bond eroded, reflecting in their dwindling popularity and modest venues.
The heartbreaking final act of their partnership comes alive in the video, portraying the night in 1978 when they took their final bows. The mystery surrounding their breakup is explored through different theories, painting a picture of two brothers torn apart by differing values and personal conflicts.
Their individual lives after the split are also examined. While Mike ventured into writing and business in Miami, Bernie stayed in England, attempting to redefine his comedic persona. The bitterness between them lingered, becoming a subject of tabloid intrigue, and their attempts at reconciliation remained fleeting.
The video culminates with the somber reality of their final moments. Bernie's death in 1991 marked the end of an era, and Mike's passing in 2013 sealed the legacy of a unique and irreplaceable comedy act.
Their story is a complex narrative of laughter, triumph, bitterness, and tragedy. It serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities of human relationships, the fragility of fame, and the enduring power of comedy. This video is more than a retrospective; it's a tribute to two brothers who transcended the boundaries of entertainment, leaving behind a bittersweet melody that echoes through the annals of showbiz history.
How Mike and Bernie Winters Died, the Truth Is Just Sad - Zábava
When Morecambe and Wise were asked what they would have been if they weren't in comedy, they answered Mike and Bernie Winters.
I think it might have been a joke.
@@DeadlyKiss000are you on the spectrum? I hope you never have to hear what they used to say about Des O Connor.
They was shit they was as funny as getting the flu
🤣@@paulannable3734
They were genuine friends with des o'connor
The only saving grace of this video is you don't get to hear them. I remember being embarrassed for them and I was only 10.
True that 😅
👍🏴
Unfortunately I got to hear the American narrator, for a few seconds anyway.
They were shit but t.v allows that.
When people say telly was better in the old days Mike and Bernie Winters prove memories false. I was just young enough to remember them on TV and even at a young age I recall how dreadful they were, especially Bernie's ghastly mugging. They were the 60's and 70's version of Little and Large 😵
Oh, how true!
How the hell did these ever make a career of their "so - called " comedy act God Only Knows!! I don't know much about Mike Winters as growing up in the 70's I had the misfortune of being subjected to that God Awful Bernie Winters and he was as funny as a head on collision! Listening to that American guy talking about Comedy & Legacy.....I had to stop myself from throwing up, he obviously never watched these pathetic excuses for comedians, especially Bernie, I still remember when he couldn't get a laugh (a regular theme in his act) he'd stick those big teeth out, Cringe & Boredom was all I ever felt, even the dog had more personality than that fat prick.....and in case you're wandering, NO I ain't a fan!!
They solved the mystery of the Marie Celeste…. Little and Large did the cabaret….
@@marksanders3659As a child in the 70s I was trapped in a theatre in Scarborough with Little And Large for an evening. With counselling, I'm mostly recovered.
I remember Mike & Bernie Winters. The lobotomy didn't help erase the memories.
I still wake up at night screaming
Famous comment from the Glasgow Empire --oh no there’s two of them 😮
When the Mike and bernie Winters show was on, we used to look forward to the adverts!
Lol.
I grew up 8n the fifties and sixties, whenever they appeared on television I thought, Oh no, not those two again.
Isnt the story that one of them was dying on stage (as usual) and the other one came on stage from the wings and someone shouted "Ah christ there's two of them"
True. It happened at the Glasgow Empire theatre & i knew someone who was in the audience of less than a dozen folk.
In Scotland I read, fucking 2 of them also
The American narrator should be forced to watch a loop of their entire output. Then this vid would be re-named 'Why Did Mike and Bernie Winters Live?'
I feel lucky to have survived the worst two winters in my lifetime.
@@DeadlyKiss000 Were they Mike & Bernie's code names?
@@DeadlyKiss000 I had to suffer them on TV at the time because my parents liked the shows they were on. They were completely crap, they must have had some great negatives of the top TV commissioning editors.
@@alankenny8650A lot of late variety was hellishly awful as the audiences who liked this tired remnant of vaudeville dwindled.
My parents thought they were crap and even as kid i knew they were right.
They were dreadful!
They were absolute shite.
Yes I agree with other I am 64 but remember being 8 and thinking they were a double dose of crap
I couldn't get why they were on, but my dad loved them to bits
I was never partial to Mike and Bernie Winters. it was always Morecambe and Wise.
They died on-screen, it's that simple.
😂😂😂😂😂
Even when I was a kid I thought Mike and Bernie were about as funny as rabies in a guide dog's training centre.
