Kenny Everett
Encyclopedia
Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio DJ
and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.
.
He attended a junior seminary at Stillington near York with an Italian missionary order, the Verona Fathers.
After schooling he worked in a bakery and in the advertising department of The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph.
Having revealed a natural comic and broadcasting talent, he began a career in entertainment. He adopted his stage name from film-star Edward Everett Horton
, a childhood hero.
, the forerunner to BBC Radio 2
. He declined, however, in favour of the less constrained world of pirate radio
, where he began his career as a DJ for Radio London
.
He teamed up with Dave Cash
for the Kenny & Cash Show, one of the most popular pirate radio programmes. His offbeat style and likable personality quickly gained him attention, but in 1965 he was fired after some outspoken remarks about religion on air. Like most of the pirate stations, Radio London carried sponsored American evangelical shows and Everett's disparaging remarks about The World Tomorrow
caused its producers to threaten to withdraw their lucrative contract with the station.
Everett returned six months later, however, before being given his own show by Radio Luxembourg
in 1966. Within a year, he had joined the BBC's new pop music station BBC Radio 1
after previewing The Beatles
' new album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and interviewing the band. Everett had struck up a friendship with The Beatles and accompanied them on their 1966 tour of the United States, sending back daily reports for Radio London. He also produced their 1968 and 1969 Christmas records
.
At Radio 1 Everett continued to develop his own unique presentation style, featuring zany voices, surreal characters, multi-tracked jingle
s and trailers
, all of his own creation and compilation. It was ground-breaking radio material that has since been much copied.
Everett had a great love of sound recording equipment, in particular using reel-to-reel tape recorders, often adding sound-on-sound to his recordings and stereo/multi-track recordings of his pseudo-singing voice. These were broadcast on air regularly and he often created his own radio jingles. This skill was also transferred in some part to TV in his later career.
Everett's shows on BBC Radio 1
included Midday Spin, and in 1968 he took over a Saturday show from 10 am to 12 noon.
In 1970, Everett again found himself fired, this time after suggesting on air that Mary Peyton, the British Transport Minister
's wife, had bribed her driving test
examiner. The remark was a spontaneous quip, following a news item describing how Peyton had finally passed after many attempts.
Following an interview on the BBC Radio Solent
children's show Albert's Gang, Everett submitted weekly shows to the station that he had pre-recorded at home. This afforded the BBC the opportunity to vet the shows before broadcast. Everett was then heard on various BBC local radio stations before being reinstated at Radio 1 in 1972. Here he recorded a weekly show from his home in Wales and it went out on a Sunday afternoon.
During this time, legislation had been passed allowing the licensing of commercial radio stations in the UK. One of the first, Capital Radio
, began broadcasting to London and the Home Counties
in 1973. Everett joined the station and was given his own show, where he further developed his distinctive ideas. From 1973 to 1974 he presented the station's breakfast show, initially alongside Dave Cash, a friend and colleague from Radio London days, and later as the sole presenter.
Using reel-to-reel tape recorders and mixing equipment, Everett created many comedy characters on The Breakfast Show with Dave Cash on Capital, one of which was called 'Yasher the Smasher' referring to a character who smashed pianos. This was indicative of how many people went through a destructive period smashing traditional wooden pianos. The idea was first started with Pete Townshend
from The Who
encouraging the group to destroy their equipment on stage.
In 1974 he moved to a less high-pressure timeslot at Capital. Here he further developed his style and his cult following, and featured both what he thought the best in music (Queen
, Chris Rainbow
) and the worst, which led to the popular Kenny Everett's World's Worst Record Show programmes, later released as an album, with slightly different tracks. Several shows featured the "Bottom 30": compilations (from listeners' votes) of the world's worst records during this period, including some tracks by well-known personalities not known for their singing, notably William Shatner
(Captain Kirk of Star Trek
) with his version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
" and "The Shifting Whispering Sands" by Eamonn Andrews
.
In 1975 Everett played a pivotal role in getting Queen
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
" released as a single
. He also presented a pre-recorded programme on Saturday lunch-time for Radio Victory in Portsmouth, later providing Captain Kremmen to the station for transmission in the Dave Christian's late show.
, this time on Radio 2
, on Saturday from 11am–1pm. This lasted until 1983, when he was once again dismissed after making a rude joke about Margaret Thatcher
: "When England was a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we're a country ... and we have Margaret Thatcher
". This remark reportedly led to the non-renewal of his contract with BBC Radio 2.
In May 1985, he was called in to replace Graeme Garden
(who was ill) for one episode of the Radio 4 game show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
.
