Harry Secombe; Comedian on Radio’s ‘Goon Show’

Sir Harry Secombe, a comedian whose gift for the ridiculous made him one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers, has died at the age of 79.

Secombe, whose fine tenor voice and tireless good works were almost as famous as his “Goon Show” radio antics, died Wednesday of cancer at a hospital in Guildford, England.

The native Welshman gained an international following with the 1968 release of the musical motion picture “Oliver!” in which he starred as Mr. Bumble.

Secombe was also a hit on stage in 1965 as the baldpated Mr. Pickwick in the musical comedy “Pickwick,” based on Charles Dickens’ posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club. The show and Secombe’s antics, which included turning a cartwheel, delighted audiences at the Los Angeles Music Center as well as on Broadway and in London’s West End and San Francisco.

The comedian reprised the period role in 1969 for Tennessee Ernie Ford’s television show “The Peapicker in Piccadilly.”

Secombe clearly established himself with “The Goon Show,” which BBC Radio first broadcast in 1949. The program, a showcase of the type of absurdist British humor later exported in “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” lasted 11 years and holds a hallowed place in the history of British comedy.

“The Goon Show” featured Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Michael Bentine (who left after a single year) and Secombe in skits so zany that they approached the surreal, such as a scheme to ascend Mt. Everest from the inside.

Secombe described the show for The Times in 1965 as “an aural cartoon,” and former Times entertainment writer Charles Champlin elaborated: “It lay somewhere among the Fred Allen show, ‘Hellzapoppin’ ’ and Bob and Ray.”

Gifted with what Champlin called a concert-quality voice, Secombe often sang in recital and recorded the album “The Spectacular Voice of Harry Secombe.”

Appropriately, he titled his autobiography “Arias and Raspberries.”

Secombe made his film debut in “Hocus Pocus” in 1948 and appeared in more than a dozen British comedies. As television developed, he had a series of shows, including “Secombe and Friends,” “The Harry Secombe Show” and “Secombe With Music.”

In later years he presented ITV television’s religious music show “Highway,” which often featured his singing.

Prince Charles, a big fan along with his father, Prince Philip, said he had spoken recently to Secombe in the hospital and was “deeply saddened” to hear of his death.

“He was one of the great life-enhancers of our age and gave pleasure and constant happy laughter to so many of us throughout his life, most particularly when he was part of the never-to-be-forgotten ‘Goon Show,’ ” the prince said.

Secombe was knighted in 1981 “for services to entertainment and charity,” and retired in 1999.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Myra; their four children, Andrew, Katy, Jennifer and David; and five grandchildren.