Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio DJ and television entertainer. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the first DJs to join BBC Radio's newly created BBC Radio 1 in 1967. It was here he developed his trademark voices and comical characters which he later adapted for television.
"Maurice Cole" redirects here. For the pianist, see Maurice Cole (pianist). For the cricketer, see Maurice Cole (cricketer).Kenny Everett
Maurice James Christopher Cole
25 December 1944
Seaforth, Lancashire, England
4 April 1995 (aged 50)
London, England
Radio, television
1962–1994
Character comedy,
surreal comedy, sketch
Everett was dismissed from the BBC in 1970 after making a flippant comment on air after a news item concerning a government minister's wife. He was later re-instated at the BBC, working both on local and national radio, but, in the autumn of 1973, when commercial radio became licensed in the UK, he joined Capital Radio. Starting in the late 1970s, he transitioned to television where he made numerous comedy series on ITV and BBC, often appearing with Cleo Rocos, whose glamorous and curvaceous figure was often used to comic effect. Rocos would be his assistant in the 1987 BBC gameshow Brainstorm. He was a highly versatile performer, able to write his own scripts, compose jingles and operate advanced recording and mixing equipment. His personality also made him a regular guest on chat shows and game shows such as Blankety Blank.
Everett openly supported the UK's Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher and made publicity appearances at conferences and rallies. However, as a closeted gay man, he would face criticism for the hypocrisy of supporting a Conservative government that enacted Section 28, a clause of the Local Government Act which made it illegal for councils to promote gay rights and issues. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1989 and died in 1995.
Early life[edit]
Maurice James Christopher Cole was born on Christmas Day 1944 at 14 Hereford Road, Seaforth,[1] 5 miles (8 km) north of Liverpool city centre. From a Roman Catholic family, he attended St Bede's, the local secondary modern school, in Crosby (now part of Sacred Heart Catholic College). Cole later attended a junior seminary at Stillington, North Yorkshire, near York, with an Italian missionary order, the Verona Fathers, where he was a choirboy.[2] After he left school, he worked in a bakery and in the advertising department of The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph.
Radio[edit]
Radio London, Radio Luxembourg and BBC Radio 1[edit]
During 1963 he sent copies of his short, home-produced radio shows to Tape Recording Magazine, and they suggested sending a tape to the BBC.[3] "The Maurice Cole Quarter of an Hour Show" led to an appearance, in May 1964, as a guest on the BBC Home Service show "Midweek", and a few weeks later to an audtion at Broadcasting House. Nerves got the better of him, and it didn't lead to a job offer, but they suggested he send a tape to the producers looking for presenters for the soon to be launched pirate station Radio London.[4] Everett then began his broadcasting career, on 25 December 1964 (his 20th birthday), as a DJ for Radio London.[5] Before taking to the airwaves, he was advised to change his name to avoid legal problems. He adopted the name "Everett" from a childhood hero, the American film comic actor Edward Everett Horton.[1]
Everett teamed with Dave Cash for the Kenny & Cash Show, one of the most popular pirate radio programmes. His offbeat style and likeable personality quickly gained him attention, but in November 1965 he was dismissed after some outspoken remarks about religion on air.[6] 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. After a spell at Radio Luxembourg, and another dismissal, Everett returned to Radio London in June 1966.[7] He accompanied The Beatles on their August 1966 tour of the United States, sending back daily reports for Radio London.[8]
Johnny Beerling, a BBC producer, secretly visited Radio London in February 1967, and observed Everett at work: "I saw this man Everett doing everything. In the old way of doing things, the DJ sat in one room with a script. Someone else played the records and somebody else controlled the sound. Yet I see this man who has control of everything."[9] An audition tape submitted to the BBC was assessed in March 1967 by a panel:
Video[edit]