He returned to Capital Radio, presenting the same slot as he had on Radio 2. After Capital split its frequencies in 1988 he was heard on Capital Gold
, with a line-up that included people like Tony Blackburn
and David Hamilton
. Everett presented the afternoon show and then moved to the mid-morning show. He left in 1994 when his health deteriorated to the point that he was unable to continue.
which had a plot based around the pirate ship MV Galaxy. He also appeared in several television series, beginning in 1968 with a production for Granada Television
called Nice Time which was co-presented by Germaine Greer
and Jonathan Routh
. In 1970 he made three series for London Weekend Television
(LWT): The Kenny Everett Explosion, Making Whoopee and Ev; and he also took part (along with such talents as Willie Rushton
and John Wells
) in the 1972 BBC TV series Up Sunday
.
In 1973, Everett provided the voice of the cat 'Charley' in the Charley Says
animated series of public information films.
(It is not currently clear to which of these efforts Everett was referring when, years later, he spoke dismissively of some early TV work: "We just used to turn up at the studio and try to be wacky". In interviews, co-presenter Greer spoke of him as "a televisual genius".)
Everett was the announcer on the original version of ATV
's "big box game" Celebrity Squares which ran on ITV
from 1975 to 1979. Also in 1975, Everett featured in an uncredited cameo in an episode of The Goodies
, entitled The Goodies Rule – O.K.?
, in which he appeared as a political candidate in a (fictional) General Election.
offered him a new venture, which became the very successful and ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show. This was a vehicle for Everett's characters and sketches (his fellow writers were Ray Cameron, Barry Cryer
and Dick Vosburgh
), interspersed with the latest pop hits, either performed by the artists themselves, or as backing tracks to dance routines by Arlene Phillips
' contemporaneously risqué dance troupe Hot Gossip
(which featured Sarah Brightman
).
Various pop and TV stars made cameo appearances on the show, including Rod Stewart
, Billy Connolly
, Kate Bush
, Cliff Richard
, Freddie Mercury
, Terry Wogan
and Suzi Quatro
(see also "Friends" section below) and classical musicians such as Julian Lloyd Webber
.
Everett would often ad lib and deviate from the script; his bloopers were sometimes left in the final cut and on several occasions he pulled the camera around the studio revealing the crew not quite sure what was going to happen next. Quite often the crew were victims of his humour – on one occasion Everett encouraged the crew to sing "Happy Birthday
" to a cameraman, presenting to him a cake which he duly pushed in the cameraman's face.
There were also the stories of Captain Kremmen
, a science fiction
hero voiced by Everett and originally developed for his Capital Radio shows, who travelled the galaxy battling fictional alien menaces, along with his assistant Dr Gitfinger and his voluptuous sidekick Carla. In the first three series these segments were animations created by the Cosgrove-Hall partnership (responsible for the successful children's cartoon series Dangermouse
, among many others). In the fourth series (Video Cassette) Kremmen was featured as live action, with Anna Dawson playing Carla; the segments were comedy shorts, rather than the earlier stories.
Other characters included: aging rock-and-roller Sid Snot, unsuccessfully flipping cigarettes into his mouth – at one point Everett managed to catch one in his mouth, to the amusement of the studio crew; Marcel Wave, a lecherous Frenchman played by Everett wearing an absurdly false latex chin; and Angry of Mayfair, an upper middle-class City gent complaining of the risqué content of the show, banging the camera's lens hood
with his umbrella, and then storming off, turning his back to us, only then to be revealed as wearing women's underwear in lieu of the entire back half of his suit.
He also created the never-seen character of 'Lord Thames', supposedly the owner of Thames Television (the company was actually owned by two conglomerates). The character was often the butt of Everett's rants and was said to symbolise his contempt for senior management at the company, claiming they lived behind an ancient, cobweb-covered door marked as the "Office Of Saying 'No'". Thames never disciplined him for these comments, unlike prior employers such as the BBC.
Everett's interest in (then primitive) video processing technology and electronic effects showed itself in such features as the appearances of a bobbing 'alien' entirely composed of a distorted video image of his own head ("Hello. I'm Spod, from Planet Thfnnnn. And this is all I do... Pathetic, isn't it?").
The series ran for four seasons on ITV, and was a big ratings hit. The last episode ended on a rather sour note (after Everett had locked horns with Thames management over his show and its scheduling) with Everett giving a restrained farewell speech as the set and scenery was being stripped down by the crew. The final shot before the closing credits was Everett himself being picked up and placed inside an oversized garbage can.
