Ronald Balfour 'Ronnie' Corbett, CBE was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 4, 1930. Educated at the city's Royal High School, Corbett first discovered a passion for performance working in amateur theatre at his local church youth club.
After serving his national service with the RAF - during which he was the shortest commissioned officer in the British Forces - Corbett moved to London to act, often playing roles younger than his years as a result of his 5ft 1in stature.
He was billed as Ronald Corbett in his first co-starring appearance, in 1956's Take it Easy, and began appearing in both television and films in the late '50s and '60s, with a parts in a 1963 episode of The Saint and in 1967's James Bond spoof Casino Royale.
In 1965, Corbett was in cabaret at a Mayfair nightclub, where he was spotted by David Frost and hired to appear opposite John Cleese in BBC One's satirical series The Frost Report.
It was this show that first brought Corbett to mainstream prominence - and that first paired him with long-time comedy partner Ronnie Barker.
The Two Ronnies - their BBC One sketch show - ran for 12 series and 93 episodes between 1971 and 1987 and is now hailed as a classic. Perhaps the most famous sketch was 'Four Candles' - a 1976 skit which sees a shopkeeper (played by Corbett) grow increasingly frustrated by his dialogue with a customer (Barker) with some unusual demands…
What to Read Next
Corbett's comic monologues were also a staple of the series - delivered from a large easy chair to emphasise his a small size, they saw the comedian apparently lose his train of thought as he struggled to tell a very simple joke.
Outside of his work on The Two Ronnies, Corbett was well-known for appearing in two sitcoms: No - That's Me Over Here! (1967-70) and Sorry! (1981-88), in which he played the hen-pecked, middle-aged Timothy Lumsden.
His later years saw Corbett re-team with Barker for 2005's The Two Ronnies Sketchbook - a series linking their classic sketches with new material. In 2009 - 4 years after Barker's passing - he also fronted The One Ronnie, a one-off special which paired him with comedians including Miranda Hart and Harry Enfield.
He continued to work steadily throughout the '00s, fronting editions of both Have I Got News For You and - substituting for an ill Bruce Forsyth - Strictly Come Dancing. Corbett was never afraid to poke fun at himself either - an appearance in a 2006 episode of Extras portrayed the then-72 year-old as a drug fiend.
Having been made an an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) alongside Barker in 1978, Corbett was then appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to entertainment and charity.
In his personal life, Corbett was a golfer, a keen cricket fan and a supporter of his local football club, Crystal Palace, as well as his hometown club, Heart of Midlothian.
He married actress and dancer Anne Hart in 1965, with whom he had two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Corbett. Their first child, Andrew, died aged six weeks old of a heart defect.
Corbett passed away - surrounded by his family - on March 31, 2016. He was 85 years old.
