Ernest Wiseman was born on the 27th November 1925. He joined the world of show business with the help of his father (a railway lamp man); and they used to perform as a double act in working men’s clubs. This was in order to help bring in much-needed extra pennies for the family.

In 1939, the year that the Second World War broke out, Ernie appeared in a London stage version of Arthur Askey's Bandwaggon radio show.

Later, Wise (once billed as 'England's Mickey Rooney') met one Eric Morecambe, and the friends eventually became a double act at the suggestion of Morecambe's mother, Sadie Bartholomew (Bartholomew being Morecambe's real second name).

Ernie married dancer Doreen Blythe on the 18th January 1953. The couple, who did not have children, had spells living in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and later in a home situated next to the River Thames in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

It is no secret that Morecambe & Wise's first TV series, Running Wild (made by the BBC), was not a great success. However, by the time Eric & Ernie were finally signed by Lew Grade to ATV, the double act were far more experienced and ready for a fresh new attack on the medium of television.

After several guest appearances on various variety shows (including Sunday Night at the London Palladium), Morecambe & Wise's new TV series for ATV (Two of a Kind) started in October 1961.

Morecambe & Wise's first series for Lew Grade was made at the Wood Green Empire. But the following year, 1962, was to see the start of a period in which Eric & Ernie were to make five series' for ATV at their Borehamwood-based ATV Centre.

And despite not being repeated these days as much as their high-rating BBC shows, Morecambe & Wise's ATV shows were hugely-popular. And it would be fair to say that their ATV years helped to shape the duo into becoming the well-loved comedy double that fans recall from their then future BBC years.

The ATV shows were memorable for many reasons. I would argue their finest hour for ATV in Borehamwood was when The Beatles (remember them?) appeared on their show. Who can forget the moment when Eric called Ringo “Bongo”?

The ATV shows are also memorable for the on-screen appearances of Morecambe & Wise's then writers, Sid Green and Dick Hills (aka Sid & Dick) in several of their sketches.

Other performers to make their way to the Borehamwood-based studios of ATV to appear as guests on Eric & Ernie's shows included: Joe Brown and his Bruvvers, Tom Jones, Cleo Laine, Cliff Richard (now Sir Cliff Richard) and The Kaye Sisters.

However, following a disagreement with Lew Grade in 1968, Eric & Ernie decided to move to the BBC from ATV and were signed to the corporation by Bill Cotton. And the rest, as they say, is history - television comedy history! Both Eric & Ernie were, quite-rightly, later awarded for all their efforts with an OBE each in 1976.

When Morecambe died in 1984, Ernie paid a perfect tribute to his friend and former comedy partner by reciting the words of the song Bring me Sunshine, at his funeral.

After Eric's death in 1984, Wise appeared on TV shows such as Thames TV's version of the panel game, What's My Line; and the Channel 4 daytime favourite, Countdown. Ernie also made appearances in the West End. His stage credits included the farce Run for Your Wife, which was written by the master of the genre, Ray Cooney.

Many of Morecambe & Wise's younger mobile phone-obsessed fans may not realise that that Ernie made the first mobile phone call in this country. This Wise did at St Katherine's Dock, East London, to Vodafone's Headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, on the 1st January 1985.

The year 1990 saw Wise pen his autobiography which was entitled Still on My Way to Hollywood. By this both he and wife Doreen were spending considerable parts of the year living in their home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Ill health forced Ernie to announce his retirement from show business in 1995. And four years later, on the 21st March 1999, Wise sadly passed away at the age of 73 at the Nuffield Hospital, Wexham Street, Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire.

A wonderful little cartoon in a tabloid newspaper showed Eric & Ernie reunited in heaven and performing their famous dance together.

With a now famous statue of Eric situated on the seafront in his home town of Morecambe, campaigners, including Wise's widow, have been working for some time to have a statue of Ernie erected in his home town of Morley, West Yorkshire. Now, despite an application for lottery cash for a £38,000 bronze statue being rejected in 2008, the statue is set to go ahead.

A statue of Ernie made of stone, and costing about £10,000, is now set to be created by a sculptor called Melanie Wilks. This follows the decision of Wise's widow, Doreen, to fund the project.

In 2008 I signed to JR Books Ltd. to write The Morecambe & Wise Quiz Book. This book, which I am proud to say has attracted good reviews, was published in October 2008.

As a life-long fan of both Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, it was a real privilege for me to be able to write the quiz book. A book partly inspired by my various visits to Borehamwood, where I always think about Eric & Ernie as I walked by the old ATV Centre.

My hope has always been that my new book will both educate and entertain young and old fans of Eric and Little Ern.

Sadly it doesn't looks as it if the tenth anniversary of Ernie Wise's untimely death will be marked by TV broadcasters with any kind of tribute. However, I know for sure that I will spend time on the 21st March thinking about Little Ern.

R.I.P., Ernie Wise.