Leslie Dawson (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson was born at Collyhurst, Manchester, on 2 February 1931, the only child of bricklayer Leslie Dawson (2 August 1905 - 10 April 1970) and Julia Nolan (14 January 1908 - 29 September 1957) who was of Irish descent. His first job was in the parcels department of the Manchester Co-op. He worked briefly as a journalist on the Bury Times. Career Early in life, Dawson wrote poetry and kept it secret. It was not expected that someone of his working class background would have literary ambitions. In a BBC Television documentary, he spoke of his love for canonical figures in English literature, in particular the 19th-century essayist Charles Lamb, whose florid style influenced Dawson's. He did, moreover, appear with The Nelson Players in Nelson, Lancashire as Mr. Justice Wainwright and Carter, chief clerk to Sir Wilfrid Robarts Q.C. in Agatha Christie's play Witness for the Prosecution in December 1956. Dawson claimed in his autobiography that he began entertaining as a pianist in a Parisian brothel. Making a living as a pianist evolved into comedy when he got laughs by playing wrong notes and complaining to the audience. He made his television debut on the talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1967 and worked as a comic on British television for the rest of his life. Television series in which he appeared included the panel game Jokers Wild (1969–73) hosted by Barry Cryer, Sez Les (1969–76) and Dawson's Weekly (1975), all for Yorkshire Television. After joining the BBC, his TV projects were The Dawson Watch (1979–80), written by Andy Hamilton and Terry Ravenscroft, The Les Dawson Show (1978–87), written by Terry Ravenscroft, and the quiz show Blankety Blank, which he presented from 1984 until its cancellation in 1990. Dawson starred in Listen to Les on BBC Radio 2 in the 1970s and 1980s. He made many appearances on BBC Television's variety show, The Good Old Days in the 1970s and 1980s. Dawson co-hosted Prince Edward's charity television special The Grand Knockout Tournament in 1987. When Richard Wilson turned down the part of Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot In The Grave, writer David Renwick considered Dawson for the role, but Wilson changed