John Eric Bartholomew, OBE (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the award-winning double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. Morecambe took his stage name from his home town, the seaside resort of Morecambe. 　　He was the co-star of the television series The Morecambe & Wise Show, which for one Christmas episode gained UK viewing figures of over twenty-seven million people.One of the most prominent comedians in British popular culture, in 2002 he was named one of the 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll. 　　Morecambe, who had previously suffered heart attacks in November 1968 and March 1979 as well as undergoing bypass surgery, collapsed from a heart attack as he left the stage of the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury, following a performance; he died in hospital a few hours later. 　　Eric Morecambe was born in Morecambe, Lancashire as John Eric Bartholomew to George and Sadie Bartholomew (Sarah Elizabeth née Robinson). Sadie took work as a waitress to raise funds for his dancing lessons. During this period, Eric Bartholomew won numerous talent contests, including one in Hoylake in 1940 for which the prize was an audition in Manchester for Jack Hylton. Three months after the audition, Hylton invited Morecambe to join a revue called Youth Takes a Bow at the Nottingham Empire, where he met the then Ernest Wiseman. The two soon became very close friends, and with Sadie's encouragement started to develop a double act. 　　When the two were eventually allowed to perform their double act on stage (in addition to their solo spots), Hylton was impressed enough to make it a regular feature in the revue. However, the duo were separated when they came of age for their War Service during the final stages of the Second World War. Wise joined the Merchant Navy, while Morecambe was conscripted to become a Bevin Boy and worked as a coal miner in Accrington from May 1944 onwards.