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UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Ronnie Barker statue unveiled in Aylesbury
A statue of comic legend Ronnie Barker was unveiled outside the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury on Thursday.
NOW WITH VIDEO, click play to see footage by Natalee Hazelwood.
The 76,000 statue, unveiled by Barker's widow, Joy, depicts the actor in a famous pose from one of his most loved sitcoms, Porridge.
The special ceremony was attended by his comic co-partner Ronnie Corbett and also David Jason, who starred alongside Barker in Open All Hours.
Barker started his acting career in Aylesbury, making his professional debut on 15 November 1948, at the old County Theatre in Aylesbury's Market Square, with a small role playing Lieutenant Spicer in J. M. Barrie's Quality Street.
Sculptor Martin Jennings has depicted him in his role as prison inmate Norman Stanley Fletcher, in the classic 1970s' series Porridge, sitting on a stone bench looking up at the new theatre.
The 5ft 6in (1.7m), 100kg statue was modelled by hand last winter and then cast in bronze at the Pangolin Foundry in Gloucestershire this summer.
Mr Jennings, whose work includes the statue of poet Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras station in London, said: "It's been delightful to make this statue of Ronnie Barker.
"He was a comic genius.
"And he was a wonderful shape to sculpt.
"I've depicted him in his Porridge character glancing up approvingly at the new theatre as if looking back happily over a long career to the days when he began it all in Aylesbury."
Leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council, Clrr John Cartwright, said: "The statue is a fitting tribute to a great man and one of Britain's best loved performers.
"I'm sure it will not only delight theatregoers, but will also be an attraction to Ronnie Barker fans throughout the country and perhaps even further afield."
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 26 May 2012
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