A PLAQUE to commemorate the late great Sir Ken Dodd will be unveiled by fellow comedian Tim Vine at the Grand Opera House, York, on May 26.

Sir Ken's widow, Lady Anne Dodd, and his long-time friend and scriptwriter Barry Reeves also will attend the 4.45pm ceremony at the Cumberland Street theatre. In addition, the stalls bar is to be renamed the Sir Ken Dodd Bar and will be decked out with Doddy memorabilia.

Knotty Ash comedian Sir Ken, who died on March 11, had performed at the Grand Opera House since the 1960s, often doing two shows a night, when the second one often would stretch beyond midnight. He last played there on July 10 2016 in his Happiness Show, that show still carrying the warning of an approximate running time of 300 minutes.

York Press:

Comedian Tim Vine, who will unveil the Sir Ken Dodd plaque on May 26

In his last interview with The Press before that performance, he said: "I always say it's the happiest job in the world, seeing happy faces, but it's always a gamble when you have only have 30 seconds to build a bridge with the audience. When you perform, you have to be part orator, part comedian, part actor, part mimic."

Ken Dodd was awarded an OBE in 1982 and was knighted by the Duke of Cambridge in 2017, the year of his 90th birthday, in recognition of both his comedic legacy and his charity work.

After the unveiling, Tim Vine will take to the Grand Opera House stage to perform his Sunset Milk Idiot show at 7.30pm. Only eight tickets remain on sale on 844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york