Terry Thomas tells a joke about a budgie.

Terry Thomas is one of the most talented and funniest actors in British history. He didn't often do stand up jokes but here you can see in this rare clip just how good he was.
#icon #funny #actor #comedian #joke #filmstar #legends #terry-thomas

[@jackreacher5667]

Rotter, Cad, Bounder, but still a British treasure, one of the best, RIP Terry.

[@stewartbristow846]

Proper shower...absolute shower!

[@thewomble1509]

@@stewartbristow846 I say!

[@Johnny-sj9sj]

I remember you in the army! You were an absolute stinker then, and you're an absolute stinker now!

[@johnpirie4804]

And on set he was one of the Film Industry's true gentlemen

[@gordons8843]

Steady on old chap

[@jmccallion2394]

A real treasure and a complete bounder!! Sad how he died alone and forgotten!!!

[@thefurrybastard1964]

It sickens me that he died in abject poverty. He deserved so much more.

[@howardchambers9679]

Dementia got him. Sad

[@mfrost71w]

Not quite - he was discovered living in a London flat dying from Parkinsons by Carry On actor Jack Douglas. Douglas organised an all-star benefit gig which raised enough money to put Thomas in a private nursing home for the last few years of his life.

[@lorraineforster8164]

@@mfrost71wThank you for much more positive reply.

[@Nettsinthewoods]

He certainly hasn’t been forgotten! I understood that he had developed Alzheimer’s and I know from experience that in the earliest stages all money gets lost in different ways as it’s something that has to be managed, but can’t be by the sufferer. It’s wonderful that he was rescued.

[@MrSulzerboy]

A great actor and yes it was very sad about his later years and death but I'll never forget him.

[@trueaussie9230]

One of the best British comedians. The 'correction' "three days actually, it was a long weekend, I remember" is the sort of thing that really makes a professional stand out.

[@markmadonna4099]

That and, "lost his wife ... rather careless of him ..."

[@mrtunapie6653]

I know. It's unexpected and very British. That's why it works so well.

[@rosemaryclarke2348]

I loved him in Too Many Crooks, diving through the window for his Bunny no Mummy?😂🤣

[@stewartcohen-jones2949]

Love Terry Thomas. Worth a binge of his stuff on KZbin . Long May he live in our consciousness.

[@ThinPicks]

School For Scoundrels 👍

[@CricketEngland]

Terry ended up totally broke living off charity at the end of his later life and died from Parkinson’s 😢

[@caractacusbrittania7442]

Every one of his films is a real treasure, What a wonderful true English gent. Before he died in a nursing home, funds all gone, Elton John paid for his stay, Untill the day he passed away. Thankyou Elton.

[@davidharrison8404]

Wonderful story, I'd love to quote it, do you have a reference? Did some Googling around but couldn't find anything.

[@nathanchristopher6121]

Makes me think better of Elton.

[@amrajkhan9371]

@@davidharrison8404 It was actually a benefit concert organised by Jack Douglas and others which raised £75000 for Terry Thomas to move into a care home. Not sure Elton John had anything other than may be being part of the line up but so was Phil Collins, Michael Caine and Richard Briers. He died about a year after moving into the nursing home.

[@magnificentmuttley2084]

That is a lot of crap! Elton John did nothing of the kind. Terry-Thomas and his wife were living in abject poverty when they moved back to London from Spain, having had to sell everything to cover his medical bills. Hearing about his plight, Jack Douglas organised a benefit concert for him and was able to raise enough for Terry to spend his remaining days in a nursing home in Godalming. Elton John had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever.

[@robanderson473]

I say, ripping good laugh. Ahhh, Terry Thomas...one of many national treasures.

[@Gary-hj2lc]

I remember him being "cancelled" ,as its now called, by the BBC after a live interview in which he said he was off to Switzerland to stuff some of the good old British cream into the Swiss tarts. Hilarious comedian

[@charlesameyer1]

Ahead of his time

[@apopisso6302]

You can’t take cream through customs,that’s why he was cancelled.

[@Jan-qg1iy]

Sounds like something he'd say... 😂

[@Ridersonthestorm8899]

"That "Are you ready yet?" line in School For Scoundrels always makes me laugh, people like Terry and Leslie Phillips were total legends.

[@gharqad]

"Hard cheese!" Great film.

[@tonys9923]

Leslie Phillips was a very distant second to Terry Thomas.

[@steveash656]

I say!!

[@gulagospheremfg]

@@gharqad That’s the line I remember!

[@rosemaryclarke2348]

Always will be!❤❤

[@weejim48]

Brilliantly funny man. I always remember him in school for scoundrels with Alistair Sim & Ian Carmichael. Those of us at a certain age will remember the old Ealing comedies as well. Brilliant 👍👍

[@Mollineaux]

also 'I'm All Right Jack'. Great films...

