17 April 2009

Farewell Sir Clement Freud


Perhaps the most exposure anyone in NZ has had to Sir Clement Freud was with the BBC radio gameshow “Just a Minute” which National Radio frequently carried. Freud has appeared on every episode of the gameshow since 1967, which continues to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Freud was born in Berlin in 1924, and of course as with his grandfather (Sigmund Freud), his family fled the Nazi regime in 1934. He was a Liberal MP from 1973 to 1987. However, it is his intelligent wit and warm sense of humour that I remember him for.

It would be a waste for me to duplicate the obituaries published by the BBC (including video), Daily Telegraph (also including video), and the list of Freud quotes published here.

My favourites are:

"I think our police are excellent, probably because I have not done anything that has occasioned being beaten up by these good men."

"If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer".

However, my favourite is this Guardian tribute. If you haven't heard Clement before, try that selection.

Farewell to a man who loved life and entertained millions over the years.

He could stand tall in an age when so many know and celebrate those who offer nothing but inane bland mediocrity. Sadly I already know the death of a certain young woman will be more remembered and talked about than the passing of this great man. Tributes published here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved Clement and programmes like just a minute, never a slip etc. SHows the intellectual benefits of a big gene pool.

In comparison I listened to Radar and some other supposed wit on nat rad today. It was dire.

Wish they would reinstate those programmes on the radio. Do a damn sight more for our society than all the crap we have to put up with in the name of some extremist's view of what is our cultural identity

sigh

insider

homepaddock said...

I loved Just A Minute too, and was in awe of the wit Freud and the other panelists displayed.

Like Anonymous I also regret the absence of such intelligent, articulate humour on radio now.

Libertyscott said...

Yes, fabulous show - timeless - all the old recordings could be heard again and wouldn't be tiring (there are so many).

John Mortimer and now Clement Freud, two great Englishmen passed away - truly a sad loss for the world, particularly when so much money is paid to brainless vulgarians whose wit is at the level of an adolescent, and intelligence of a preteen.