Charlie Chester, British stand-up comedian and TV and radio presenter, 20th century. Known as 'Cheerful' Charlie Chester, he starred in The Charlie Chester Show, a stand-up comedy and sketch show on BBC television from 1949 until 1960. In the 1960s he began presenting a record show on the BBC Radio Light Programme, which from 1969 became the long-running Sunday Soapbox on Radio 2. Chester continued to present the show until 1996, a year before his death.