Who is Graeme Garden?

Who is Graeme Garden?

David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a British comedian, author, actor, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he grew up in Preston, England. Garden was educated at Repton School, and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he joined the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the 1964 Footlights revue, Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.



Garden qualified in medicine at King's College London, but has never practised.[1] Asked how he justified making jokes rather than saving lives, he answered:



I don't think I would have done it as well. It's an interesting question – whether you've contributed more to the vast store of human enjoyment by doing comedy or by being a doctor, but the answer for me is that I don't think I would have been as successful or as happy being a doctor.

Garden was co-writer and performer in the classic BBC radio comedy sketch show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, in the late 1960s. Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, and this commitment made it difficult for him to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in Plymouth. However, he continued sending scripts for the radio show by mail – and rejoined the cast upon his return to his medical studies in London.[2] On several occasions his medical qualifications are lampooned; in the 25th Anniversary Show, David Hatch asks him if he is still a writer. Garden: "Here's something I wrote this morning". Hatch: "It's a prescription". "Yes," says Garden, "but it's a funny one..."

Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes, with Barry Cryer, You'll Have Had Your Tea, a direct spin-off of ISIHAC, and has contributed to several books from the series including guides to the game Mornington Crescent.

Garden's best known television work is freeform sitcom The Goodies, which he wrote and performed along with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie from 1970 to 1982. The three appeared in the Amnesty International show A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick) (during which they sang their hit song "Funky Gibbon"). Garden and Bill Oddie co-wrote many episodes of the television sitcom Doctor in the House, including most of the first series episodes, and all of the second series episodes - as well as co-writing episodes of the subsequent Doctor at Large and Doctor in Charge series. Garden was co-writer and performer in the sketch show Twice a Fortnight with Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn, and also sketch show Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor, with Bill Oddie joining the cast for the second series.

Garden was the voice of the title character in Bananaman (1983), in addition to General Blight and Maurice of the Heavy Mob in the children's animated television comedy series, which also featured the rest of the Goodies team. The series parodied comic book super-heroes. Later, Garden wrote for the sitcom Surgical Spirit (1994). Graeme Garden has also presented three series of the BBC's health magazine Bodymatters.

Garden appeared in the political sitcom, Yes Minister in the role of Commander Forrest of the Special Branch in the episode The Death List, as well as appearing as a Television Presenter in the Doctor in the House episode, Doctor on the Box.

Garden writes and directs for the corporate video company Video Arts, famous for its training films starring John Cleese.

Garden lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Emma, with whom he has a son, Tom. Garden also has a daughter, Sally, and a son, John, from his previous marriage to Mary Elizabeth Wheatley Grice. His son John "JJ" Garden is the occasional keyboardist for the music group Scissor Sisters, and shares songwriting credit on their 2006 album Ta-Dah. Garden's father, Robert Symon Garden, was an eminent orthopaedic surgeon who created the Garden classification of hip fractures and the Garden screw, used to repair certain hip fractures. R. S. Garden died on 16 October 1982 at the age of 72.

Garden was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to light entertainment.

Garden is a patron of the disability charity ENRYCH – formerly Ryder-Cheshire Volunteers. The charity works to enable adults with a physical disability to enjoy culture, leisure, learning and sporting opportunities through partnership with a volunteer.

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