Eric Morecambe - Personal Life

Personal Life

Eric Morecambe married Joan Bartlett on 11 December 1952. They had three children: Gail (born 14 September 1953); Gary (born 21 April 1956) and Steven (born 1969 and adopted in 1973). In his leisure time, Eric was a keen birdwatcher, and the statue of him at Morecambe shows him wearing his binoculars.

Morecambe publicly backed the Conservative Party in the 1979 General Election. Following their victory he sent a message of congratulations to the new Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher which ended, "God bless you, Maggie, and good luck in the European Campaign and it is your round next."

He was also an enthusiastic football fan and a director of Luton Town, Luton being only a few miles from his home in Harpenden. Shortly after becoming a director of Luton, Morecambe briefly grew a rather sparse moustache of only about two dozen hairs, which he explained to his fans was "a football moustache: eleven a side!". He would often fondly tell the story of how once, when the team was 2-0 down at half time, the Luton fans chanted, "What do you think of it so far?" to which Eric replied, "Rubbish". He also had a love of Long John Silver impressions, which never left him through his life (one can be seen in the 'Monty on the Bonty' sketch with Arthur Lowe).