Tommy Steele
Sir Thomas Hicks OBE (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.[1][2]
For the footballer, see Tommy Steel.
After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele recorded a string of hit singles including "Rock with the Caveman" (1956) and the chart-topper "Singing the Blues" (1957). Steele's rise to fame was dramatised in The Tommy Steele Story (1957), the soundtrack of which was the first British album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. With collaborators Lionel Bart and Mike Pratt, Steele received the 1958 Ivor Novello Award for Most Outstanding Song of the Year for "A Handful of Songs". He starred in further musical films including The Duke Wore Jeans (1958) and Tommy the Toreador (1959), the latter spawning the hit "Little White Bull".
Steele shifted away from rock and roll in the 1960s, becoming an all-round entertainer. He originated the part of Kipps in Half a Sixpence in the West End and on Broadway, reprising his role in the 1967 film version. As an actor, he notably appeared in the films The Happiest Millionaire (1967) and Finian's Rainbow (1968) and as the lead in several West End productions of Singin' in the Rain. Also an author and sculptor, Steele remains active. He was knighted in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment and charity and was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2021.
Early life[edit]
Steele was born Thomas Hicks in Bermondsey, London, in 1936.[3] His father, Thomas Walter Hicks, was a racing tipster and his mother, Elizabeth "Betty" Ellen Bennett, worked in a factory; they had married in 1933, in Bermondsey.
As a child, Steele spent time in hospital for porphyria. He dreamt of being a star performer after his parents took him to the London Palladium, but "didn't think you could be English and be a star".[4] In 1952, at the age of 15, Steele joined the Merchant Navy, working on the Cunard line.[5] He was not eligible for national service because of a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy.[6]
Steele attended Bacon's College in Rotherhithe, south London.
Through his paternal line, the full family name (Still-Hicks) influenced his future stage name, as he adapted it to become known professionally as Tommy Steele.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Steele and Winifred Anne Donoghue or Donoughue (born 1936) married at St Patrick's Catholic Church, Soho Square, London, in spring 1960.[58]
The couple have one daughter.[59][60]
Honours[edit]
In 2019, Steele was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony at Mansion House was delayed until 20 July 2021.
In the 1979 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work as an entertainer and actor.[61] He was knighted in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment and charity.[62][63]
Legacy[edit]
Steele's teen idol stardom was the subject of several contemporary parodies. On his album The Best of Sellers (1958), Peter Sellers portrays Cockney rock and roll star named "Mr. Iron" in the sketch "The Trumpet Volunteer".[64] Steele's rise to fame was satirised in the 1958 West End musical Expresso Bongo and its 1959 film adaptation starring Cliff Richard.[5]
There is a London Borough of Southwark blue plaque on Nickleby House, in the Dickens Estate in Bermondsey, commemorating Steele.[65]