DEAD GOOD #1 Max Wall : Master clown beloved of Samuel Beckett & Freddie Starr. He bridged the sublime and the ridiculous...

A weekend conversation at Mortality Towers alighted on the great Max Wall. As blogged below, the WOD exists primarily to celebrate the recently departed. But what of those deceased whose demise pre-dates the Wall? Surely they too should be allowed an eternal moment in the blogosphere?
To whit, DEAD GOOD, a small but illustrious corner of the WOD wherein we celebrate the longtime gone. And what better way to begin our digest of the dead than with this quasi eponymous titan of light, medium and heavyweight entertainment? Mr Wall sloughed the coil on the 20th May 1990 having collapsed over lunch at Simpsons on The Strand. He was 82 years old and his career, which began in Music Hall, encompassed Crossroads,Waiting for Godot ,a single for (WOD favourite) Stiff records and much more besides. Though his famous admirers included Samuel Beckett and John Cleese (who acknowledged him as an influence) he’ll be best remembered in the guise of the piano playing Professor Wallofski whose lank wig, black tights and outsize boots were appropriated into the act of seventies Saturday night TV staple, Freddie Starr. Here's the real thing...