In Australia, complaints resulted in ongoing censorship of the program, especially the Hot Gossip segments due to the provocative, skimpy and highly revealing costumes and leotards worn by the dancers.
's top-rated Top of the Pops
on Thursday evenings. The BBC offered him a live-audience sketch-format comedy programme, starting with a Christmas special on BBC One
in 1981, followed by five primetime series. The writing team was bolstered by the addition of Andrew Marshall
, David Renwick
and Neil Shand, and the production standards were raised by the heavier investment from the Corporation.
Thames Television claimed copyright on Everett's characters, and tried to prevent their use by the BBC. Whilst this action failed, it led to the creation of new characters such as Gizzard Puke (intended to replace Sid Snot), and the spooneristically
named Cupid Stunt, an American B-movie
actress with pneumatic breasts, and played with no attempt to disguise Everett's beard, who told a cardboard cutout of Michael Parkinson
lurid tales of life on set with Burt Reynolds
and other male stars of the era. Her original name, Mary Hinge, was vetoed by the Corporation as too obvious, and announcers were encouraged to refer to her as Cupid to prevent mispronunciation. Inept TV handyman Reg Prescott became another firm viewers' favourite, as each week he managed graphically and bloodily to injure himself with tools whilst attempting to demonstrate DIY
tips.
Brazilian-born Cleo Rocos
co-starred in the BBC series. She often appeared in nothing more than frilly underwear and high heels, and her figure was used to great comic effect as a focus for drooling, lascivious men.
, and Gibberish. He was also a team captain on That's Showbusiness
.
was happy to have his clean image lampooned many times, as were Lionel Blair
and Justin Hayward
. Terry Wogan
– a long-time colleague from the early days at Radio 1 – made numerous appearances on both Thames and the BBC shows, as did Billy Connolly
and Lennie Bennett
. Other stars who parodied themselves included Rod Stewart
, Kate Bush
, ABBA
, The Police
, David Bowie
and Freddie Mercury
.
, a spoof of Hammer horror films, which was penned by Everett's usual writing partners Barry Cryer
and Ray Cameron
(who also directed the film). Vincent Price
was featured as the villain, credited only as the "Sinister Man", and a number of other popular comedians and actors also appeared, most notably Pamela Stephenson
, Gareth Hunt
and Don Warrington
. Several regulars from Everett's television series also appeared. The film was not a great success, despite winning "Best Science-Fiction Film" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film (tied with Videodrome
).
campaign, the Young Conservatives
invited Everett to their conference in an attempt to attract the youth vote. Egged on by film director Michael Winner
, Everett bounded onto the stage, wearing the enormously oversized foam rubber hands familiar from his mock-evangelical character Brother Lee Love. He shouted slogan
s like "Let's bomb Russia!" and "Let's kick Michael Foot
's stick away!" to loud applause (Michael Foot was the elderly leader of the Labour Party at the time). Everett later said he regretted the incident and that he had taken the foam hands to the rally because the Tories
"asked me first".
's former girlfriend) in 1966. By 1979 they had separated, and Everett came out
as gay
. He launched himself into the London gay club scene, and could often be seen in the nightclub Heaven
in the 1980s on Saturday nights. During his last few years of life while DJing on Capital Gold 194 AM he withdrew to a quieter lifestyle at home.
Everett was told in 1989 that he had HIV
, and he went public with his illness in 1993. He died from an AIDS
-related illness, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
, London, on 4 April 1995, aged 50.
broadcast a tribute show to Everett entitled Licence To Laugh. This celebrated the thirty years since he first appeared on ITV with the ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show (Thames Television
, 1978 to 1980).
Friends and colleagues revealed what it was like to know and work with the man they affectionately dubbed "Cuddly Ken". Additionally, contemporary celebrities such as Chris Moyles
and Chris Tarrant
talked about their love for the outrageous entertainer, and discussed the ways in which Everett had influenced them and their work. It also featured archive footage.
In March 2010 the BBC
confirmed it was working on a 90-minute TV biopic called Number One in Heaven to be written by Tim Whitnall
and focussing on Everett's unhappiness at secondary school.
Radio
Television
Other languages
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.
Early life
Everett attended the local secondary modern school, St Bede's Secondary Modern, which is now part of Sacred Heart Catholic CollegeSacred Heart Catholic College
Sacred Heart Catholic College is a secondary school in Crosby, Merseyside, England, with specialist status in Mathematics and ICT. It was created from the amalgamation of Seafield Convent Grammar and St Bede's Secondary Modern in 1976, and was known as Sacred Heart Catholic High School until...
.
