Ian Handford: From boxing roots to comedy stardom

Bernie was the youngest child of three of Romanian Rachel and Russian Samuel Weinstein. 

Being of Russian descent,  Bernie would later describe his mother as “tiny" and his father also small at just five foot seven. His birth must have been a surprise when Bernie weighed in at a staggering 14  pounds on September 6, 1932, at the Salvation Army Maternity Home.

His sister Sylvia was six and with a brother two years older, Michael (later Mike Winters), all were Jewish. Now, like their ancestors, they would grow up constantly subject to racial abuse and later, as an adult, Bernie would inform the world his father had been forced to stand up to even the largest of bullies, which ensured he eventually became an amateur boxer. 

The Jewish community was generally sidelined by employers due to their race, which meant that local pawnbroker owners became their main saviour for some to survive. 

Interestingly, before the 20th century, males of the Weinstein ancestry took up boxing, so little had changed. The brothers, knowing this, now recognised that being an entertainer was a far better option as a career than being in a boxing ring. Mike soon found he was good at impressions and indeed, Bernie seemingly also inherited this skill, although he much preferred laughter than cheering, wishing to be a comedian. Bernie discovered that fact after going to his first theatre — the Finsbury Park Empire — where he heard the comedian getting laughter from the audience. He would later start to emulate the great Sid Field to achieve laughter from his public performance.

Bernie entered all talent competitions for many years and, on most occasions,  won. The first had been at Canvey Island when, aged just seven and having won the competition, he earned a shilling (5p) by portraying Lionel Barrymore and Claud Dampier. Both brothers were forever honing their solo skills in the family garden at Tottenham until  the Second World War dawned and like thousands of children in the capital, they were  evacuated to Wiltshire away from the Blitz. 

Eventually they came home and with Mike being three years older than Bernie, he tried unsuccessfully  to get into Oxford University and then joined the Royal Academy of Music to learn how to play the clarinet. Meanwhile, Bernie joined the merchant navy until eventually, in 1952, he came home and took up employment as a dress salesman, a cler, and then finally tried his hand at journalism.

Both young men were regularly performing their acts in embryo, which led to them entertaining solo anywhere and everywhere and to anybody, whether on a street corner, in a corridor, or even (believe it or not) using the Charing Cross toilets. Samuel, their father, was now constantly appealing to them to go into partnership, having realised his boy's great potential as entertainers. He even witnessed their knockabout routines in order to achieve laughs at the school concerts and in local venues. 

It would be Bernie that achieved the first real break into the world of entertainment when performing as Bernie Winters at the Regents Club Soho, playing the ukulele and telling “corny” jokes. 

This saw his first earnings of ten bob (50p) every night he appeared, although it was not the money he enjoyed but just being able to perform to a live audience.

Meanwhile, Mike chose to appear at official charity shows, generally held at the Victoria Palace Theatre London, where he was spotted by the impresario Jack Hylton. Both men would now regularly entertain on stage, although Bernie continued to compete in any talent contest and still generally won. 

But now enter the famous pianist Sammy Kearns, who would give them both an opportunity to work on his new show, destined to appear before the Canadian Army. Placed in front of all male soldiers, their act became an immediate hit.

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK