Research: Roger Booth.

DARWEN'S impressive Theatre Royal is well known for staging appearances by some of the country's leading performers.

But another, much smaller theatre, tucked away at the bottom of Robert Street, close to the town centre, can claim to have given a start to one of our top comedy writers and actors.

Soon after Eric Sykes was demobbed, he pitched up in Darwen for one of his first jobs – as a member of Frank H Fortescue's 'Famous Players'.

He had got the stage firmly in his blood during military service but was desperate for work, for anything, in the winter of 1946-47.

He grabbed the chance of acting with the repertory company in a 10-month 'mixed-bag' run at the Tudor cinema-come-theatre, where new plays had to be learnt every other week.

There was nothing famous about the rep company at the Tudor, run by Eric Norman and his wife Dolly, who specialised in playing elderly duchesses.

An old actor, in his 80s, played occasional parts and brewed the tea.

Eric Sykes had little going for him in those days – except for the magnificent breakfasts served at his digs, Harry Kershaw's farm some 20 minutes walk from the theatre - it might have been Earnsdale Farm at the top of Lynwood.

Eric fondly recalled the farm – "a rangy old house surrounded by fields and meadows with stables across the yard and a herd of Friesians munching away" – in his autobiography.

He also remembered those breakfasts – "two eggs, bacon or ham and toast spread thickly with fresh butter." Rationing? Not really a problem.

Oldham-born Eric lasted some ten months at Darwen, playing all sorts of parts, before moving on.

A series of lucky breaks and chance meetings put him firmly on the road to success and he became established as one of the country's leading comedy actors and scriptwriters.

He wrote for and worked with Frankie Howerd, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Benny Hill, Sid James and Hattie Jacques and had his own TV series.

He also appeared in the popular 'Sykes' alongside Hattie as a rather surreal brother and sister - at the end of June, Network Distribution is releasing the complete series for the first time.

It covers 68 episodes and features appearances by many of the top comedy actors of the era, among them Roy Kinnear, Bernard Bresslaw and Richard Wattis.

There won't be many performers who started their careers at the old, battered Tudor who went on to appear in films alongside such stars as Brigitte Bardot, Sean Connery, Jack Hawkins and Nicole Kidman.

Old man Fortescue didn't really have many 'Famous Players', but Eric Sykes certainly became one of them.