Dick Vosburgh

Who was Dick Vosburgh?

Richard Kennedy "Dick" Vosburgh was an American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain.

He persuaded his father to let him study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and won the Comedy Acting prize. He was soon writing for BBC Radio, starting with scripts for Bernard Braden in 1953.

Often partnering with other writers including Garry Chambers and Barry Cryer he wrote television shows for Ronnie Corbett, David Frost, Roy Hudd, Bobby Davro, Frankie Howerd, Bob Monkhouse, Lenny Henry, Tommy Cooper, Freddie Starr and Bob Hope and material for the radio revival of the Marx Brothers show Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel.

He also helped write the scripts for the films Up Pompeii, Up the Chastity Belt, Carry On Nurse and Call Me Bwana and the TV sitcom Tell It to the Marines.

According to legend, he did much of his writing while continuously riding the Circle Line of the London Underground to avoid interruptions. In the late 1960s, he appeared in How To Irritate People and various early episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

As a lyricist, he had a reputation for being meticulous about the use of words and rhymes, and having a huge knowledge of the Broadway classics. He wrote the pastiche A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine with composer Frank Lazarus, Windy City and A Saint She Ain’t.