✍️ Ronald Wolfe Biography

👤 Who Was Ronald Wolfe?

Ronald Wolfe was one of Britain's most successful television comedy writers and producers. 🇬🇧 He is best remembered as the co-creator of the classic sitcoms 🧵 The Rag Trade and 🚌 On the Buses, which he wrote with his long-term partner Ronald Chesney.

The pair became informally known as “The Other Two Ronnies” because of their hugely successful writing partnership. Together, they created some of the most popular British television comedies of the 1960s and 1970s.

🎂 Early Life

📅 Born: 8 August 1922

📍 Birthplace: Stoke Newington, London, England

🏷️ Full name: Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff

🕯️ Died: 18 December 2011

🎂 Age: 89

Ronald Wolfe was born in Stoke Newington, East London. Before entering the world of entertainment, he worked as a radio engineer for Marconi. His early experience in radio helped lead him towards broadcasting and comedy writing. He was also briefly a stand-up performer and later drew on his knowledge of music hall and variety entertainment in his comedy work.

📻 The Beginning of His Writing Career

Ronald Wolfe began contributing material to BBC radio programmes and also wrote for entertainer Beryl Reid's stage shows. 🎭

A major breakthrough came in 1953, when he was asked to work on scripts for the enormously popular BBC radio comedy Educating Archie. The programme starred ventriloquist Peter Brough and his famous dummy Archie Andrews.

Wolfe eventually became one of the programme's leading writers. It was through this production that he developed the working relationship that would shape the rest of his career.

🤝 Partnership with Ronald Chesney

🎵 Ronald Chesney was already known as a professional harmonica player and appeared on Educating Archie with his famous “talking harmonica” act.

Ronald Wolfe and Chesney began working together on scripts, and their partnership soon became permanent. After Educating Archie, they moved from radio into creating their own comedy productions. Their first major joint radio creation was It's a Deal in 1961, starring Sid James as an unsuccessful property developer.

✍️ Their writing partnership

The two men had different working styles. Wolfe described Chesney as the stronger concentrator and editor, while he saw himself as the more restless, idea-generating member of the partnership. This combination helped them develop a distinctive comedy style based on strong characters, workplace settings, catchphrases and comic situations.

Their partnership lasted for around 50 years. After Wolfe's death, Chesney said losing his writing partner was like losing a brother.

🧵 The Rag Trade

📺 One of Their First Great Successes

In 1961, Wolfe and Chesney created The Rag Trade for BBC Television.

The sitcom was set at the fictional Fenner Fashions clothing factory and focused on battles between management and the workers.

⭐ Important cast members included:

👨 Peter Jones – Harold Fenner

👩 Miriam Karlin – Paddy

👨 Reg Varney – Reg Turner

The series became famous for Paddy's cry:

“Everybody out!”

The Rag Trade was a major success and established Wolfe and Chesney as an important comedy-writing partnership. They later returned to the concept when the programme was revived for ITV/LWT in the late 1970s.

👩‍❤️‍👨 Meet the Wife

Another major success was Meet the Wife, which ran from 1963 to 1966.

The sitcom starred:

👩 Thora Hird

👨 Freddie Frinton

Wolfe and Chesney created the comedy around the relationship of a middle-aged married couple. It proved highly successful and further strengthened their reputation as creators of popular, character-based sitcoms.

📺 Other Television Comedies

Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney produced an impressive range of television comedies.

Their major work included:

🎭 The Bed-sit Girl – 1965–1966

👨 Sorry I'm Single – 1967

🎩 Wild, Wild Women – 1968–1969

🚌 On the Buses – 1969–1973

🏕️ Romany Jones – 1972–1975

☀️ Don't Drink the Water – 1974–1975

🏠 Yus, My Dear – 1976

📢 Watch This Space – 1980

✉️ Take a Letter, Mr Jones – 1981

They also wrote Barley Charlie for Australian television.

🚌 Ronald Wolfe and On the Buses

⭐ His Most Famous Creation

Ronald Wolfe's greatest and most enduring success came with 🚌 On the Buses.

Created and written with Ronald Chesney, the series was first shown in 1969 and became one of ITV's most popular sitcoms.

The programme followed the adventures of:

🚌 Stan Butler – played by Reg Varney

🎟️ Jack Harper – played by Bob Grant

👮 Inspector Blake “Blakey” – played by Stephen Lewis

👩 Olive Rudge – played by Anna Karen

👨 Arthur Rudge – played by Michael Robbins

👵 Mum Butler – played first by Cicely Courtneidge and later by Doris Hare

Stan and Jack worked for the fictional Luxton Bus Company and constantly found themselves in trouble with their long-suffering and bad-tempered inspector, Blakey.

😂 Famous catchphrases

Wolfe and Chesney helped create some of the show's most memorable lines, including:

🗣️ “Get that bus out!”

😠 “I 'ate you, Butler!”

The comedy's broad humour was not always popular with critics, but it was enormously popular with viewers. At its height, the series attracted audiences of up to 16 million.

📺 The 74 Episodes

On the Buses ran from 1969 until 1973 and consisted of 74 television episodes across seven series.

Wolfe and Chesney wrote the majority of the programme and were responsible for creating the characters and the comic world that made the series such a lasting success.

🎬 The On the Buses Films

The enormous success of the television series led to three feature films:

🎞️ 🚌 On the Buses (1971)

🎞️ ⚓ Mutiny on the Buses (1972)

🎞️ 🏖️ Holiday on the Buses (1973)

Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney were writers and producers of the first film, On the Buses. The British Film Institute credits both men as its producers and writers.

The first film became the highest-earning British film of 1971, demonstrating just how popular the television series had become with cinema audiences.

🌎 International Success

Although Wolfe and Chesney's humour was strongly British, some of their work travelled abroad.

They wrote Barley Charlie for Australian television.

The Rag Trade was adapted into the Norwegian series Fredrikssons Fabrikk, which became highly successful in Norway and Sweden.

Wolfe and Chesney later worked on a screenplay connected with the Norwegian adaptation.

An American adaptation of On the Buses, titled Lotsa Luck, was produced in the United States in 1973–74. Wolfe and Chesney were initially contracted to NBC, although other writers were ultimately used to help meet the demand for scripts.

📚 Writing and Teaching Comedy

In later life, Ronald Wolfe became something of an elder statesman of British comedy. 🎓

He taught and lectured on comedy writing, including work with students at City University London and later at Central Saint Martins.

📖 In 1992, he published Writing Comedy, later revised in 2003, sharing his experience and ideas about the craft of comedy writing.

He was also a popular after-dinner speaker and regularly spoke about his long career in radio, television and comedy.

📖 Later Years

Ronald Wolfe remained interested in his earlier creations.

🚌 In the early 1990s, he and Chesney considered a possible On the Buses revival, sometimes referred to as Back On the Buses. The idea involved revisiting the original characters, but the proposed production was never made.

He also worked on other projects and continued sharing his knowledge of comedy through teaching, speaking engagements and writing.

One of the later screen credits associated with Wolfe and Chesney was an episode of 'Allo 'Allo! in 1988.

❤️ Personal Life

💍 Ronald Wolfe married Rose Krieger in 1953.

They remained married for 58 years and had two daughters. Rose also played an important role in his working life and was closely involved with the preparation of his scripts.

🕯️ Death

Ronald Wolfe died on 18 December 2011, aged 89, after suffering injuries in a fall. His death brought an end to one of the great long-running partnerships in British television comedy.

🏆 Legacy

Ronald Wolfe's legacy rests on an extraordinary body of British comedy. ✍️🎭

Together with Ronald Chesney, he helped create sitcoms that entertained millions of viewers, particularly:

🧵 The Rag Trade

👩‍❤️‍👨 Meet the Wife

🚌 On the Buses

🏕️ Romany Jones

☀️ Don't Drink the Water

🏠 Yus, My Dear

✉️ Take a Letter, Mr Jones

His greatest achievement remains On the Buses, whose 74 episodes and three feature films made it one of the best-known British comedy franchises of its era.

⭐ Quick Facts

📌Details 👤 Full name Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff

🎂 Born 8 August 1922

📍 Birthplace Stoke Newington, London, England

💼 Occupation Comedy writer, producer

🤝 Writing partner Ronald Chesney

📻 Early major work Educating Archie

🧵 Major success The Rag Trade

🚌 Most famous creation On the Buses

🎬 Film connection The three On the Buses feature films

📖 Book Writing Comedy

❤️ Wife Rose Krieger

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Children Two daughters

🕯️ Died18 December 2011

🎂 Age at death 89

🌟 In summary

Ronald Wolfe was one of the key figures in post-war British television comedy. Alongside Ronald Chesney, he created memorable characters, catchphrases and sitcom worlds that became part of British popular culture. 🚌✍️😂 His work on The Rag Trade and especially On the Buses ensured that his influence and reputation would endure long after his death.

It is with great sadness that I announce Ronnie Wolfe has passed away. We offer our sincere condolences to Rose and the family.

He brought laughter to young and old alike, and will be sadly missed. In Ronnie Chesney's words " it is the end of an era." R.I.P.

Ronnie Wolfe and Ronald Chesney 2008

Uncle Ronnie to many of us was a greatly Loved and highly valued member of our Family.

We all took great comfort with his natural charm and wonderful wit, we have lost such a Lovely and much cherished Husband, Dad, Grandpa and Great Uncle.

Ronnie was of course known to his dazzling array of Friends too but it was the World who knew Ronnie as the man (who along with Ronnie Chesney) Created some of the best comedy characters in history with infamous catchphrases.

Uncle Ronnie served as an in Inspiration to us all, both as a Family member and Friend and a Comedy Creator.

He made the World laugh and that's what they will Love him for.

He touched those of us who were his Friends and Family with his Heart.

We Love you Uncle Ronnie.

Richard Bennett/KingRichard76

Above The 2 Ron's at our 2008 ON THE BUSES fan club event

Ronnie working on the 'MUTINY ON THE BUSES script

RONALD WOLFE

As a comedy writer, I am best known for the classic TV sitcoms The Rag Trade and On the Buses, but I have also devised and written other sitcoms, and written extensively for films, stage and radio. I now work as a public and after-dinner speaker and visiting lecturer.

In my work as Visiting Lecturer, I have been invited to speak and take Seminars and Workshops at The City University, London; the London Department of the New York University, the University of Barcelona, as well as at many other leading universities at home and abroad. Also at various institutes of learning which have departments of Drama, Film, TV, Radio and Media Studies.

As a Public and After-Dinner speaker, I have many amusing anecdotes and stories about the host of stars and performers I have written for and worked with, and in addition, I have been asked to be a member of the Sitcom Jury at national and international TV Festivals, and to sit on Comedy Show Panels.

Details of all this, and more, can be found in my book, Writing Comedy, a new, updated third edition of which was published in March 2003 by Robert Hale Ltd. Visit the web site www.ronaldwolfe.com

Right now, the work I am concentrating on is mainly as a Tutor / Lecturer, giving seminars and workshops at departments of Drama, Film and Visual Arts at universities and colleges, and at other institutes of learning teaching Media Studies.

I am also very active as a public and after-dinner speaker. My public speaking performances could, I suppose, be affectionately characterized as “Confessions of a Sitcom Writer” as they contain lots of amusing anecdotes and experiences about the many famous people I have known and worked with over many years.

Feedback from audiences shows that they especially love to hear the amusing stories about what the stars are really like and what goes on behind the scenes of the various shows.

Ronnie and Rose Wolfe

In his own words

"As a comedy writer, I am best known for the classic TV sitcoms The Rag Trade and On the Buses, but I have also devised and written other sitcoms, and written extensively for films, stage and radio. I now work as a public and after-dinner speaker and visiting lecturer.

Details of all this, and more, can be found in my book, Writing Comedy, a new, updated third edition of which was published in March 2003 by Robert Hale Ltd.

I am also very active as a public and after-dinner speaker. My public speaking performances could, I suppose, be affectionately characterised as "Confessions of a Sitcom Writer" as they contain lots of amusing anecdotes and experiences about the many famous people I have known and worked with over many years.

Feedback from audiences shows that they especially love to hear the amusing stories about what the stars are really like and what goes on behind the scenes of the various shows.

Some of the performers I have worked with are:

Barbara indsor, Gillian Taylforth, Sheila Hancock. Ronnie Corbett, Thora Hird, Kenneth Williams

Sid James, Beryl Reid, Benny Hill, Tony Hancock, Thora Hird, Marty Feldman, Carla Lane

Dick Emery, Warren Mitchell, June Whitfield, Frank Mui, Denis Norden, Reg Varney

Jack Dee, John Inman, Rula Le, Tony Robinson to name but a few.

and of course all of the cast from On The Buses.

Career details as a writer

Wild, Wild Women UK 1968

On The Buses UK 1969

The Other Reg Varney UK 1970

Romany Jones UK 1972

Lottsa Luck USA 1973

Don't Drink The Water UK 1974

Yus My Dear UK 1976

The Boys And Mrs B UK 1977

The Rag Trade UK 1977

Watch This Space UK 1980

Take A Letter, Mr Jones... UK 1981

'Allo 'Allo! UK 1982

The Rag Trade 2004 (South Africa)

ON THE BUSES - This section is dedicated to the memory of my friend Simon who was in the process of writing an ON THE BUSES book but sadly died at far to young an age before he could complete it. Here is part on an interview with Ronald Wolfe

I have been a comedy scriptwriter for most of my working life, startinging BBC radio, writing sketches, continuity, etc. etc. My biggest break was meeting Beryl Reid. She was brilliant, but badly needed a scriptwriter. I was Beryl’s scriptwriter for about 10 years, and wrote all her scripts, from panto to intimate revue. When Beryl joined the top radio show, Educating Archie (originally created and written by Eric Sykes), I was asked to be part of the writing team, and went on to become head writer. Ronald Chesney – then a performer – had a regular spot in Educating Archie, playing the harmonica. That is how we first met. I was one of the writers; he was a performer. The cast of Educating Archie was star-studded, and included such names as Tony Hancock, Max Bygraves, Benny Hill, Harry Secombe and Warren Mitchell.

We also did a tour of Australia – Chesney performing, playing his harmonica. I was writing a series for ABC called Archie in Australia. The show was extended, we needed many more scripts, and I think that is how we got together. Chesney helped me with the writing.

When we got back to the UK, we wrote a radio series for Sid James; then we had an idea about a dressmaking factory – about the workers and the Boss’s problems. We took it first to one of the independent TV companies. It came back with a letter saying – “Many of the British workers work in a factory; the last thing they want to do when they come home and switch on the TV, is to watch a show about people in a factory”. Then we had a stroke of luck. Frank Muir and Denis Norden were appointed Comedy Advisors to the BBC. We took our show – now called The Rag Trade – to them, and it was immediately commissioned. It became a big hit.

After The Rag Trade, we were asked to rewrite a comedy play that Thora Hird and Freddie Frinton were going to do at Blackpool for the summer season. The play was most successful. We thought that Thora and Freddie were a great team, and would be just right for a sitcom on television. We offered it first to the BBC, with the title Meet the Wife. Actually the BBC were not that thrilled about the show, but figured they owed us something after the unbelievable success of The Rag Trade.

Rather reluctantly the BBC commissioned a pilot show. It was transmitted, and got the highest rating of all time. We then did 39 episodes. . After The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife, we figured that - for want of a better phrase – “working-class comedy” was something we seemed to be good at. Like most things, the idea for On The Buses seemed very easy, once we had thought it out. We knew that we wanted to do something with Reg Varney because he was so very good in The Rag Trade. I recall that we spent a lot of time deciding what job Reg would have. We felt he should be in some sort of uniform – but what? Eventually we decided that he should be a bus driver. We then realised that the uniform told us so much about the character. He would be about 40 years old, but still only a driver. Not very ambitious, easy-going sort of chap, reasonably happy, enjoys his job, etc. We wrote a pilot script and several storylines, and sent them to the BBC. Back came the reply from Michael Mills, who was then Head of Comedy. “Once you’ve done jokes about oil on the garage floor, and buses running late, what is there?” That was the gist of the letter. Obviously Michael Mills didn’t like it.

Then we had another stroke of luck. Frank Muir, who had been one of the Comedy Advisors at the BBC, had recently left and was now Head of Comedy at London Weekend Television, one of the newer independent companies. It was late on a Friday afternoon when we went to see Frank Muir with the On The Buses idea. He quickly read the script, then disappeared for a quick word with Cyril Bennett, Head of LWT. He came back and said “We’re in business! I like the idea, so does Cyril”. And right away he commissioned a series. I’m afraid that’s the way the game goes. The On The Buses idea, which was rejected by the BBC, was commissioned by London Weekend Television.

It ran for seventy-five episodes – three full-length films, and a stage version that ran for two years in Canada. Once the show was commissioned, the next problem was casting. Reg Varney was our No.1 choice for Stan Butler, the driver. Doris Hare had always been our choice for Stan’s mum. Unfortunately, Doris was not available to do our first series; she was in Mexico with her husband at some academic conference. Her husband was a Professor of Genetics. Cicely Courtneidge was booked to play Mum, and when Doris came back she took over. Strangely enough, very few viewers seemed to notice the difference.

Michael Robbins was booked to play Arthur. That was a stroke of luck. Some of us were watching Michael in a Harry Worth show. Michael only had a small cameo part, but he was magnificent – just right for us.

Our first choice to play The Inspector was Dudley Foster. He had been sent a script, and we were a bit surprised not to hear back from him. We then rang his Agent, and were rather shocked to hear that Dudley Foster had committed suicide. (We never did find out whether or not it was before reading the script!).

Time was then running short. We were getting near to our recording date. Then Stuart Allen, our director, had a good idea. Stuart was directing a play, Mrs. Wilson’s Diary, at Stratford East Theatre. One of the actors was Stephen Lewis, who was playing the part of a police inspector. Stuart thought that Stephen would be good as the Bus Inspector – and he was. Bob Grant was in the same show, and he was booked to play Stan’s conductor.

The hardest part to cast was Olive – Stan’s sister. It is very difficult to find young actresses to play unattractive parts. Then we thought of Anna Karen, who was in one of our other shows at the BBC. Anna desperately needed work, and with the aid of a wig, glasses and padding, she was playing the part of a washed-out waitress. We arranged for Anna to see our director, and we were waiting for her at Reception. Then Anna (being a woman), glided in dressed to kill, beautifully made up with false eye-lashes, liner, mascara, the lot! We knew that she’d never get the part looking like that, so we dragged her out to our car, pushed her into the back, and told her to get rid of all the make-up.

Now, when Anna is asked how she got the part, she says “The writers pushed me into the back of the car and told me to take everything off!”

Reg Varney was always our first choice as Stan Butler. When we presented the format to Frank Muir, we put Reg down as our second choice. We had found from past experience that TV executives treat a list of names somewhat like choosing from a wine list. They’re a bit suspicious of the first, and usually plump for the second. Somehow they feel that it is ‘safer’ and not too expensive.

(Note: There is much more to writing scripts than putting words on paper!) What was Reg like to work with? Well, at the first read-through, Reg was not usually very good. He would take the script home, work on it, make sure he really understood it. He learnt not just his part, but everybody else’s part. By the end of the rehearsal week Reg was brilliant. Although Reg was the star of the show, he had about every fourth line in the script. But he never resented others getting the laugh lines.

7.The shows were recorded at the London Weekend Television Studios, at Stonebridge Park, Wembley. Rehearsals were at the London Weekend office block, nearby on the North Circular Road. We wanted to use the Red Routemaster buses of London Transport, but the London Transport bosses were very worried about this. They thought there would be problems with the Unions, etc. etc. The TV series used the Eastern National buses from their depot at Wood Green.

Actually, when the show became a big success, London Transport changed their minds, and the three feature films of the series used London Transport red buses, and also their training grounds in Chiswick.

Our writing routine was very simple. We had three places to work; my house, Chesney’s house, and the London Weekend studios. We wrote a few pages every day. On recording days, we’d be in an office at the studios. The cast would be rehearsing one episode whilst we would be writing one of the future episodes. We would be on hand if there were any problems.9. The first series was in black-and-white. I don’t recall any problems with the advent of colour TV.

On The Buses – the Movie, was Hammer Films’ second TV comedy spin-off. I think the first one was The Navy Lark. This was fairly successful, made money, and that is why Hammer were interested in doing The Buses films. Women drivers were a topic at the time, which is why we used the idea for the film. Buses was a TV sitcom that lent itself to a full-length film. Writing the TV series was very restrictive. The budget to make the film was a big problem. It was going to be financed by London Weekend, but they backed out at the last minute. Their thinking was – ‘why should anybody pay to see the film when they can watch the show on TV for nothing?’

The writers then went to Bernard Delfont. He agreed to finance the film, but the budget was limited to £100,000. (one hundred-thousand pounds sterling). The success of the film was that it was different from the TV series; lots of shots of buses on the road, etc. Also, it was very, very funny, and the writers did not use any material that had been seen on TV.

Having most of the cast in uniform was a great help. The shows did not look dated. The budget for the second film was a bit bigger, but not much. The idea of using Windsor Safari Park probably came from Roy Skeggs, Hammer’s Production Manager. Also, the guys who ran the Safari Park – the Smart Brothers were all members of the Variety Club. The important thing was that we were able to use the Safari Park for nothing, provided the Park got plenty of publicity.

Bob Grant did have many different girl-friends. His part in the show was really an extension of his basic character. Bob was very reliable to work with, but surprisingly, the success of the show did make him rather big-headed. He lived way beyond his income, and married Kim, a showgirl in a huge blaze of publicity.

Thousands of fans lined the wedding route to Caxton Hall.In later years he must have had some mental problems. I think he tried to commit suicide two or three times, so I wasn’t terribly surprised when I heard the news that he had.

Holiday on the Buses was filmed mainly at Pontins Holiday Camp at Prestatyn. Again, we were given all the facilities for nothing, provided we gave Pontins plenty of publicity.

Blakey’s foot. A few days before the start of filming, Stephen fell and broke his ankle whilst doing some DIY job in his house. We wrote the broken ankle into the script. In the film, I think it happened when he fell from a bus. The important thing was, it fitted into the script quite well and there were no problems.

Chesney and I were under contract to NBC studios in Los Angeles, to work inthe American version of On The Buses. London Weekend Television wanted more shows, and so they used other writers.

We are not sure why Michael Robbins left the show. We were not in the UK at he time. Michael Robbins was a very good actor – much in demand. But the general public only knew him as Arthur. Michael had cancer for some time before he died. Michael and his wife, Hal Dyer, were staunch Catholics, and I think they found their religion of great help and solace towards the end of his life.

With the writers working in Los Angeles, and lack of proper contracts from London Weekend Television, the show more-or-less fell apart. The cast eventually all got better offers.

Don’t Drink the Water. Originally this was written for Thora Hird, co-starring with Stephen Lewis. Thora, however, got involved in another show, and Don’t Drink the Water went ahead with Stephen Lewis and Pat Coombs. (We are trying to find a tape of this show).

The success of On The Buses is due to strong, believable storylines. Also, it was very funny.