Ken Dodd facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Ken Dodd OBE
Dodd in 2007 with his "tickling sticks"
Born	Kenneth Arthur Dodd (1927-11-08)8 November 1927 Knotty Ash, Liverpool, England
Died	11 March 2018(2018-03-11) (aged 90) Knotty Ash, Liverpool, England
Years active	1954–2017
Spouse(s)	Anne Jones ​ (m. 2018)​
Comedy career
Medium	Stand-up comedy, theatre, radio, television and music
Genres	One-liners, music hall

Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE (born 8 November 1927 – died 11 March 2018) was a famous English comedian, singer, and sometimes actor. Many people called him "the last great music hall entertainer." He was best known for his live comedy shows.

Ken Dodd lived his whole life in Knotty Ash, a part of Liverpool. He started his entertainment career in the mid-1950s. His shows were known for super-fast jokes, often lasting for many hours, sometimes even past midnight! He used a special red, white, and blue "tickling stick" in his act. He would often greet his audience with his famous phrase, "How tickled I am!" Besides comedy, he also sang songs and did ventriloquism, which was his first special skill. In the 1960s, he had several hit songs, mostly as a ballad singer. He also appeared in TV shows and helped make the Diddy Men characters famous.

He was made a knight in 2017 for his work in entertainment and for charity. His stage career lasted over 60 years. He performed right up until the end of 2017. He passed away on 11 March 2018, when he was 90 years old.

Early Life

Kenneth Arthur Dodd was born on 8 November 1927. His family lived in an old farmhouse in Knotty Ash, a suburb of Liverpool. His parents were Arthur Dodd and Sarah Gray. He had an older brother, William, and a younger sister, June. Ken went to Knotty Ash School and sang in the local church choir. He lived in Knotty Ash his entire life, even dying in the house where he was born. He often joked about the area in his shows, mentioning funny things like "jam butty mines." During World War II, he was sent away from home with his school to Shrewsbury.

Ken Dodd with Bear Cubs at Flamingo Park Zoo, North Yorkshire, 1968

He later went to Holt High School in Childwall, Liverpool. But he left school at 14 to work for his father, who sold coal. Around this time, he became interested in show business. He saw an advert in a comic that said, "Fool your teachers, amaze your friends—send 6d in stamps and become a ventriloquist!" He sent for the book. Soon after, his father bought him a ventriloquist's dummy, which Ken named Charlie Brown. He started performing at a local orphanage and then at other community events. His unique front teeth were from a cycling accident when friends dared him to ride with his eyes closed. When he was 18, he became a traveling salesman. He used his work van to visit comedy clubs in the evenings.

Early Career

Ken Dodd's first known radio appearance was in a show called Variety Fanfare in 1950.

He said his big break came when he was 26. In September 1954, he made his first professional stage appearance. He performed as Professor Yaffle Chucklebutty, an Operatic Tenor and Sausage Knotter, at the Nottingham Empire. He later joked, "Well at least they didn't boo me off."

He continued to tour different theatres across the UK. In 1955, he performed in Blackpool. The next year, he was in a show called Let's Have Fun there. His performance at the Central Pier was part of a comedy show with other famous comedians. Ken Dodd first became the main star in Blackpool in 1958.

Comedy Style

Ken Dodd was known as "the last great music hall entertainer." His stand-up comedy was very fast. He told many one-liner jokes very quickly. He said he was inspired by other comedians from Liverpool.

He would mix his comedy with songs, some serious and some funny. He had a surprisingly good singing voice. He also used his original skill, ventriloquism. A popular part of his show featured the Diddy Men. At first, they were just a funny idea in his jokes. Later, children often played the Diddy Men on stage.

Dodd mainly worked as a solo comedian. He had many TV and radio shows named after him. He also appeared often on the BBC TV show The Good Old Days, which brought back old music hall acts. Even though he loved making people laugh, he also studied comedy and history seriously. Sometimes, he took on acting roles. He played Malvolio in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on stage in 1971. He also had a small role in the 1987 Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen. He appeared as Yorick in Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In 1999, he was Mr. Mouse in the TV movie Alice in Wonderland.

Dodd at the Civic Hall, Ellesmere Port, 2006. Stand-up theatre work was the mainstay of his career.

Ken Dodd was famous for how long his shows lasted. In the 1960s, he even got into The Guinness Book of Records. He set a record for the world's longest joke-telling session. He told 1,500 jokes in three and a half hours! That's about 7 jokes every minute. This happened at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. People would come and go during the show.

Dodd performed in many Royal Variety Performances. His last one was in 2006. He performed for Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in London.

He toured very often throughout his career. He kept performing long shows into his eighties. These shows often didn't finish until after midnight. In his last year, he toured the UK a lot with his comedy and music show. His very last performance was on 28 December 2017 in Liverpool. He said the secret to his success was simply, "I love what I do."

Music Career

Ken Dodd had many hit songs. He had 18 songs in the UK Top 40 charts. His first single, "Love Is Like a Violin" (1960), reached number 8. His song "Happiness" became his signature song in 1964.

Dodd's song "Tears" was number one on the UK singles chart for five weeks in 1965. It was the biggest hit song in Britain that year. It sold over a million copies in the UK alone. This song is the third best-selling song of the 1960s in Britain. At the time, it was the UK's biggest selling song by a solo artist. It is still one of the biggest selling songs of all time. Ken Dodd was chosen to perform "Tears" on a special BBC show in 1976. This show celebrated the popular music successes during the Queen's first 25 years as monarch.

