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UNFORGETTABLE: Collette Johnson will be remembered for her stern character Aunty

TRIBUTES HAVE been pouring in for The Real McCoy star Collette Johnson, who died on Saturday (August 31).

The 52-year-old comedian, who was one of the original performers on the much-loved BBC sketch show, died of cancer of the spine, after discovering she had the illness earlier this year.

Fellow Real McCoy performer Llewella Gideon, with whom Johnson teamed up in the ‘80s, forming the double act Short, Sharp and Shocking, told The Voice:

“I last saw Collette a couple of years ago,” Gideon said of her former colleague, who had also suffered from multiple sclerosis. “She wasn’t well but we had a lovely chat; a really nice catch-up.

“She was one of a kind. Sharp-tongued, sharp-witted – she didn’t suffer fools gladly!”

DYNAMIC DUO: Johnson (right) and Llewella Gideon were in many scenes together

“We met on a production at The Albany in Deptford in 1989. We formed a double act and we came into this business together. Her observational comedy was very acute; she really made me laugh.”

Gideon added: “You could describe her as the black Joan Rivers – she was ahead of her time. I’m really sad to learn that she’s gone.”

Comedian Leo Muhammad, famed for his character Mr Frazier, said of his former colleague: “I’d heard that she was ill and wasn’t able to get out to some of the events like The Real McCoy reunion we had a few years back.

“My memories of her go right back to Short, Sharp and Shocking; the double act she had with Llewella. Then, of course I worked with her on The Real McCoy. She was quite a cantankerous soul! She wasn’t easy – she could give you some grief!”

Muhammad added: “But she was a good actress and she was a significant part of the team. She will be greatly missed.”

Other Real McCoy performers have also paid tribute to Johnson. Curtis Walker posted on Facebook: “RIP Collette Johnson, you were a real spirit in my life. I can only remember the laughs you, Ishmael Thomas and I enjoyed.”

REMEMBERED: Leo Muhammad remembers Johnson to be “cantankerous”

Ishmael Thomas, who is best remembered for his Real McCoy character Dyam Fool Man, posted: “Short, sharp and shocking! Nuff said. RIP Collette.”

Comedian and comedy promoter John Simmit paid tribute, saying: “Big up mi spiky likkle argumentative fren Collette Johnson. RIP Shorty.”

Johnson starred in The Real McCoy when it began airing in 1991, contributing to the iconic show, which is celebrated for its comedic reflection of black culture.

Some of her most memorable performances on the show came when she worked alongside Gideon; most notably when she played Aunty, the strict, elderly West Indian aunt of Gideon’s character, Hyacinth.

Never leaving home without her wheeled trolley – which contained all manner of essentials – Aunty would often instruct her niece to bring the large bag to her, bellowing: “Hyacinth! Di trolley!”

Johnson will also be remembered for playing the miserable Jamaican newsreader Collette, on the show’s spoof breakfast show What Time You Call This Britain; the no-nonsense Commissioner who gave orders to superheroes Dyam Fool Man and Idiot Bwoy (Walker); and the stern Ghanaian mother who often taunted her son Kwame (Thomas) with the threat, “I will break your head with a stone!”

STONY: Johnson’s character, miserable newsreader Collette

Johnson made her first foray into the world of entertainment in the 1980s via the Second Wave Youth Arts Centre in Deptford.

Here, she met Gideon, with whom she formed the popular double act Short, Sharp and Shocking. The pair would go on to team up with Walker and Thomas, who also had their own double act.

Around the same time, Lenny Henry was leading an initiative to get more black faces on British television. And TV producer Charlie Hanson was also keen to bring a new comedy to the small screen.

With the combined talents of Johnson, Gideon, Walker and Thomas – along with gifted comedians Robbie Gee and Leo Muhammad, who were added to the mix – both Henry and Hanson were able to realise their dream.

“The Real McCoy came out of an initiative by Lenny Henry to encourage more black writers and more black comedy at the BBC,” Gideon explains. “So he really is the Godfather of The Real McCoy.

“Soon after, Collette and I were spotted by Charlie Hanson, who asked us to be involved in the show he was doing, which was The Real McCoy. So we really began our journey together.”

MEMORIES: Curtis Walker said Johnson was a “real spirit” in his life

Johnson’s good friend, singer, songwriter and playwright JB Rose, who also met the comic at Second Wave Youth Arts Centre in 1983, told The Voice:

“Collette was a unique individual; sharp, witty and very learned. Her comedy came from so many sources and she was so aware of her surroundings. So many people have to go to comedy school to learn to be a comedian, but Collette had a unique perception of life that gave her a very individual style of comedy.

“She was also very loyal and she’d always shoot from the hip. She was a delightful person; a great person to be around.”

Following her success in The Real McCoy, Johnson would later fade from public life and she was subsequently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The illness affected her mobility, causing her ability to walk to deteriorate.

In February of this year, she was diagnosed with cancer of the spine. The illness had progressed too far to be treated, and Johnson died on the morning of August 31.

Her younger sister Celia Johnson explained that the speed of her sibling’s deterioration was a shock to their family.

“It was pretty sudden,” Celia told The Voice. “She went into hospital in February and they thought the pain she was in was due to complications to do with her multiple sclerosis. But they did some tests and found that she had cancer.

Celia believes that her sister’s ill-health was what caused her to shy away from public life in her later years.

“She’d had cancer about eight years before – cancer of the womb. After that, she contracted multiple sclerosis and within two or three years, that affected her mobility and along with that, her confidence.

“Collette was quite proud and wanted to be seen as somebody who could manage and who was able, because her mind was still incredibly sharp.”

Of her sister’s humour, Celia adds: “She was always very funny and very sharp. I think the [professional] comedy came out of her being naturally very witty.”

Johnson’s older sister Patsy Johnson mirrored Celia’s sentiments:

“Collette had a wicked sense of humour and she was such a joker. She was good fun and even up until the end, she had a joke for everyone.”

Patsy says that their Caribbean heritage also played a huge part in her sister’s comedy material.

“There was a scene in The Real McCoy where [Johnson’s character Aunty] starts wiping a plate with Dettol – that was from our [maternal] grandma. Our grandma was a bit like that!

“But in general, Collette was just so funny. We’ll all miss that.”

Though her involvement in entertainment faded in later years, Collette Johnson’s contribution to black British comedy will not be forgotten. RIP to the short, sharp and shocking comedy talent.