Berwick Kaler: UK's longest-serving panto dame takes final bow

York's annual pantomime accounts for half of the theatre's annual £2.5m ticket sales

The UK's longest serving panto dame has packed away his gowns and taken his final bow after 41 years on stage.

Berwick Kaler, 72, has been entertaining generations of fans at York Theatre Royal since 1977.

The curtain closed on his final performance of The Grand Old Dame of York on Saturday night.

Kaler said: "I don't want to crawl on that stage with old age complaints. I just thought 'let's go out with them laughing'."

Bowing out to a huge standing ovation, there was a surprise appearance from fellow panto legend Christopher Biggins, who presented Kaler with a Great British Pantomime Awards lifetime achievement prize.

There were emotional scenes during the last performance

Speaking to BBC Look North's Harry Gration, Kaler quipped: "I'm a bald-headed pensioner. I can't sing and I'm not the greatest actor.

"Every performance has just been like the last night, an outpouring of emotion."

He added: "I didn't know what I was starting when I first arrived here but I do know that I found a home here, and I found the most wonderful, extended family that anyone could possibly wish for."

The Sunderland-born actor made his debut playing an ugly sister in Cinderella and then went on to write and co-direct the city's festive shows.

His pantos have proved such a hit over the years that dedicated fans queue through the night 10 months before Christmas to get their hands on tickets.

Kaler was given the award in recognition of his 40 years entertaining audiences

Kaler's catchphrase "Me babbies, me bairns" has become legendary, as have his habits of hurling Wagon Wheels into the audience and handing out bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale.

In all his years in York, he has never missed a performance despite having undergone heart surgery in 2016.

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For most of his panto career he has been supported by his loyal sidekicks. Martin Barrass and David Leonard have both been by his side for more than 30 years, while Suzy Cooper has been for more than two decades.

The greatest showman

Paying tribute, Ms Cooper said: "He knows when pathos is right, he knows when comedy is right and he can flick the switch at any time.

"You can be laughing and crying in the same moment.

"I'm forever grateful that he picked me and for him teaching me throughout all these years.

"He's the greatest showman."

You can see more on this story on BBC Inside Out in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire at 19:30 GMT on BBC One on Monday 4 February and for 30 days afterwards on the BBC iPlayer.