He attended a junior seminary at Stillington near York with an Italian missionary order, the Verona Fathers.
After schooling he worked in a bakery and in the advertising department of The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph.
Having revealed a natural comic and broadcasting talent, he began a career in entertainment. He adopted his stage name from film-star Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. He is especially known for his work in the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.-Early life:Horton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Isabella...
, a childhood hero.
Radio career
Everett's first break (as Maurice Cole) came when he sent a tape to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1962. The BBC gave him an interview and offered him a job as a presenter on the Light ProgrammeBBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
, the forerunner to BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. He declined, however, in favour of the less constrained world of pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
, where he began his career as a DJ for Radio London
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
.
He teamed up with Dave Cash
Dave Cash (disc jockey)
Dave Cash is a veteran British radio presenter who works for BBC Radio Kent, having had previous spells at Radio London, BBC Radio 1, Capital Radio, Radio West , Country 1035 and PrimeTime Radio.-Radio career:Cash was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, U.K...
for the Kenny & Cash Show, one of the most popular pirate radio programmes. His offbeat style and likable personality quickly gained him attention, but in 1965 he was fired after some outspoken remarks about religion on air. Like most of the pirate stations, Radio London carried sponsored American evangelical shows and Everett's disparaging remarks about The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow is a now-defunct radio and television half-hour program which had been sponsored by the Radio Church of God which ran from 1934 to 1994...
caused its producers to threaten to withdraw their lucrative contract with the station.
Everett returned six months later, however, before being given his own show by Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
in 1966. Within a year, he had joined the BBC's new pop music station BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
after previewing The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' new album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
and interviewing the band. Everett had struck up a friendship with The Beatles and accompanied them on their 1966 tour of the United States, sending back daily reports for Radio London. He also produced their 1968 and 1969 Christmas records
The Beatles' Christmas Album
The Beatles' Christmas records were spoken and musical messages from English rock group The Beatles that were posted out on flexi disc at Christmas time to members of their official fan-clubs in the United Kingdom and the United States...
.
At Radio 1 Everett continued to develop his own unique presentation style, featuring zany voices, surreal characters, multi-tracked jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
s and trailers
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
, all of his own creation and compilation. It was ground-breaking radio material that has since been much copied.
Everett had a great love of sound recording equipment, in particular using reel-to-reel tape recorders, often adding sound-on-sound to his recordings and stereo/multi-track recordings of his pseudo-singing voice. These were broadcast on air regularly and he often created his own radio jingles. This skill was also transferred in some part to TV in his later career.
Everett's shows on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
included Midday Spin, and in 1968 he took over a Saturday show from 10 am to 12 noon.
In 1970, Everett again found himself fired, this time after suggesting on air that Mary Peyton, the British Transport Minister
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
's wife, had bribed her driving test
Driving test
A driving test is a procedure designed to test a person's ability to drive a motor vehicle. It exists in various forms worldwide, and is often a requirement to pass the exam to obtain a driver's license...
examiner. The remark was a spontaneous quip, following a news item describing how Peyton had finally passed after many attempts.
Following an interview on the BBC Radio Solent
BBC Radio Solent
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC Local Radio service for the Isle of Wight and the English counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Its studios are located in Southampton, in the same purpose-built office block in Havelock Road as the BBC South Today news studios, and there are district offices in Portsmouth,...
children's show Albert's Gang, Everett submitted weekly shows to the station that he had pre-recorded at home. This afforded the BBC the opportunity to vet the shows before broadcast. Everett was then heard on various BBC local radio stations before being reinstated at Radio 1 in 1972. Here he recorded a weekly show from his home in Wales and it went out on a Sunday afternoon.
During this time, legislation had been passed allowing the licensing of commercial radio stations in the UK. One of the first, Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
, began broadcasting to London and the Home Counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
in 1973. Everett joined the station and was given his own show, where he further developed his distinctive ideas. From 1973 to 1974 he presented the station's breakfast show, initially alongside Dave Cash, a friend and colleague from Radio London days, and later as the sole presenter.
Using reel-to-reel tape recorders and mixing equipment, Everett created many comedy characters on The Breakfast Show with Dave Cash on Capital, one of which was called 'Yasher the Smasher' referring to a character who smashed pianos. This was indicative of how many people went through a destructive period smashing traditional wooden pianos. The idea was first started with Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
from The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
encouraging the group to destroy their equipment on stage.
In 1974 he moved to a less high-pressure timeslot at Capital. Here he further developed his style and his cult following, and featured both what he thought the best in music (Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Chris Rainbow
Chris Rainbow
Chris Rainbow is a Scottish rock singer and musician who had two minor hit songs, "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" in the 1970s....
