Sir Norman Wisdom was and still is one of Britain's best loved Comedians who's life is a living rags to riches tale. Norman was born in London to a working class family living in poverty in Paddington. His parents divorced when he was aged just nine.He recalls that he often had to steal food and walked to school with no shoes at all a lot of the time. His mother moved away and was left with his brother in the care of their father. Norman's father was often physically abusive so he was put in care for a period of time and was separated from his brother Fred. In 1929 he walked from London to Cardiff, Wales, where he became a cabin boy in the Merchant Navy. He later also worked as a coal miner, waiter and page boy. After that he returned to London looking for work and slept rough on the streets just aged 14. He joined the army enlisted as a drummer boy in the 10th Royal Hussars of the British Army. There he gained an education certificate, became the flyweight boxing champion of the British Army in India and learned to play different musical instruments including the trumpet and clarinet. In the Army Wisdom helped organise a show in which he performed a comedy act which got lots of laughter and applause. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Wisdom was sent to work in a communications center in a command bunker in London, where he connected telephone calls from war leaders to the prime minister. He met Winston Churchill on several occasions when asked for updates on incoming calls, Wisdom then joined the Royal Corps of Signals, and performed a similar military function at the unit headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. After being demobilised in 1946, he worked as a private hire car driver. Having improved his diction in the army, he also took a job as a night telephone operator.Wisdom made his debut as a professional entertainer at the age of 31; his rise to the top was phenomenally fast. Initially the straight man to the magician David Nixon. In the late 1940's Norman made his tv debut proving he was more than just a comedian, he was a singer too. In 1952 Norman signed a seven year film contract with rank organisation and went on to become one of the world's best loved comedians. His movies were so popular they were taking in more money than the James Bond films at the time.

Who better to have on a bank note than a working man who worked hard and rose to fame to change his life and change others by making us laugh!