In 1981, Everett, Cryer and Cameron teamed up with Brothers Music to target the emerging home video market with a VHS release called The Kenny Everett Naughty Joke Box, which was followed a year later by another Brothers Music VHS release called The New Kenny Everett Naughty Video. Produced and directed by co-writer Ray Cameron, this 'too rude for television' production would get a nationwide Freeview broadcast under the name Kenny Everett Naughty Video by That's TV in January 2022. The video was recorded with an audience (in-vision beside Everett for much of the time), whilst co-writer Barry Cryer has an on-screen role, appearing as a guest alongside Lionel Blair and Willie Rushton. Sheila Steafel, Cleo Rocos, Debbie Linden, Linda Lusardi and Jane Score also feature in the cast, while Nikolai Grishanovich turns up at the end to make a comment about the Soviet Union. Characters appearing in the video include Gizzard Puke, Marcel Wave, Sid Snot and a caricature of an Australian called Bris Troop, whilst the video has a running joke about people at a line of urinals.[30]
Music[edit]
Everett released three singles in the 1960s. In 1965 - a comedy collaboration with fellow Radio London DJ Dave Cash, "The B Side"//"Knees" (Decca Records).[31][32] In 1968 a solo single, written by Harry Nilsson "It's Been So Long" (MGM Records),[33] and in 1969 "Nice Time" (Deram Records) which was used as the title theme for the second series of the Granada TV show.[34] In 1977, Everett collaborated with Mike Vickers to release the single "Captain Kremmen", using a previously published instrumental by Vickers, "Retribution" as its backing. It entered the UK charts on 12 November, and peaked at number 32 two weeks later.[35] In 1983 Kenny Everett released the single "Snot Rap", ostensibly sung by two of his TV characters, Sid Snot and Cupid Stunt. This would peak at number 9 in the UK charts for the week ending 16 April,[36] and peaked at number 91 in Australia.[37] A sequel single, "Snot Rap II (Rapping Again)", once again performed in character, was released in March 1985, but failed to chart.
Death[edit]
Everett was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1989 and he made his condition known to the public in 1993.[48] He died from an AIDS-related illness on 4 April 1995, aged 50. A Catholic requiem mass was held at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London. His body was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium.[49]
Legacy[edit]
In 1981 Everett co-wrote a semi-fictitious autobiography entitled The Custard Stops at Hatfield. It was published by Willow Books, an imprint of Collins, in September 1982.[50]
In 1996, a compilation album entitled Kenny Everett At The Beeb was released as part of the BBC Radio Collection series of cassette tapes. The album, narrated by Barry Cryer, is a chronological look at Everett's BBC Radio career that combines clips from his various series with interviews that he gave on programmes such as Desert Island Discs. [51]
Everett is the subject of a 1997 episode of the Thames Television series Heroes of Comedy which covers his life and career from his beginnings on pirate radio until his death. Celebrities such as Steve Wright, Cliff Richard, Cleo Rocos, Barry Cryer, Jeremy Beadle, Terry Wogan and Barry Took appear and talk about their experiences, collaborations and friendships with Everett and his influence on them.
On 18 November 2007, ITV1 broadcast a tribute show to Everett entitled Licence to Laugh. This celebrated the 30 years since he first appeared on ITV with the Kenny Everett Video Show (Thames Television). 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 funny entertainer and discussed the ways in which Everett had influenced them and their work. It also featured archive footage.
The documentary When Freddie Mercury Met Kenny Everett, broadcast on Channel 4, tells the story of the relationship between the two men from the moment they met in 1974 when Mercury was a guest on Everett's radio show, through lovers and drug taking to when both died of AIDS. It features affectionate interviews by many people who were close to him.
In March 2010 the BBC confirmed that it was producing a 90-minute TV biographical film called Number One in Heaven, to be written by Tim Whitnall and focusing on Everett's unhappiness at secondary school.[52]
On 3 October 2012 the BBC broadcast a 90-minute TV biopic called The Best Possible Taste which focused on the performer's relationship with his wife, singer Lee Middleton. Oliver Lansley played the part of Everett and Katherine Kelly that of Middleton.[53]
In 2013, Hello Darlings! The Authorized Biography Of Kenny Everett written by James Hogg and Robert Sellers was published by Bantam Press.[54]
Everett was portrayed by Dickie Beau in the 2018 Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody, a biographical musical drama about the life of Freddie Mercury.[55]