) and the worst, which led to the popular Kenny Everett's World's Worst Record Show programmes, later released as an album, with slightly different tracks. Several shows featured the "Bottom 30": compilations (from listeners' votes) of the world's worst records during this period, including some tracks by well-known personalities not known for their singing, notably William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
(Captain Kirk of Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
) with his version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, for The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...
" and "The Shifting Whispering Sands" by Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
.
In 1975 Everett played a pivotal role in getting Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
" released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
. He also presented a pre-recorded programme on Saturday lunch-time for Radio Victory in Portsmouth, later providing Captain Kremmen to the station for transmission in the Dave Christian's late show.
BBC Radio and back to Capital
In October 1981, Everett returned to BBC RadioBBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, this time on Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, on Saturday from 11am–1pm. This lasted until 1983, when he was once again dismissed after making a rude joke about Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
: "When England was a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we're a country ... and we have Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
". This remark reportedly led to the non-renewal of his contract with BBC Radio 2.
In May 1985, he was called in to replace Graeme Garden
Graeme Garden
David Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...
(who was ill) for one episode of the Radio 4 game show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or Clue, is a BBC radio comedy panel game broadcast since 11 April 1972 at the rate of one or two series each year , transmitted on BBC Radio 4, with occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC's World Service...
.
He returned to Capital Radio, presenting the same slot as he had on Radio 2. After Capital split its frequencies in 1988 he was heard on Capital Gold
Capital Gold
Gold is a network of oldies radio stations which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold Network in August 2007...
, with a line-up that included people like Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
and David Hamilton
David Hamilton (Radio DJ)
David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...
. Everett presented the afternoon show and then moved to the mid-morning show. He left in 1994 when his health deteriorated to the point that he was unable to continue.
Early television work
Besides the radio programmes, his first screen appearance was in the 1965 film Dateline DiamondsDateline Diamonds
Dateline Diamonds is a 1966 British music-film. The film was shot in black and white. The "pop and cop" genre of film was a popular concept in the UK during the early 1960s to highlight young music talent and was geared to appeal directly to the young teenage market...
which had a plot based around the pirate ship MV Galaxy. He also appeared in several television series, beginning in 1968 with a production for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
called Nice Time which was co-presented by Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
and Jonathan Routh
Jonathan Routh
Jonathan Reginald Surdeval Routh co-starred in the British version of the television show Candid Camera and co-starred with Germaine Greer and Kenny Everett in a later attempt at a revival, Nice Time...
. In 1970 he made three series for London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
(LWT): The Kenny Everett Explosion, Making Whoopee and Ev; and he also took part (along with such talents as Willie Rushton
Willie Rushton
William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the Private Eye satirical magazine.- School and army :William George Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in the family home at Scarsdale Villas,...
and John Wells
John Wells (satirist)
John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
) in the 1972 BBC TV series Up Sunday
Up Sunday
Up Sunday was a British late night comedy satire TV show shown on BBC2 that ran for 55 editions over four series from January 1972 to December 1973, featuring many comedy stars of its era....
.
In 1973, Everett provided the voice of the cat 'Charley' in the Charley Says
Charley Says
Charley Says was a series of very short cut-out animated cartoon Public Information Films for children, shown in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s for London's Central Office of Information.-Overview:...
animated series of public information films.
(It is not currently clear to which of these efforts Everett was referring when, years later, he spoke dismissively of some early TV work: "We just used to turn up at the studio and try to be wacky". In interviews, co-presenter Greer spoke of him as "a televisual genius".)
Everett was the announcer on the original version of ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
's "big box game" Celebrity Squares which ran on ITV
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
from 1975 to 1979. Also in 1975, Everett featured in an uncredited cameo in an episode of The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
, entitled The Goodies Rule – O.K.?
The Goodies Rule – O.K.?
The Goodies Rule – OK.? is a special episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies — a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.The costume designer for this episode was BBC costume designer Dee Robson....
, in which he appeared as a political candidate in a (fictional) General Election.
The Kenny Everett Video Show and The Kenny Everett Video Cassette
In 1978, London's Thames TelevisionThames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
offered him a new venture, which became the very successful and ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show. This was a vehicle for Everett's characters and sketches (his fellow writers were Ray Cameron, Barry Cryer
Barry Cryer
Barry Charles Cryer OBE is a British writer and comedian. Cryer has written for many noted performers, including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie...
and Dick Vosburgh
Dick Vosburgh
Richard Kennedy "Dick" Vosburgh was an American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain....
