Paul Melba
English comedian and impressionist
Paul Melba (born Francis Staunton; 1936 – 11 August 2020) was an English comedian and impressionist, known as a star of the ITV impressions show Who Do You Do? and as one of the first comics to appear on The Comedians.
Early life
He grew up in Huyton, Lancashire (now Merseyside). His father was a comedian under the stage name Sandy Franks. After leaving school, Frank Staunton joined the Royal Marines Reserve, before returning home and deciding on a show business career under the name Paul Melba.
Career
Melba's impressions of the actor James Mason, Charles, Prince of Wales and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh were known throughout the entertainment industry. Other commonly impersonated voices included Eric Morecambe, Ken Dodd, Billy Connolly, Tommy Cooper and Robin Day. Additionally, he would perform singing impressions, with renditions of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis Jr.
As well as appearances in clubs and theatres, he made several other television appearances, including Punchlines and eight editions of The Val Doonican Show. He appeared on the Royal Variety Performance in 1974.
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This entry incorporates text from “Paul Melba” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.