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Comedy stars Cannon and Ball will never forget the disasters they faced on their way to stardom.<\/p>\n
Their first TV break was on Opportunity Knocks – and they came last.<\/p>\n
Then they had a spot on Bruce Forsyth’s Big Night, but it was cut.<\/p>\n
And when they finally had a TV series lined up it was hit by an ITV strike. Tommy Cannon says: “It looked as though we were finished before we had started!”<\/p>\n
Today, firmly established as one of TVs top comedy duos, the pair can afford to look back and laugh.<\/p>\n
They have a new series (ITV, Saturday) and they have just signed to make a follow- up to their first film, to be called The Boys In Blue II<\/p>\n
They are now thoroughly enjoying their hard-earned success. But aren’t two gold Rolls-Royces a bit over the top?<\/p>\n
“Certainly not.” says 45-year-old Tommy. “We’ve worked bloody hard, and anyone who does that deserves all they can afford.”<\/p>\n
The pair met in 1962 when they were called plain Tommy Derbyshire and Bobby Harper, and both worked as welders at a factory in Oldham, Lanes.<\/p>\n
“I could play the drums and Bobby had sung on stage with his sister,” says Tommy. ” So we thought we’d try our luck in the pubs.”<\/p>\n
Six months later, on the strength of one week’s booking in Newcastle, they gave up their jobs to turn professional. But hard times lay ahead.<\/p>\n
“The work just dried up,” remembers 39-year-old Bobby. “The only way we could get jobs was for one of us to phone a club and pretend to be an agent booking ourselves.”<\/p>\n
Once they were sacked in mid-performance.<\/p>\n
Bobby recalls: “The man who’d hired us stopped our act and said: ‘You’re no bloody good. Here’s your money. Now get out.’<\/p>\n
“At the time we felt we’d never face an audience again. Luckily we’re big-headed, and we soon got over it. But we were pretty awful.”<\/p>\n
It meant they often had to change their names. They started out using their real names, then as a singing duo they changed to the Shirell Brothers, and when the jokes started they became the Harper Brothers.<\/p>\n
Their present names are because Tommy’s idol was singer Freddie Cannon.<\/p>\n
Fame hasn’t made them want to move away from Lancashire.<\/p>\n
“Our roots are there,” Bobby says. “We’re happy among family and friends,”<\/p>\n
Bobby and his second wife Yvonne, who live in Rochdale, have a daughter Joanne, 10. He has two teenage sons from his first marriage.<\/p>\n
Tommy has been married to his wife Margaret for 23 years. They have two daughters, Julie, 19, and Janette, who has just given birth to their second grandchild.<\/p>\n
They live in a luxury bungalow in Oldham, overlooking the terrace where Tommy grew up.<\/p>\n
Robin Corry<\/p>\n
Last laugh for Cannon and Ball Comedy stars Cannon and Ball will never forget the disasters they faced on their[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":45,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1472","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n