Morecambe tops list of all-time greats

Eric Morecambe has been crowned king of comedy in a new poll of comedians, critics and industry experts.

The funnyman topped the Sunday Express top 100 list to find the best comedian of all-time, beating Peter Cook into second place. But his double-act partner Ernie Wise only came in at number 22.

The paper's S2 magazine asked almost 60 comedy experts to list their top ten all-time favourites to compile the list - which it is now putting to a readers' vote, too.

The list was dominated by men - Dawn French was the highest-ranked woman at No 18 - and notable omissions include Kenneth Williams, Ben Elton and Lenny Henry.

The top 20 were:

1. Eric Morecambe
2. Peter Cook
3. Billy Connolly
4. Woody Allen
5. Tommy Cooper
6. John Cleese
7. Spike Milligan
8. Groucho Marx
9. Stan Laurel
10. Tony Hancock
11. Oliver Hardy
12. Ricky Gervais
13. Richard Pryor
14. Bill Hicks
15. Peter Sellers
16. Les Dawson
17. Steve Martin
18. Dawn Fench
19. Jennifer Saunders
20. Barry Humphries.
    

Published: 21 Dec 2003