[@yvonneburns2786]

Even as a kid the old movies were and are the best. Those geezers are immortals to me.

[@peterlorimer3552]

Hard cheese old boy. Lol

[@Simonize41]

“What an absolute shower!” Best quote ever.😂😂 RIP Terry.❤️

[@Rutlandeye]

I user this phrase often when castigating some company or an individual in authority who fails. They haven't got the the vaguest clue what I'm on about, so I repeat it. It never works but I enjoy myself as I'm thinking of Terry.

[@fredflinstone6601]

@@Rutlandeyewhat does it mean? I watched his movies as a kid. Fantastic

[@robertbolsover2397]

An absolutely natural comic genius.

[@robertbolsover2397]

Thanks for the shout out for the quip. Cheers Bob.

[@andrewtongue7084]

The redoubtable Terry Thomas - wonderful comedic actor !

[@billybabu]

Only Terry Thomas can pull that face 😂 brilliant actor.

[@RoyCousins]

Interesting to hear him breaking into his own accent

[@TheIamtheoneandonly1]

Agreed. I heard quite a strong North London accent just beneath the surface.

[@gedhuffadine1873]

I thought the same

[@tevya017]

Never realised about the accent thing old chap

[@paulmcgee1867]

Yes exactly 😂

[@owenorders5202]

I don't think that was his own accent. He was just doing a 'Sarf Lundun' accent for the purposes of the joke. He was an actor, you know. I mean, he was born in Finchley, which was always a quite well- to-do upper class Jewish area. With a double-barrelled name, 'Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens'.

[@philipbussey4658]

The tennis match against Ian Carmicheal in School for Scoundrals,"oh hard cheese" absolute classic

[@ishtarg8]

I remember a scene in Magnificent Men when Eric Sykes makes a stirrup of his hands to help Terry Thomas into his plane and Thomas says, in that inimitable, caddish toff manner, “I hope your hands are clean.” Still makes me laugh.

[@tryarunm]

Loved this man since childhood whether he was playing the comic or the cad. He might have died in penury had it not been for a group of actors who collected money to alleviate Terry's circumstances. Rest in peace, dear soul, and thank you for all the helpless happiness you gave us all.

[@Enfrance2003]

I saw Terry in the 50’s at the White City as the cabaret during an Amalgamated Engineering Union conference. He had a piano accompaniment but when he started singing he tapped the microphone and claimed the record he was impersonating had a crack in it. As a young boy it cracked me up, sorry. Later he signed autographs and was chatting for ages with the Union members. From then on I was a fan and very pleased to see him become so successful.

[@ploppysonofploppy6066]

You could argue he only had one character. But you can say that about a lot of actors. And he defined that character. Legend.

[@lordeden2732]

Rubbish he could adapt to any character. What your ignorently referring to is his highly distictive voice.

[@ploppysonofploppy6066]

@@lordeden2732 Can't see him as Othello or Captain Kirk.

[@ploppysonofploppy6066]

@@Leslie_Horwinkle "The Klingons? Oh I say"!

[@missworm]

@@ploppysonofploppy6066 Romulans … ? Shower, absolute shower.

[@nonsequitor]

​@@lordeden2732free tip: if you're going to talk down to someone, learn to spell the words you're going to use 🤦‍♂️

[@goonerlee]

What a legend. Loved him in Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

[@honeybeeisme]

“Hush, hush... and whoosh, whoosh.” LOL... LOVE that film... Terry was fantastic.

[@tinajones5641]

My favourite exasperated exclamation of his was "Ells bells and bloody ding dong!" That had me in stitches as a child and I use it myself on occasions.

[@rivermoon6190]

I was just thinking the other day that I haven’t heard the expression “Hells Bells” for decades. Takes me back to my youth and gentler times.

[@robertm7071]

The great Terry Thomas - a favourite of mine ever since I was a child. Alistair Sim, Irene Handl, Margaret Rutherford…….I was blessed to be able to grow up watching these wonderful, irreplaceable people. How I miss them.I would rather be back there than here now with the “absolute shower” (as Terry Thomas would call them) we have. Now where’s that School For Scoundrels video? I have decided to go back there for 90 minutes or so.

[@Tomgrayman]

One of the greats and certainly one of my favourite actor's.

[@Confused_Philosopher]

Great comedic actor. Loved the roles he played in movies. Especially It's a Mad Mad Mad World.

[@stephenfuller1395]

TT was my hero a national treasure, legend will never forget him.

[@krakatoa1200]

I loved Terry-Thomas especially the poem "The Ong of Pring" the Song of Spring written on a typewriter with the letter 'S' missing.

[@deldridg]

What a treasure this man was. Such a sad ending to his life too. My kids, 11 and 13 roll around with laughter with some of his humour, especially his hilarious snobbish put-downs - fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing and cheers from Sydney - Dave

[@jamesbishop4635]

An absolute legend.