Yip even at 9 yo cringy as Jerry Lewis.
it takes some going to be even worse than little and large.
I never understood how they got on TV there was nothing funny going on - ever.
The Nish Kumars of the 70's
A case of who you know and not what you know I suspect
@@brianchandler1365And who got the back handlers! 🤣
wasn't there a rumour that they were related to Lew Grade of ATV fame?
It's obviously who you know in this World.
I don't think I've heard a more literate,insightful and acute assessment of any act or celebrity ...well done to whoever you are
I remember this duo as a kid. Even back then, I found them as funny as a dental abscess.
They were never that popular or funny. The only time I remember them was on celebrity squares. They were nowhere near Morecambe and Wise light years away.
Mike and Bernie were just 2 humble blokes.. and they had lots to be humble about
They took the Micky out of each other , no one was hurt , not like today ,were cruelty not humour is the order of the day,RIP both.
Totally agree. It's nice to see a positive comment among the many negative ones.
Just read the comments, now they are funny, my faith in the British people has been restored. Ps scnorbits (?) said Bernie winters was the worst act he ever worked with before he retired to Barking.
Was going to make a comment on their complete and utter lack of talent, only to see that I had been beaten to it, multiple times hahaha.
You've saved me the trouble as well. The 'Golden Age' of telly took place almost exclusively on the BBC, who had an almost complete monopoly of the available talent. The Winters were no worse than much of the ITV output - sadly, they were no better either...
@@philippankhurst6680 Wasn't Benny Hill on ITV though?
There was a joke doing the rounds, years ago.....'Which were the two worst winters of the past 50 years?' Ans....Mike and Bernie....they were about as funny as toothache.
They managed to get the four members of the beatles to cold open their show .... more so than what Saturday Night Live has ever achieved.
Well, they did get George to show up
" Oh Christ, there's two of them."
How many double acts fell out with each other, the fact that they were brothers is a real shame
Cannon and Ball fell out but decided to come together again to try and be comedians!
@@pitbull2005...It's a pity they didn't stay fallen out.
they were crap
They were about as funny as a burning orphange!
Not so much if they were inside
I did a 'comedy double-act' in the 70's and 80's but in the lower echelons of showbiz. We did a summer season in Weymouth and Mike and Bernie did a few Sunday concerts during that time. I went to see their live performance and thought it was very funny and totally engaging with the audience. To coin a showbiz phrase - they did a storm. When you become a double act you have to feel that you are doing something much better than on your own. This was very much the case with the Winters Bros and became apparent when they each went on their own. I suspect that most of the comments below may be from a TV audience who never actually saw them live. There were many variety acts who excelled in Theatre, Cabaret venues and clubs that never made the TV scene and for some it was 'the kiss of death' to coin another showbiz phrase. There are some positive comments here but it would seem that most have jumped on the band-wagon.
Is that you sid?
Not everyone liked their comedy but lots also did
@@muttman325 not little and large 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Yes great point ..back then acts came through the hard way with loads of top rated competitors...who in 2023 do we have ???... oh sorry forgot the great Eddie Izzard but that's just one great 😊
I last saw the big {Bernie] fella at a Spurs game with Snorbitz on a cold Wednesday night at half time and they came out on the pitch and I was in the Spurs end, all the Spurs fans went nuts saying Bernie was a Gooner not a Jew it was the high light of the 1-1 draw...
Schnorbitz.
@@paulweir5031 You from Bavaria...
Wow I was at that game
@@michaelking9818 Home to Luton, I'm not a Spurs fan but I wanted to see Ossie and Ricky play in the flesh...
Saw Bernie winters live on stage with his dog. what that poor dog had to go through every night on stage next to someone who had little or no talent as a comedian.
The real star was the dog Schnorbitz
Strangely enough their birth-place in London is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled, Is-lington (no silent S)
Unless you are Tony Blair(!) and then it’s Uzlington
I remember my grandfather saying how rubbish these two were and asking why he watched them he replied it's on a par with your grandma 😂😂
Heehee yX-D 😂🏆🥇!
Don't insult elderly women!
Ha ha ha 🤣🤣🤣
I saw Bernie in a yellow Cornish at the top of my road at Woodside park Sussex Ring back in 89 he done that grin and eeeee, he looked happy in the sunshine with the roof pulled down
I think you mean Corniche.
@@pops2728 EEEEE
Great, sounds like he was doing well if he could afford one of those.
You cannot have the word comedy associated with these two. Out of 10 for comedy, they would be the only duo to get a minus score. They were awful
They were not funny. At all. I'm 72 and i saw them on TV. Awful. TV had too much air tome to fill...... that's all. Not funny.
That's what I like ........A nice Happy Story
I wasn't much of a fan but I liked Snorbitz the dog.
It had talent.
More talent in his paw than these two.
Yeah, that dog was lovely.
Very sad . I remember watching them as a yong boy . Very funny..
they were friends of lew grade
known to friends and enemies alike as low grade
John Lennon described the as a couple of daft poofs
Before fame hit they ran a market stall on Norwich market. They also recorded a great song called Does My Baby. This is still popular on the rock n roll dance floors oftoday
yes they did...i often wonder why they were in norwich?
I remember them as simple clean comedians who worked well together RIP
Mike and Bernie Winter were dire. Totally unfunny. To call them the poor man’s Morecambe & Wise would be to do Eric & Ernie a gross disservice. I’ve never heard a single comedy act cite them as an influence
They were. Hopeless
Saw them in Blackpool when I was a kid backing them up was the Dave Clarke five.
They were utter rubbish and we younger people didn't even notice them.
Don't remember them as a double act, as it was a bit before my time, but I really liked Bernie Winters. Found this video very interesting and it's a shame to discover how their relationship turned sour.
That was interesting to hear more about why they split up. As the funny man, rather than the straight man, is the more important half of a comedy duo, I thought it was Bernie who must have dumped Mike. I didn't realise it was Mike who was more responsible for the separation.
Bernie was 60 not 58. I saw him at a cash machine in Torquay in 1988, I was star struck 😜
Never got them l'm afraid.
My own feelings seem to be echoed by others here. They were familiar figures and likeable characters, ‘but’ I’m afraid I didn’t find them particularly funny, especially as a teenager from 1966, then seemed very uncool.
Taking some heavy criticism on here. They weren't as bad as some people are making out. One particular sketch with the Beatles was hilarious
Loved them!
Glad to know that you're a fan! Be safe and have a great day 💕
Thanks for watching! We're glad to know that you love our video. If we may ask, what other types of video would you like to see on Facts Verse UK?
Do they allow internet usage in Rampton?
Worst 2 winters Britain suffered were not 1942 & 1963, it was Mike & Bernie.
Mike and Bernie Winters were a funny comedy act that had wide appeal but they were never as big as Morecombe and Wise.
Well said, we strongly concur! Thank you for watching our content and for sharing your thoughts. What other types of video would you like to see?
"The essence of British comedy"! LOL
I wasn't a fan but wasn't really a critic either. Just by chance I mentioned to my girlfriend 'I wonder what Mike Winters is doing now?' in 2013. Unfortunately he died just a couple of days later.
Following Patrick Moore's death after I said 'He doesn't look long for this world' I feel I owe a duty to the world by asking 'I wonder how long Rupert Murdoch's got to live?'.
Don't suppose you can give a shout out to George Sorros, Gary Lineker and the entire, Green, Liberal, Labour party too?
@@leehighland5435 Don't forget that cnut Vine.
Most critics regarded them as the poor man's Morecambe and Wise. I hate being mean as they are no longer with us but I agree with that opinion.
I think this needs to be 'Fact checked'?
I think it needs to be taken down before I throw up again … 👨
@@LANCSKID I think some sort of government inquiry should be initiated.
@@nickglenister3832 Yes, real comedians investigating goons … the irony is not lost on me.
As funny as cholera!
That's not funny, but on second thoughts I suppose it's apt.
OH DEAR, BUT I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING. 😂😂😅🤪
I’d never heard of them.
I'm in a minority (as usual ! ) - I liked them ! I saw them live in Bournemouth Winter Gardens many years ago - before a packed house - they brought the house down !
Got subsequently renamed The Winters Gardens - or did for that night!
Like Jericho .....
What happened to Schnorbitz?
I only remember Bernie because of that cute dog who was his best friend.
1948 was a bad winter..these two were far worse!!
Flicking quickly through the comments you'd expect to find a fan or two. Apparently not (I may have flicked past a couple?)
I dimly recall them being good television hosts, but I think it's telling that the video doesn't show a single exchange of banter, a sketch or ... or anything.
I thought they were shite.
No they were never that good,
Bless you, padre.
'Islington' is pronounced, Izz-ling-ton, NOT eye-ling-ton.
They were better than anyting on tv today.
