Both Morecambe and Wise were child entertainers. The early days saw Morecambe entering local talent shows and performing in working mens' clubs as a standup comedian. Wise had already made his London stage debut in a 1939 production of "Bandwaggon" and they met when Morecambe's show "Youth Takes a Bow" was touring the country. They struck up an immediate affinity and formed a double act. However, almost immediately the outbreak of World War Two intervened, and Wise went off to serve in the Merchant Navy, while Morecambe went down the coal mines as a Bevin Boy. In 1946 the two were reunited, and performed in many variety shows on stage and radio in the 1950s. From 1954 they appeared increasingly on television shows, and in 1955 they were given their own "Morecambe and Wise Show" by the BBC. These shows were highly successful and ran throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, achieving top billing and television viewer ratings for practically the whole of that time. Their shows, and the annual Christmas Special shows which they created, utilised the script writing skills of Dick Hills and Sid Green, themselves authors of many other successful television shows. Top world class celebrities would appear on their shows, and were happily humiliated and belittled - guests included such people as the composer and conductor André Previn, actors and actresses like Peter Cushing, Glenda Jackson, Penelope Keith, Diana Rigg, and Christopher Lee, singers like Shirley Bassey and Des O'Connor, as well as the newscaster Angela Rippon. Morecambe and Wise appeared in three films : "The Intelligence Men", "The Magnificent Two" and "Night Train to Murder", which were box office flops - their style failed to translate into the movie genre, and they remained essentially stand-up comics relying on the rapport which only comes from a live audience. Eric Morecambe died of a heart attack in 1984 after several earlier attacks, and his death provoked virtual national mourning. He was recognised as a leading comic by all of the other comedians in Britain, and his work has proved inspirational to many younger comedians who have followed since his day.