[@susieroberts8175]

Only a true gentleman could play such a Boundah. We love you, Terry! ❤

[@fanatamon]

Terry Thomas always cracked me up.

[@robertmcgachen9081]

Brilliant true British humour love him such a cad lol😂

[@robhaskins]

Terry-Thomas was a wonderful character actor. Tragically, he had great difficulties in his later years, but we are better for his presence in the world.

[@roqsteady5290]

Didn’t he get Parkinson’s disease?

[@kools67]

@@roqsteady5290 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXyQmKWcqdOCprc&ab_channel=ThamesNews

[@kulturfreund6631]

Still remember watching him featuring in films broadcasted on German TV. Throughout the decades lots of great and lovely stuff from Britain there. 👍

[@jessicarowley9631]

Pure brilliance! What a marvellous delivery.

[@jongreen4373]

Yep , still find myself saying ' you're a shower , an absolute shower ' from time to time !😂😂

[@johncopeland3826]

What a shah ! A rotten shah ! That chap over there is a cad ...what ! Absolutely brilliant T-T . My two favourites from that era were Terry-Thomas and Sir Stanley Unwin . A proper ,good old fashioned regular riot!

[@davidbetts9332]

Deep joy, deep joy!

[@Benjiesbeenbetter.]

Ah, I concurlymost, but unfortunale must correctlode the wordage deployed in your comment. Stanley Unwin was, although undoubt and certain of this, greatly of the worthage to be a Sir, he was in actile factly referreded as Professor therethroughout. Oh yes.

[@ThePanicman66]

@@Benjiesbeenbetter.🤣🤣🤣👍

[@bahoonies]

​@Benjiesbeenbetter. Brilliant! Your remarkable command of Unwinese brings back great memories.

[@Benjiesbeenbetter.]

@bahoonies I once wrote an instruction sheet at work in that style. I wish I'd kept a copy.

[@lesgriffiths8523]

Sir Percy Ware-Armitage.........never to be forgotten by this Australian. " Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines"........unsurpassed. Les Griffiths

[@gyrogearloose1345]

R.I.P Terry Thomas. Part of my growing up in the '60's. More please - the Vintage Years, bring them all back . . .

[@angierucinski5694]

Ebsolute SHAAAARRR!! We still love you T-T ❤❤

[@danishskiwarehouse]

His cameo in “The Abominable Dr Phibes” is pure Terry-Thomas

[@pmafterdark]

Love Terry Thomas. Such a legend.

[@gooders4648]

What a comedy legend,we will never see the likes of these comedians again,sadly!!

[@davidhoward4715]

Yes, we will. (What a stupid comment.)

[@kingelvis1977d]

Always loved Terry Thomas in films when i was a kid , still do ." Absolute shower " 😂😂😂😂 .

[@stevep5408]

He was the epitomy of British humor. The great race, those daring young men in their flying machines, it's a mad........mad world,ECT. I cant tell if he was the model for Snidely Whiplash or vice versa?

[@cdub5033]

I always loved watching his films at Grandma’s house when I spent my Saturdays there.

[@janetbayford133]

😂 Ashamed to say I had forgotten Terry Thomas. Thanks for the reminder.

[@paulbradford8240]

The old ones are the best!

[@peterwilton9047]

It should be Terry-Thomas, with hyphen.

[@VintageComedyVault-mu2zp]

Yes you are quite right, well noted

[@rosemaryhanderson6122]

I love Terry Thomas.

[@skullcompco]

A true genius. Never bettered, God bless his soul.

[@johndavis7944]

I have always remembered Terry as the actor with the 'Gap'. He played some very memorable rolls in his career.

[@garyk1334]

" So it's fistycuffs you want is it " 😂 Terry in it's a mad mad mad world

[@augustseptember3503]

The archetype English upper class snob, played by Terry Thomas; who was not an upper class English snob...just a wonderfully talented actor!

[@Nettsinthewoods]

Loved his superb cameo role in The Green Man.

[@N1611n]

Absolute boundah! 😂😂😂

[@stordytime]

OMG the genius of the much loved and terribly missed Terry Thomas!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@MrMrh1958]

Hard cheese old chap!🤣 Loved TT. Brilliant!🇬🇧

[@MachineElf]

I remember Terry Thomas, a very English Englishman.

[@mrlume9475]

Terry your sorely missed, old boy. RIP.

[@micchaelfearn5163]

Brilliant, natural comic, ,,,,,😉

[@rosemaryclarke2348]

Actually he was in real life an absolute gentleman and very generous to his colleagues.❤

[@pauldavies2856]

The way he says fooood at the end cracked me up 😅

[@mandolinic]

Don't forget the hyphen!! It's Terry-Thomas. It's as important as the gap between his teeth.

