| Intro | Comedian |
| Was | Comedian |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type | Humor |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 17 September 1917, London |
| Death |
20 February 1983, Dartford (aged 65 years) |
William George Peter Glaze (17 September 1917 – 20 February 1983) was an English comedian born in London. He hosted Crackerjack with Leslie Crowther and Eamonn Andrews in the 1960s, and with Michael Aspel, Don Maclean and Bernie Clifton in the 1970s. In Crackerjack sketches, he usually played a pompous or upper-class character, who would always get exasperated with his partner Don Maclean during the course of the sketch. Maclean would then give an alliterative reply, such as “Don’t get your knickers in a knot” or “Don’t get your tights in a twist”, the combination of which (“Don’t get your knickers in a twist”) has passed into popular vernacular. He regularly uttered the expression “D’oh!”, originated by James Finlayson in Laurel and Hardy films, long before it became associated with cartoon character Homer Simpson. He was also on the panel of the long-running radio panel game Twenty Questions, along with Joy Adamson, Anona Winn and Norman Hackforth.
Glaze was the son of an actor-manager and started in entertainment at the Windmill Theatre. He was The Crazy Gang’s understudy and assisted Roy Hudd in a recreation of one of the Gang’s famous routines for a televised Royal Variety Performance in 1982. He also appeared in Whack-O!; in Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam; as the villainous City Administrator in the Doctor Who serial The Sensorites; and in The Sweeney episode “Big Spender” as Joe Spratt. Glaze also played the actor supplying the farm animal noises in the Hancock episode The Bowmans.