), interspersed with the latest pop hits, either performed by the artists themselves, or as backing tracks to dance routines by Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips OBE is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, TV presenter, TV judge and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment...
' contemporaneously risqué dance troupe Hot Gossip
Hot Gossip
-Formation:Arlene Phillips came to London to learn and teach developing American Jazz dance routines. Employed as a dance teacher, she taught at locations including the Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. In 1974, Phillips started forming the core of a troupe; Italia Conti...
(which featured Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
).
Various pop and TV stars made cameo appearances on the show, including Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
, Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
and Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
(see also "Friends" section below) and classical musicians such as Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
.
Everett would often ad lib and deviate from the script; his bloopers were sometimes left in the final cut and on several occasions he pulled the camera around the studio revealing the crew not quite sure what was going to happen next. Quite often the crew were victims of his humour – on one occasion Everett encouraged the crew to sing "Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to You
"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth...
" to a cameraman, presenting to him a cake which he duly pushed in the cameraman's face.
There were also the stories of Captain Kremmen
Captain Kremmen
Captain Kremmen was a science fiction radio serial set in the early 21st Century. It was written and performed for Capital Radio by the DJ Kenny Everett, and was also broadcast on Liverpool's Radio City and Nottingham's Radio Trent. It featured the eponymous vain and dimwitted spaceship captain...
, a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
hero voiced by Everett and originally developed for his Capital Radio shows, who travelled the galaxy battling fictional alien menaces, along with his assistant Dr Gitfinger and his voluptuous sidekick Carla. In the first three series these segments were animations created by the Cosgrove-Hall partnership (responsible for the successful children's cartoon series Dangermouse
DangerMouse
Danger Mouse is a British animated television series which was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television. It features the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the...
, among many others). In the fourth series (Video Cassette) Kremmen was featured as live action, with Anna Dawson playing Carla; the segments were comedy shorts, rather than the earlier stories.
Other characters included: aging rock-and-roller Sid Snot, unsuccessfully flipping cigarettes into his mouth – at one point Everett managed to catch one in his mouth, to the amusement of the studio crew; Marcel Wave, a lecherous Frenchman played by Everett wearing an absurdly false latex chin; and Angry of Mayfair, an upper middle-class City gent complaining of the risqué content of the show, banging the camera's lens hood
Lens hood
In photography, a lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare....
with his umbrella, and then storming off, turning his back to us, only then to be revealed as wearing women's underwear in lieu of the entire back half of his suit.
He also created the never-seen character of 'Lord Thames', supposedly the owner of Thames Television (the company was actually owned by two conglomerates). The character was often the butt of Everett's rants and was said to symbolise his contempt for senior management at the company, claiming they lived behind an ancient, cobweb-covered door marked as the "Office Of Saying 'No'". Thames never disciplined him for these comments, unlike prior employers such as the BBC.
Everett's interest in (then primitive) video processing technology and electronic effects showed itself in such features as the appearances of a bobbing 'alien' entirely composed of a distorted video image of his own head ("Hello. I'm Spod, from Planet Thfnnnn. And this is all I do... Pathetic, isn't it?").
The series ran for four seasons on ITV, and was a big ratings hit. The last episode ended on a rather sour note (after Everett had locked horns with Thames management over his show and its scheduling) with Everett giving a restrained farewell speech as the set and scenery was being stripped down by the crew. The final shot before the closing credits was Everett himself being picked up and placed inside an oversized garbage can.
In Australia, complaints resulted in ongoing censorship of the program, especially the Hot Gossip segments due to the provocative, skimpy and highly revealing costumes and leotards worn by the dancers.
The Kenny Everett Television Show (BBC 1981–1988)
Everett fell out with Thames regarding the management of his show, including the scheduling against the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's top-rated Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
on Thursday evenings. The BBC offered him a live-audience sketch-format comedy programme, starting with a Christmas special on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in 1981, followed by five primetime series. The writing team was bolstered by the addition of Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall (writer)
Andrew Marshall is an English comedy screenwriter, most noted for the domestic sitcom 2point4 children. He was also the inspiration for Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
, David Renwick
David Renwick
David Peter Renwick is an English television writer, best known for creation of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek....
and Neil Shand, and the production standards were raised by the heavier investment from the Corporation.