He had two more songs that reached the UK top ten. These were "The River" (number 3, 1965) and "Promises" (number 6, 1966). Besides his successful serious songs, Dodd also released funny songs. One was the 1965 EP Doddy and the Diddy Men, which included the song "Where's Me Shirt?".

In the 1960s, he was so famous in the UK that he was as well-known as the Beatles. His records sold millions around the world.

In 2021, Ken Dodd's song "Love is Like a Violin" was used in the Walt Disney film Cruella.

Honours and Awards

The statue of Dodd at Liverpool Lime Street railway station

Ken Dodd received several important awards. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1982 for his work in show business and charity. He was made a knight in 2017 for his services to entertainment and charity. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge formally gave him the award at Buckingham Palace on 2 March 2017.

In 1993, Dodd won the Top Variety Entertainer award. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Comedy Awards. In 1994, Dodd appeared in a TV special called An Audience with Ken Dodd. This show was very popular and introduced him to younger viewers. He later had a second show, Another Audience with Ken Dodd, in 2002.

He was given the title of Freeman of the City of Liverpool in 2001.

In a 2005 poll of comedians, Ken Dodd was voted among the 'Top 50 Comedy Acts Ever', ranking at number 36. He was made an honorary fellow of Liverpool John Moores University in 1997. A statue of Ken Dodd with his "Tickling Stick" was put up at Liverpool Lime Street railway station in June 2009.

Dodd was also inducted into a special show business group called the Grand Order of Water Rats.

He received honorary degrees from the University of Chester in 2009 and Liverpool Hope University in 2010.

In 2016, Dodd received the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award. This award recognized his lifelong contributions to comedy. He received it at the Slapstick Festival in Bristol.

Later Life and Tributes

Ken Dodd had a long relationship with Anne Jones. They met in 1961 when Anne appeared in one of his shows. They married on 9 March 2018, just two days before he passed away.

Dodd said one of his biggest regrets was that he never had children.

Ken Dodd passed away at his home in Knotty Ash on 11 March 2018, at the age of 90. This was the same house where he was born and grew up. He had been touring with his comedy show until the end of 2017. Many famous people, including fellow Liverpudlian Paul McCartney, shared their sadness and paid tribute to him.

At his funeral on 28 March, thousands of fans lined the streets. The procession went from his home to Liverpool Cathedral. Many actors and comedians attended the service. After the service, Dodd was buried next to his parents in a private ceremony in Liverpool. As a tribute, tickling sticks were placed on various statues around Liverpool. Flags were lowered at important buildings in Liverpool to show respect.

Theatre critic Michael Coveney said Ken Dodd was "the greatest live performer I ever saw on stage anywhere." In a BBC TV show in 2018, another comedian, Jimmy Tarbuck, called Dodd "the greatest stage comic the country has ever seen."

In October 2020, Dodd's headstone was damaged with graffiti.

In September 2022, Lady Dodd (his wife) arranged for stained glass windows to be placed in St Anne's Church, Old Swan, in memory of her husband.

Television Work

Ken Dodd had many television shows and specials over 60 years, including:

• The Ken Dodd Show BBC TV (1959–1969)
• Complete Interview with Ken Dodd & the Beatles (1963)
• Doddy's Music Box (1967–1968)
• Ken Dodd and the Diddymen (1969–1972)
• The Ken Dodd Show – LWT (1969)
• Ken Dodd in Funny You Should Say That (1972)
• Ken Dodd Says Stand by Your Beds
• Ken Dodd's World of Laughter – 3 series, 19 episodes (1974)
• The Ken Dodd New Year's Eve Special (1975)
• The Ken Dodd Show (1978)
• The Ken Dodd Laughter Show (1979)
• Dodd on His Todd (1981)
• Doddy! (1982)
• Ken Dodd's Showbiz – 6 episodes (1982)
• Ken Dodd at the London Palladium (1990)
• An Audience with Ken Dodd (1994)
• Another Audience with Ken Dodd (2002)
• Ken Dodd's Happiness (2007)
• Talking Comedy (2016)
• Ken Dodd: In His Own Words (2017)

Other Television Appearances

Dodd also appeared in many other programmes, as an actor, performer, or as himself. These include:

• The Good Old Days – 15 episodes (1955–1982)
• Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen (1987)
• A Question of Entertainment – 18 episodes (1988)
• Hamlet (1996)
• Heroes of Comedy (1995–2001) About himself and other comics
• Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy (2007)
• My Favourite Joke – 4 episodes (2011)
• The Story of Variety with Michael Grade – 2 episodes (2011)
• Fern Britton Meets... (2013)

Radio Series

• The Ken Dodd Show (1963–1973)
• Ken Dodd's Palace of Laughter (1986–1987)
• Ken Dodd: How Tickled I've Been (2007)

Discography

Album Discography

• Presenting Ken Dodd (Columbia, 1962)
• Doddy and the Diddy Men (Columbia, 1965)
• Tears of Happiness (Columbia, 1965)
• Tears & the River (Liberty, 1966)
• For Someone Special (Columbia, 1967)
• I Wish You Love (Columbia, 1967)
• Don't Let Tonight Ever End (Columbia, 1968)
• I'll Find a Way (Columbia, 1970)
• Brokenhearted (Columbia, 1971)
• With Love in Mind (Columbia, 1971)
• Just Out of Reach (Columbia, 1973)
• Love Together (EMI, 1976)
• Now and Forever (VIP Records, 1983)
• Ken Dodd and the Diddymen (Knotty Ash Records, 1987)

UK Chart Singles