Freddie Frinton
Internationally famed comedy star, Freddie Frinton, hailed from Grimsby. After being sacked from his fish filleting job at the age of 14, Freddie began his career in a seaside performance troupe on Cleethorpes beach in the 1930s.
His career blossomed, from pantomimes and Butlins variety shows to the London Palladium, 1960s hit sitcom ‘Meet the Wife’, and his much-beloved sketch show, ‘Dinner for One’.
Freddie’s legacy lives on and as a local boy ‘done good’, the project is a celebration of his life, right here in his hometown.
- Freddie Frinton Project
- April 2019 to January 2021
- CONTACTS:
paula@ourbigpicture.co.uk
“Collaborate with our online community on specific projects”
The Freddie Frinton Project
The celebration of Freddie’s life and career included the successful ‘Stars at the Seaside’ exhibition (November 2019 – March 2020), at the Muriel Barker Gallery at Grimsby’s Fishing Heritage Centre. This told visitors of the development of traditional seaside entertainment and how this launched the careers of some of our biggest stars – including Freddie.
2018 to 2019/2020 The Freddie Frinton Project included free music and theatre workshops, and the sell-out ’Dinner for 100’ – a traditional seaside music hall show and premiere in partnership with Papa’s Fish & Chips and the British Music Hall Society, with professional and local performers entertaining over 200 Freddie Frinton fans at Cleethorpes Pier.
A documentary has been made about Freddie’s life and is due to be released in 2023 (delayed due to Covid)
Check out more announcements from the project on the Freddie Frinton Facebook page below.
Freddie Frinton Project is a Our Big Picture Ltd project in collaboration with researcher and creative producer Lia Nici
Project outcomes and future
80 volunteers took part in the participation sessions and 200 people came to the ‘Dinner for One Hundred’ celebration.
A total of 9,835 people attended the exhibition. The project has been covered in the local press and on television in Germany.
A TV documentary about Freddie’s life is due to be released this year.
Our Big Picture
Here are some other projects and events from Our Big Picture.
Partners
This project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and local development funders the Coastal Communities Fund and the Lincolnshire Community Foundation.
