12 years ago today, Charles “Charlie” Clews passed away. Charlie was a comic actor and script writer, as well as a radio personality. Do you remember this beloved Maltese comedian?

His early years

Charlie was born and raised in Senglea, and started his career as a comedian by accident, if you will. During World War II he worked as a marine surveyor at the Admiralty Dockyard (now Malta Shipyards), entertaining his colleagues from time to time cracking much-needed jokes.

His greatest love was the stage and radio. He began acting in Senglea, but his career was established in concerts for the workers at the dockyards during the constant bombardment during the war, with heavy air-raids frequently cutting shows short.

Entertaining the nation

Charlie was the backbone of The Stage Commandos, the stage company that created an innovative style of comedy in 1945, and was immensely popular all over the island, having performed in the top theatres in Malta and Gozo. The Stage Commandos won the Bajda u Ħamra award in the one-act play competition at the Radio City Theatre in 1947.

Charlie was also the driving force of Radju Muskettieri (Radio Musketeers). During a time when the Maltese Islands were undergoing heavy raids, listeners had very little to amuse them, so Clews and his friends (such as Johnny Catania and Johnny Navarro) kept the locals laughing from one radio programme to the next.

Perhaps his greatest success was the comical soap opera Karmena Abdilla, which had a run of some two years. Played by the renowned Nosi Ghirlando, the play was repeatedly put on in nearly every hall on the Maltese Islands.

The international scene

Charlie’s works were such a success that he was asked to perform down-under not once, but twice! The first time in 1964, Charlie amused his Aussie audience together with another comic and friend, Johnny Navarro. He returned to Australia 20 years later in 1984 with his buddy Johnny Catania and had success all over the continent.

As a token of appreciation, Charlie was awarded The Medal for Services to the Republic in December 1996, and two years later the Trophy for a lifetime entertaining the nation. And what entertainment it was!