Derham Groves

Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson-Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes meets Stephen Murray-Smith

Thumbnail sketches of (L-R) Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, and Shemp Howard—four absolute comic geniuses. Moe, Curly and Shemp were brothers. When Curly died, Shemp took his place. But not many people know there was another Howard brother, Johnny, who was extremely unfunny:

‘Here’s a problem you might work out in your spare time. It is something I want to use in a story that is buzzing in my mind and I can’t get on with it until I solve the problem. The hero wants to hide a small cylinder somewhere in a car. The cylinder holds important documents—secret documents. Now where and how could he hide the cylinder in a car so that even expert mechanics fail to spot it? In the story, when it is shown where the cylinder was hidden, the searchers will say, “Heavens, I should have thought of that myself.” And I want the readers of the story to say that too. I’d be awfully grateful for your help.’ (From a letter by Courtier to his brother-in-law, Alan George, 3/3/73.)

Joff Ellen (20/5/15 – 30/12/99) was an Australian entertainer, actor and comedian. He was most famous for his appearances on the television show ‘In Melbourne Tonight’ from 1958 to 1962 employing a variety mix of song-and-dance, comedy sketches and other vaudevillean skills. He was also famous for appearing in various children’s television shows as the character ‘Joffa Boy’. His only known film role was in Nightclub (1952), one of only a handful of films made in Melbourne in that decade, where he appeared with the artist and actor Valma Howell who he had briefly married and later divorced. He retired in 1976 and lived in Warragul and lived with his second wife Bernadette of 54 years. (Wikipedia, plus my own corrections)