Kenny Everett

Biography

Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio DJ and television comedian, known for his zany comedic style. After spells working on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, Everett was one of the first DJs to join newly created BBC Radio 1 in 1967, where he developed the comedic voices and characters which he later adapted for television. He 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 reinstated at the BBC, working both on local and national radio. In 1973, when commercial radio became licensed in the UK, he joined Capital Radio. In the late 1970s, transitioning to television, he made numerous comedy series, notably The Kenny Everett Video Show on ITV from 1978 to 1981, and The Kenny Everett Television Show on the BBC from 1981 to 1988, often appearing with Cleo Rocos, whose glamour and curvaceous figure were often used to comic effect. He was a highly versatile performer, able to write his own scripts and compose jingles in addition to operating advanced recording and mixing equipment. His personality made him a regular guest on chat shows and game shows such as Blankety Blank. In 2006, the British public ranked him number 45 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars. Everett supported the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher and made a public appearance at the Young Conservatives conference in 1983. As a gay man, he was criticised for supporting a Conservative government which enacted Section 28, a clause of the Local Government Act which made it illegal for councils to promote gay rights. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1989, developed AIDS in 1993, and died in 1995.