Thames Television claimed copyright on Everett's characters, and tried to prevent their use by the BBC. Whilst this action failed, it led to the creation of new characters such as Gizzard Puke (intended to replace Sid Snot), and the spooneristically
Spoonerism
A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
named Cupid Stunt, an American B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
actress with pneumatic breasts, and played with no attempt to disguise Everett's beard, who told a cardboard cutout of Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
lurid tales of life on set with Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and other male stars of the era. Her original name, Mary Hinge, was vetoed by the Corporation as too obvious, and announcers were encouraged to refer to her as Cupid to prevent mispronunciation. Inept TV handyman Reg Prescott became another firm viewers' favourite, as each week he managed graphically and bloodily to injure himself with tools whilst attempting to demonstrate DIY
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
tips.
Brazilian-born Cleo Rocos
Cleo Rocos
Cleo Rocos is a UK-based comedy actress and television/theatre producer and presenter, best known for appearing on The Kenny Everett Television Show. She is of Greek and English descent...
co-starred in the BBC series. She often appeared in nothing more than frilly underwear and high heels, and her figure was used to great comic effect as a focus for drooling, lascivious men.
Quiz shows
Everett hosted two short-lived quiz shows late in his career, BrainstormBrainstorm (TV series)
Brainstorm was a British comedy quiz programme about science. It originally aired on BBC1 for one series in 1988, hosted by Kenny Everett and co-hosted by Cleo Rocos, Although the second series didn't show in 1989 or subsequent years....
, and Gibberish. He was also a team captain on That's Showbusiness
That's Showbusiness
That's Showbusiness is a television quiz show with celebrity teams answering questions about the entertainment industry. It aired on Monday nights on BBC1 between 1989 and 1996. It was presented by Mike Smith...
.
Friends and guests
Everett was very popular with his peers, and many major stars of television, radio, and pop music counted him as a friend. This led to many celebrity guest appearances across all his television work. Cliff RichardCliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
was happy to have his clean image lampooned many times, as were Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair is a British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter. He is the son of Myer Ogus and Deborah Greenbaum...
and Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
. Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
– a long-time colleague from the early days at Radio 1 – made numerous appearances on both Thames and the BBC shows, as did Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
and Lennie Bennett
Lennie Bennett
Lennie Bennett was an English comedian and game show host.After attending the Palatine Secondary School in Blackpool, Bennett became a journalist for the West Lancashire Evening Gazette before becoming a professional entertainer and appearing on The Good Old Days in 1979. Bennett starred in the...
. Other stars who parodied themselves included Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
.
Bloodbath at the House of Death
Everett made one foray into film with 1984's Bloodbath at the House of DeathBloodbath at the House of Death
Bloodbath at the House of Death is a 1983 comedy horror film starring the British comedian Kenny Everett and featuring Vincent Price. It is an over-the-top spoof loosely inspired by The Amityville Horror and other horror films from the same period....
, a spoof of Hammer horror films, which was penned by Everett's usual writing partners Barry Cryer
Barry Cryer
Barry Charles Cryer OBE is a British writer and comedian. Cryer has written for many noted performers, including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie...
and Ray Cameron
Ray Cameron
Raymond Cameron is a professional basketball player from New Zealand and last played for the Waikato Pistons in the New Zealand NBL.-References:*http://www.basketball.org.nz/competitions/nbl/teams/waikato-pistons/...
(who also directed the film). Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
was featured as the villain, credited only as the "Sinister Man", and a number of other popular comedians and actors also appeared, most notably Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
, Gareth Hunt
Gareth Hunt
Alan Leonard Hunt was an English actor, known as Gareth Hunt, best remembered for playing the footman Frederick Norton in Upstairs, Downstairs and Mike Gambit in The New Avengers.-Early life:...
and Don Warrington
Don Warrington
Don Warrington, MBE is a Trinidadian British actor.-Personal life:Warrington was born in Trinidad and Tobago on 23 May 1951 and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne, England from age five. His father was the Trinidadian politician, Basil Kydd, who died in 1958. He has two sons.His acting career...
. Several regulars from Everett's television series also appeared. The film was not a great success, despite winning "Best Science-Fiction Film" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film (tied with Videodrome
Videodrome
Videodrome is a 1983 Canadian science fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, starring James Woods, Sonja Smits, and singer Deborah Harry. Set in Toronto during the early 1980s, it follows the CEO of a small cable station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal featuring...
).
Political involvement
During the 1983 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
campaign, the Young Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
invited Everett to their conference in an attempt to attract the youth vote. Egged on by film director Michael Winner
Michael Winner
Michael Robert Winner is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States, also known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.-Early life and early career :...
, Everett bounded onto the stage, wearing the enormously oversized foam rubber hands familiar from his mock-evangelical character Brother Lee Love. He shouted slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
s like "Let's bomb Russia!" and "Let's kick Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
's stick away!" to loud applause (Michael Foot was the elderly leader of the Labour Party at the time). Everett later said he regretted the incident and that he had taken the foam hands to the rally because the Tories
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
"asked me first".
