The Paranormal Investigator Yvette Fielding asked the ghost of comedy legend Eric Morecombe for inspiration while writing on his desk and even asks how he finds it
Most Haunted presenter Yvette Fielding says inspiration from her new book may have come from the spirit of funnyman Eric Morecambe after she wrote it on his old writing desk and asked him for inspiration.
The Paranormal Investigator, 56, penned The Vampire of Whitby on the desk once owned by the comedy legend that she won in an auction.
She said: “Every time I sit down to write and do my paranormal activity podcast I’ll go: ‘Hello Eric, help me out now and hope that he is listening… I dedicated my book Vampire of Whitby to Eric. I texted his son Gary to ask permission before I did. And he replied: ‘My dad tinkered with the Morecambe and Wise scripts and wrote books at that desk…”
Her husband Karl joked: “At the end of every book she goes: ‘How’s that Eric,’ and just in the distance she hears: ‘Rubbish!’”
She said her husband, Karl Beattie, sat in front of his computer for two days during the recent auction of the comedian’s items, to ensure he won the piece of furniture. They also bought some of Eric’s pipes, typewriter and his first ever prop – a wooden lollipop.
“They came across as two loveable uncles that just made you roar with laughter and you felt so much love towards them, they were so different and wonderful and unique” Fielding said. “Just to be able to have pieces of them is brilliant.”
A lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal items from the comedian’s former home in Hertfordshire were sold in January, with singer Robbie Williams making the £20,000 winning bid for the comedy legend’s iconic glasses.
Fielding, who appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2023 with Morecambe and Wise as her specialist subject, said: “As soon as the auctioneer’s hammer went down and we realised we’d got the desk, we both jumped up like England had scored in the World Cup and screamed with joy.
She added on her podcast Anytime: “And then I burst into tears because I was just so thrilled to have something so magnificent and wonderful.
He says: “We won this desk.. you couldn’t quite believe it. I couldn’t quite believe it. We managed to get his typewriter, some of his paintings. . .
“The fact that you’ve written a couple of books on that desk. Seeing you in the same area that Eric … the brilliance of that man. His photo sitting at the desk is there. It is the fact that when you go there you’ve added more history to it. It’s an old desk so someone would have had it before. You’ve put that legacy into that desk. . .
“It is hard to believe you’ve got this one-off thing that belonged to this icon of British comedy… I was thinking it’s his one and only writing desk there is no way we can afford that.
“It is a one-off item. We also got his very first stage prop which is a wooden lolly pop that he had when he was 13 or 14 and he was auditioning and did a song I’m Not all There. We have got it framed.
“When we got the desk we opened it up there was a black and white photograph of him standing there with the lollypop. There was a pipe in one of the drawers. We are so, so lucky. When Karl went: ‘We’ve got it!’ I burst into tears.
‘It is our pride and joy apart from Mary (their daughter). I absolutely love it.”
Morecambe died of a heart attack aged 58 in 1984 and the contents of his family home were put up for sale after his widow, Joan, died aged 97, in March 2024.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
