Sir Norman Wisdom OBE ( 4 February 1915 â `` 4 October 2010 ) was a retired English comedian , singer , songwriter , actor and musician . Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom , OBE ( 4 February 1915 â `` 4 October 2010 ) was an English actor , comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin .