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Born in Edinburgh in 1930, the baker's son decided early on
that he wanted to be an actor, and moved to London to begin a
career on stage and small screen in the early 1950s.
At just over 5 feet 1 inch tall, Corbett initially played
characters younger than his real age, and he joked about his
size throughout his career with self-deprecating humor.
During the 1960s he appeared in cabarets at Winston's, Danny La
Rue's nightclub in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, and
it was there that he was spotted by TV host David Frost who
asked him to appear in The Frost Report.
The satirical sketch show was Corbett's big breakthrough,
introducing him to Ronnie Barker, with whom he formed the
legendary comedy double act The Two Ronnies which firmly
established Corbett as a household name.
Broadcast on the BBC from 1971 to 1987, it drew audiences of up
to 17 million viewers at its peak.
The comedians performed sketches and musical numbers, and
Corbett would present a lengthy monologue in the middle of each
show in which he took several minutes to tell a simple joke.
After The Two Ronnies ended, Corbett returned to the TV screens
in "Sorry!", a sitcom in which he played a downtrodden librarian
in his 40s who lived at home with a domineering mother.
In 2005 Corbett briefly reunited on screen with Barker for a
series called The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, comprising comedy
sketches from their old series with original linking material.
Barker died later that year at the age of 76.
Both Ronnies were awarded the OBE in 1978, and Corbett was
awarded the CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List at the
start of 2012 to reward his services to entertainment and
charity.
"RIP the lovely, funny legend Ronnie Corbett," comedian Ricky
Gervais wrote on Twitter. "It was an absolute honor and joy to
have known him."
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Michael Holden; editing by
Stephen Addison)
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