Well said, we strongly concur! Thank you for watching our content and for sharing your thoughts. What other types of video would you like to see?
@@FactsVerseUK Cannonball would be good that good old trucking show I can still sing the theme tune.
@@FactsVerseUK jim Davidson, the krankies , hale and pace , little and large , donny Osmond, the bay city rollers , the magic roundabout ,
The Ant & Dec of their time 😂
I saw Bernis in the play "The Odd Couple" with Pete Murry, much better than I thought it have been. Never broke character.
Some of these comments are funnier than their show was.
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they played the graveyard of comics ,saturday night at the glasgow empire! des o connor recalled the audiences were so feared that he once feigned a heart attack to get off! the mc said the is there a doctor in the house the artiste is dying! the crowd applauded and shouted more! anyway the winters did their act .mike came on did a bit of patter to complete silence! then comic bernie stuck his head through the curtain and announced himself in funny bowler hat wit ....wheeeeee! nobody reacted ! then a lone voice shouted ..fuck me ..theres two of them! michael grade who booked them said problem was thats the best audience they had all tour! they were ghastly! he went on most of their success was due to a sudden love of double acts on stage and tv and a great agent joe collins! joe was cunning .if you wanted another of his stars you had to book the boys.so if you wanted frankie vaughn or dickey valentine you had to book the winters brothers! on tv it was even simpler they needed prime time shows.so if jewell and warris or morecambe and wise were busy the boys were third choice! the producers said how bad can they be? mike and bernie showed them! remember this was two channel tv. people would watch anything .as long as it had the vestiges of a variety show anything could get 10million viewers on saturday night people stayed tuned and put up with them to see the guest stars the beatles alma cogan or shirley bassey! when audiences got more sophisticated in the 70s they couldnt get work and broke up.they had a good run though without any appreciable talent!
Like millions of others, I never understood how they got on to Jewish TV. Oh wait, I get it now.
God knows where this American got his script from. The praise lavished on these two feeble comedians is outrageous.
Honestly.... They were as funny as earache!
good comments below .I was never a fan
If you're going to steal Graham McCann's entire research from a website at least credit or acknowledge you're doing so.
And ask permission to do it.
Never liked them that much. I think they got funnier the more drinks you had. Always preferred Morecambe and Wise. I remember another British comedy duo called Jewel and Warriss.
They sound like a British version of the Righteous Brothers….
The Righteous Brothers were supremely talented singers. The Winter Brothers were a waste of space.
I must’ve missed the comedy as I found them as funny as a dose of the shits 😢
Up there with little and large and cannon and ball as I remember
I think they were our Jerry and Dean martin
Sad that they didn't talk to each other in later life .. like others have said, they were not that funny in my opinion .. M&W were the top double act, with the 2R and easy 2nd
Is ling ton. Not Isle lington
Bernie Winters gave me half a crown tip when I waited on him in a nightclub in the mid sixties.
What a lovely story, thanks for sharing it.
The funniest thing that happened to these two chancers was when they died, not just on stage every night. Who is this narrator?
Their impact on british comedy IS deniable.
Incidentally look up carol Deker of T'pow (china in your hands). She had a very weird anecdote about Bernie winters when the band were staying in the same hotel as he just after snorbitz had died. Very creepy.
Try learning grammar and spelling.
I remember that Yorkshire band , although everybody else knew them as The Pau .
Batman is fighting The Joker. The Joker picks up a tea cup and hits him with it.
"T'PAU" shouts The Joker.
"Wait," says Batman, "Shouldn't that be KAPOW ?"
"No," says The Joker, "I've got china in my hand."
@@paulweir5031 this is youtube. Tapped out on a phone not hansard.
@@paulweir5031...Try keeping your thoughts to yourself.
britains worst two winters
A vision from Hell.....Mike and Bernie Winters ....AND Lionel Blair !
Joe Collins, Joan & Jackie's dad?
Yes, that's the one.
Bernie Winters, what a genuine legend.
Bellend more like
Uproarious performances, igniting laughter. They were shite and it must have been a favour to their mother Mrs Wittgenstein not Weinstein, by one of the Grades to put them on television.
I saw Mike in Manchester on Market Street in 1971, and he looked very well, great tan, lovely skin and beautiful clothes.
Sad how they died but isn’t it always for anybody.
"AISLINGTON?!!!" Methinks the narrator is A.I....
Ok ok they weren’t funny but people making jokes about them dying isn’t really necessary is it ?
Very sad
When I first saw them on TV as a child, I thought they were infantile.