Personal life
Everett married the singer Lee 'Lady Lee' Middleton (Billy FuryBilly Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
's former girlfriend) in 1966. By 1979 they had separated, and Everett came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. He launched himself into the London gay club scene, and could often be seen in the nightclub Heaven
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
in the 1980s on Saturday nights. During his last few years of life while DJing on Capital Gold 194 AM he withdrew to a quieter lifestyle at home.
Everett was told in 1989 that he had HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, and he went public with his illness in 1993. He died from an AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related illness, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
, London, on 4 April 1995, aged 50.
Radio
- Kenny & Cash Show Radio LondonWonderful Radio LondonRadio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
– 1964–1965 - Kenny Everett Show Radio LuxembourgRadio Luxembourg (English)Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
– 1966 - Midday Spin BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
– 1967 - Everett is Here BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
Saturdays 10am–12midday – 1968–1970 - Kenny Everett Show BBC Local RadioBBC Local RadioBBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...
– 1971 - Kenny Everett Show BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
Sundays 1–3pm – 1972 - Breakfast Show Capital RadioCapital RadioCapital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
– 1973–1974 - Kenny Everett Show Capital RadioCapital RadioCapital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
– 1974–1980 - Kenny Everett Show Radio VictoryRadio VictoryRadio Victory was the independent local radio station for Portsmouth in southern England. It was launched on 14 October 1975 and served south Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight.-History:...
– 1975–1976 - Captain Kremmen Radio VictoryRadio VictoryRadio Victory was the independent local radio station for Portsmouth in southern England. It was launched on 14 October 1975 and served south Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight.-History:...
– 1976 - Kenny Everett Show BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
Saturdays 11am–1pm – 1981–1983 - Kenny Everett Show Capital RadioCapital RadioCapital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
Saturdays 11am–1pm – 1984–1988 - Weekday afternoons Capital GoldCapital GoldGold is a network of oldies radio stations which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold Network in August 2007...
1–4pm – 1988–1991 - Weekday mid-mornings Capital GoldCapital GoldGold is a network of oldies radio stations which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold Network in August 2007...
9am–12midday – 1991–1994
Television
- Nice Time Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
– 1968 - The Kenny Everett Explosion LWT – 1970
- The Kenny Everett Video Show Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
– 1978–1980 - The Kenny Everett Video Cassette Thames TelevisionThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
– 1981 - The Kenny Everett Television Show BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
– 1981–1988 - BrainstormBrainstorm (TV series)Brainstorm was a British comedy quiz programme about science. It originally aired on BBC1 for one series in 1988, hosted by Kenny Everett and co-hosted by Cleo Rocos, Although the second series didn't show in 1989 or subsequent years....
BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
– 1988 - Gibberish BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
– 1992
Tributes and portrayals
On 18 November 2007, ITV1ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
broadcast a tribute show to Everett entitled Licence To Laugh. This celebrated the thirty years since he first appeared on ITV with the ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show (Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, 1978 to 1980).
Friends and colleagues revealed what it was like to know and work with the man they affectionately dubbed "Cuddly Ken". Additionally, contemporary celebrities such as Chris Moyles
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....
and Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
talked about their love for the outrageous entertainer, and discussed the ways in which Everett had influenced them and their work. It also featured archive footage.
In March 2010 the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
confirmed it was working on a 90-minute TV biopic called Number One in Heaven to be written by Tim Whitnall
Tim Whitnall
Tim Whitnall , is a British actor, musician, playwright and screenwriter probably best known for his portrayal of the alien Angelo on the British CITV sitcom Mike and Angelo....
and focussing on Everett's unhappiness at secondary school.
External links
General links- Kenny Everett Show episode list break down to the sketches
- TV.com
- Screenonline – Kenny Everett
- Extract from 'The Custard Stops at Hatfield'
- Kenny Everett at findagrave
- Kenny Everett's World's Worst Wireless Show
Radio
- Radio Rewind – Kenny Everett
- The Radio Academy Hall of Fame – Kenny Everett
- Pirate Radio Hall of Fame E to G
- Aircheck Legends – Kenny Everett
- kennyeverett.co.uk tribute site
- Radio London Kenny Everett Tribute Pages
- Kenny Everett's World's Worst Wireless Show, complete details of these shows
- Kenny Everett's Radio Days on BBC 7 Listen Again
Television
Other languages
- Español in Minipedia