They say it’s never too late to try something new and, after more than six decades in the entertainment industry, Paul Chuckle is about to prove that true.
Real name Paul Elliott, the 79-year-old, is preparing to appear in his first ever play, taking on the role of Mr Boo in Jim Carwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the National Theatre.
Elliott, from Rotherham, became a household name, alongside his late brother Barry, as one half of the haphazard Chuckle Brothers in children’s TV show ChuckleVision, which ran from 1987 to 2009.
But now, after decades of playing for laughs, he is just weeks away from what he has described as his first ever “straight play”.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “63 years in the business and it’s my first ever play, and, would you believe it, it’s at the National Theatre – you can’t write it.
“A young lad from East Herringthorpe, and now at the National.
Following the death of his brother in 2018, Elliott said he was determined not to retire, and, in recent years, has turned his hand to a variety of new opportunities.
In 2025 he starred in a gangster movie, playing The Jackal in Fall to the Top, and later the same year appeared in Celebrity MasterChef.
In keeping with trying new things, he is also set to star as Monsignor O’Hara in a touring production of Sister Act at the end of 2027.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice tells the story of as a shy girl who rarely ventures outside her bedroom, until her talent for imitating famous singers is recognised by a local promoter.
Elliott will perform alongside Silent Witness actress Francesca Mills, who will play the title role, and Waterloo Road star Jill Halfpenny, who will play her mother, Mari Hoff.
After a career including, TV, film, pantomime, circus and now regular DJ sets, he said adapting had been a challenge.
“It’s completely different,” he said.
“It’s the first show I’ve done in many, many years without saying ‘to me, to you’.
“The lines are slowly sinking into my brain.
“I’ve found that hard. Barry and I ad libbed a lot when we were on stage.
“We had lots of fun, we used to fall about laughing at each other, but there’s none of that, I’ve got to be word perfect.
“TV is easier. If you go wrong it’s ‘cut, do it again’ but on stage you can’t.
“When me and Barry worked together we loved things going wrong, but you can’t do that in a live play.”
One thing Elliott said he did know well ahead of stepping into the shoes of club promoter Mr Boo was the world of working men’s clubs.
“Jim Cartwright, who wrote the play, he thought I would be perfect for the part of Mr Boo,” he said.
“I was working in working men’s clubs all my career, and he knew I was doing that.
“We did all the clubs in the North East, South Wales, Midlands, North Wales, wherever we could get the work, we grew up in working men’s clubs. Not an easy life, may I tell you. Not an easy life.
“You never knew whether they’re going to love you or hate you, and there was no real middle ground.
“They were either a fabulous audience or a terrible audience, or put it the other way, we were terrible or brilliant.”