[@joeoak8181]

Wtf?

[@billstevens8553]

The great comedian was my fourth cousin. Those of us living in Canada never got to meet him, but like many people around the world, we enjoyed his brilliant acting.

[@keith6400]

I thought he was going to say "Who moved the ladder"

[@PhilipReeder]

OMG! I laughed so hard !

[@saturdayplayer2492]

One of a kind. Great British character actor.

[@johnwatts8346]

Cleese said one time they were doing the parrot sketch live and when it got to the bit where he asks 'does the slug talk?', Palin ad-libbed 'well it mutters a bit', which corpsed Cleese,

[@hypsyzygy506]

A Terry-Thomas performance was a good advert for a film.

[@TomLymberopoulos-du5he]

A great Actor. RIP TERRY

[@ErstO1]

I’m told old to having laughing fits 😂 thanks for this

[@tatata1543]

He really was a bloody shower.

[@jazzander5314]

Not forgotten by a lot of us!

[@MACHOO179]

"He's the kind of chap who showers in his vest" 😂

[@pauliemoody8754]

Haha. I've heard this gag but didn't realise it was older than I new off. Loved this guy.

[@bapsmcginty4782]

“an absolute shower “

[@Otacatapetl]

You mean "an ebsolute shah".

[@bapsmcginty4782]

@@Otacatapetl 🤣Spot on. Actually spoke to him once. I was on a telephone help line in the late 80's and he called in. Either that or it was a very good impersonator.

[@Jan-qg1iy]

Terry Thomas... Thank you for the smiles... 🥲 🥲 🥲

[@cindysimpson6428]

Someone you know? Terry Thomas from IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD. Hilarious I thought.

[@astrafaan]

He's just awesome :)

[@33Donner77]

He may have died broke, but he had a helluva life while the money was there. RIP Terry.

[@chriswinwood6501]

That really made me laugh. Thanks! “It was a long weekend as I remember”

[@noelroberts8199]

R.I.P. Terry a true legend....

[@cannonball2207]

Absolute legend

[@nigel900]

World Class Entertainer… and sorely missed. R.I.P.

[@christophedevos3760]

Yes, one can sometimes overlook the most obvious, my dear boy. 😂

[@johnskibajr5691]

The jeep crash scene he had with Milton Berle in its A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was epic.

[@jerrybailey5797]

Terry Thomas , the best cad ever

[@George-er9te]

Major Hitchcock (Terry Thomas) ," What a shower !!" as Fred Kite & co (works committee ) leave his office . ' I'm Alright Jack '😁😁😁😁👍

[@tonys9923]

"What an absolute shaaaower" Still makes me laugh. He was SUPERB. Shame we don't have any characters like him anymore.

[@pauldobson2529]

Private's Progress and I'm All Right, Jack with Ian Carmichael starring. Carmichael had a couple of long roles as Bertie Wooster (with Dennis Price as Jeeves - so few episodes survive) and Lord Peter Wimsey (at least they're on DVD)

[@billsilver6429]

Ye, indeed. I Saw how he looked at the end. Just tragic.

[@Nooziterp1]

I never expected that punchline! Food. LOL!

[@pmajudge]

EPITOME OF BRITISH UPPER CLASS !!!! I FIRST SAW THE STAR TERRY THOMAS IN A MOVIE CALLED " TOM THUMB" 1950's WITH RUSS TAMBLYN & PETER SELLERS. AFTER THAT THERE WERE DOCTOR & CARRY ON FILMS !!!! HIS VERY STIFF UPPER - CLASS LIP !! POSH CUT GLASS ACCENT I ADORED !!! R.I.P. TERRY THOMAS. MISSED GREATLY ! FROM, U.K. (2023).

[@jasonwadsworth1160]

He made that film 'those magnificent men in their flying machines' the success it was along with others ofcourse!!

[@alexmc6568]

Magnificent Man in his flying machine…for sure.

[@tonys9923]

One of the Greatest Character Actors this country has EVER had and wonderful to watch. Sadly, forgotten by so many. Someone I could watch all day everyday. Wonderful comic timing and wish I could have seen much more of him. His Performance in "How To Murder your Wife" with Jack Lemmon, lifted the film to excellence. A true comedy GREAT!

[@VintageComedyVault-mu2zp]

He’s not forgotten by me, absolute genius of comedy and style.

[@hissingsidll750]

He was NEVER a character actor as he only played one character....Terry Thomas.....not that I had a problem with that.

[@train4905]

Rip a pure gentleman

[@philwhelan3854]

A graduate of the school for scoundrels 😂😂

[@guzzijack9714]

Ah, the great TT. Thank you for posting this.

[@nickcolby1391]

Loooooove mr Thomas , if he’s in a film , I’m in , he improves even dull films , one of our best ❤