The wisdom of Pitkin

While we mourn the comic actor Sir Norman Wisdom, who died on Monday aged 95, we should also celebrate the incurable optimism of his most famous character — Norman Pitkin.

Remembered principally for his trademark stumbles, flailing limbs, and saying ‘Mr Grimsdale!’, Pitkin, played by Wisdom in numerous films during the 1950s and 1960s, was the ultimate ‘little man’ who wouldn’t give up. Pitkin was never downcast for long, he rose to the occasion — any occasion — and battled the odds. Cloth-capped, and wearing a jacket that was two sizes too small, Pitkin, or ‘the Gump’ as his character was affectionately known, was a symbol of dogged resistance to conformity and a champion of individuality. (It is extraordinary that his films were deemed acceptable in the Soviet Union.)

In one memorable scene, Pitkin, fighting against ‘Consolidated Dairies’ in defence of his own dairy, ends up holding onto the ankles of the chairman of Consolidated while they are suspended from a tree. He doesn’t miss his moment: ‘Mr Hunter? While we are hanging about… Do you think it’s fair for the big firms to try to put a little shop out of business?’

In an era of economic gloom, such tenacious opportunism stands as a inspiring example to us all.