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Mike & Bernie Winters were English brothers who formed a comedy double act, consisting of Mike Winters, born Michael Weinstein (15 November 1926 – 24 August 2013) and Bernie Winters, born Bernie Weinstein (6 September 1930 - 4 May 1991). The act was very popular in the United Kingdom from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. Their father Samuel Weinstein was a Jewish atheist. Their mother Rachel was part of the famous Blumenthal family. Her brother Jack was the light middleweight and heavyweight champion of Great Britain, the British Empire, and holder of the Lonsdale belt. Her other brother fought for the world middleweight title unsuccessfully. Her mother was from the Breuenzlean family, originally from Bari, in southeastern Italy.〔http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kzsKTfFNvU〕 ==Early life== The Winters brothers were born in Islington. When Bernie was three the Weinstein family moved to a house in Tottenham, across the road from George Marks, who later became Harrison Marks, the glamour photographer. Mike recalled that it was with George that he mounted his first 'promotion'. "We would dress up in whatever clothes we had managed to scrounge from our parents and put on shows in our garden." Bernie's friend was Danny Sewell, younger brother of George who went on to star in such shows as ''Special Branch'' and ''UFO''. Danny was the local heavy and used to look after Bernie. "If anybody said anything nasty to me, he (Danny) hit them." Mike won a scholarship to Tottenham Grammar School but was evacuated to Wiltshire with his younger brother where he eventually ended up at the City of Oxford High School for Boys.〔 At 15 Mike won a scholarship and grant to the Royal Academy of Music to study clarinet, where he was one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Quintet.〔 Who's Who on Television. Independent Television Publications 1970 Bernie moved along the apprenticeship route, getting a job at the Regency Club in London's Soho where he played the ukulele and performed as a stand-up comedian. During World War II, Mike, underage, was in the Merchant Navy. Following a medical discharge he enlisted in the Canadian Legion as a musician and after a year was promoted to the honorary rank of Captain. Bernie served alongside Mike as a drummer in the Canadian Legion. After the war, Bernie took drumming lessons at the London Palladium and Mike, who had studied clarinet at the Academy, formed a double act playing musical items and doing impressions. Shortly after being discharged the pair won a talent contest held in Manchester, England. They won the first prize which was a one-week tour of variety theaters. Despite changing their stage name to the Winters brothers, they were not successful at first, and went their separate ways for a time. The pair got back together in the form of a 3 handed act called the 3 loose screws where they learnt to dance and improve their skills.〔 Seen by a young BBC producer, Jack Good, on 25 June 1955, Mike and Bernie made their first television appearance. This was on the BBC show the 6-5 special, their first major TV show, which was a major hit, which they later turned into a movie. The brothers stayed with the show until 1958. Their next move, secured by their agent Evelyn Taylor, who worked for Joe Collins (father of Joan and Jackie Collins), was to the ITV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium, which at the time was the most important variety show on UK television. Due to their popularity they were invited to appear before Queen Elizabeth II at the 1962 Royal Variety Show. By 1965 their act was a great success, thanks in large part to the shows Big Night Out and its follow up Blackpool Night Out, which replaced the London Palladium where its national ratings made Mike and Bernie stars.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mike & Bernie Winters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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