Ronnie Barker Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker, (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as "Porridge", "The Two Ronnies", and "Open All Hours". Barker began acting in repertory theatre and decided he was best suited to comic roles. He had his first success at the Oxford Playhouse and in roles in the West End including Tom Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound". During this period, he was in the cast of BBC radio and television comedies such as "The Navy Lark". He got his
Fanny's First Play "Bernard Shaw". Despite this, Shaw maintained a facade of secrecy about the authorship when he was repeatedly questioned about it by reporters. He told the "Pall Mall Gazette" "nothing shall ever induce me to betray the authorship of "Fanny's First Play". The performance last night was superb; and the audience enjoyed it as much as I did." The play referred to the many criticisms that had been made of Shaw's own work, while also including digs at Granville-Barker (who ran the theatre company that performed it) and at the critics themselves. Three of the critics are based on real journalists