Jim Davidson (comedian)
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Jim Davidson OBE, (born Cameron James Davidson on 13 December 1953) is a controversial English comedian, TV presenter and actor. An alcoholic who has been married four times, he has been made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for his work entertaining British soldiers in conflict zones.
On 6 July 2006, after failing to keep up payments on £1.4million back tax bill he had reduced to £700,000, he was declared bankrupt.[1][2]
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[edit] Biography
Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London, England and attended St Austen’s School in Charlton. He was chosen to appear in Ralph Reader’s Gang Show at the Golders Green Hippodrome aged 12, and found his way into show business when he was in a pub in Woolwich to which the regular comedian hadn’t turned up.
He became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and first auditioned for Opportunity Knocks in 1975. He was unsuccessful and told by Hughie Green to "go away". His audition for New Faces was more successful, and he proceeded to win the show by one point, and then to come second in the overall contest.[3]
[edit] Television
His success was quickly followed by many appearances on television, including What’s On Next and several series of his own show The Jim Davidson Show which ran for five complete series and won Davidson the TV Times 'Funniest Man On Television' award. Davidson made a few appearances on Tiswas in 1977, and claims to have been the first Phantom Flan Flinger on that programme. He starred in the TV sitcoms Up The Elephant And Around The Castle and Home James[4]. His one man show for Thames, Stand Up Jim Davidson was recorded on stage at London’s Royalty Theatre. In recent years, he is most famous for his television roles on Big Break and successor to Bruce Forsyth as host of the Generation Game.
[edit] Touring show
Davidson's touring is developed from his original London comedy circuit show, for pub and club audiences. Aimed at a very different audience than his television work, it is at best blue language and at worst Anglo-Saxon swearing - he is quite open and honest in promoting his stage shows as adult entertainment[citation needed]. This has also developed into his adult pantomime work, including productions with titles such as Boobs in the Wood and SINderella - both of which have played to sell-out audiences. In 2006, for the first time in 14 years, he refused to play Great Yarmouth, stating that the resort was "full of overweight people in flip-flops and fat children of all colours and no class".[5] The inhabitants of the town took this as a personal affront though he was referring to the tourists[citation needed].
[edit] Music
Davidson has also produced some musical pieces of work, mostly produced in conjunction with his friend Greg Lake of Emerson Lake and Palmer fame. These include albums of a contemporary nature, as well as Scottish ballads and folk songs.
[edit] Forces
Davidson has put much effort into entertaining the British Armed Forces, and set up a charity to fund shows to provide entertainment for British soldiers living abroad. As well as extensive touring, he has starred in a number of his own TV specials for ITV and BBC, including one from HMS Invincible, Homeward Bound for Christmas and in 2002 he filmed Jim Davidson Falklands Bound which was screened during the 20th Anniversary of the end of the hostilities. During the Iraq conflict he was trapped on a cargo plane to entertain the British soldiers for no fee[citation needed], and in 2003 Jim Davidson Basra Bound was screened on BBC One and further BBC TV Specials of his live stand-up show followed. He has made five visits to the Falkland Islands, twice to the Republic of Macedonia, and at least six times to Iraq. He is presently the Chairman of The British Forces Foundation charity which aims to promote the well-being and esprit de corps of service personnel.
During the Beirut Crisis of 1984, Davidson flew to Beirut via Cyprus to give a show to the troops. Travelling back via Cyprus he laid on a show for the service personnel based at RAF Akrotiri. On hearing that many troops for other parts of the Island were unable to attend the show at Akrotiri he returned to Cyprus shortly after at his own expense to put on a charity show at Nicosia for all British Forces stationed in Cyprus.
[edit] Business
Davidson has several business interests. He set up a company which either bought or leased several seaside theatres and piers, including the Winter Gardens building in Great Yarmouth which he converted into a nightclub. After losing £700,000 on a pantomime production of Dick Whittington and a meeting with the Inland Revenue in 2003, he has sold the company.[1]
[edit] Personal life
Davidson has always been a good subject for the tabloid press. His multiple marriages, battles with alcohol, abusive language on stage, and admission of wife-beating make him a compelling target.
In Davidson's first autobiography The Full Monty,[6] he frankly talked about his turbulent relationship with his wife: "We’re like a couple of boxers. On the first occasion, I poked her in the eye by accident. I actually went for the mouth. Thank heaven I missed, I’d have fallen in. I just took a playful punch. Unfortunately I caught her completely wrong. The second time I gave her a shiner. I threw a bunch of keys which whacked her in the eye."
In his second autobiography Close to the Edge[7] he writes tales of his four marriages and six year battle against alcoholism. His ex-wife Alison Holloway's new husband Burt Kearns had plotted to have Davidson knee-capped as a result of his confession of battering Holloway.[8]
Davidson's numerous marriages spurred Sir John Mills to send a telegram on the occasion of his fourth, which read simply: "Will It Last?".[9] The marriage ended ten years later. Davidson subsequently returned the compliment to Sir John and his wife on their 60th Wedding Anniversary, with a telegram bearing the same wording.[10]
Davidson was quoted in July 2004 as saying, in light of footballer Ray Parlour's divorce, which set a precedent of allowing wives to earn from their husband's future earnings: As much as I love my girlfriend, I will not be making her my fifth wife.[11]
In 2004, Davidson, a self-professed Conservative, publicly left the United Kingdom for Dubai in protest of the Labour Party government,[citation needed] although he has subseqently been quoted as attributing his move as being motivated primarily by the tax-free status afforded him.[citation needed]
Spouses & Issues
- Sue Walpole (1971 - 1972) (divorced) 1 child Sarah Walpole-Davidson, born 25th April, 1972
- Julie Gullick (1981 - 1986) (divorced) 1 child Cameron Gullick-Davidson, born 12th December 1982
- Alison Holloway (1987 - 1988) (divorced)
- Tracy Hilton (1990 - 2000) (divorced) 3 children Charlie (born 1990), Fred (1992) and Elsie (1993)
[edit] Taxation and bankruptcy
On 27 August 2003, after a meeting with the Inland Revenue Davidson claimed he spent £10,000 a week on back taxes, commission to agents, maintenance and school fees, and a £2.2million mortgage: "My problem is money - I used to earn five times as much as I do now, but I still pay the same maintenance, school fees and commission to agents," he told the Radio Times magazine.[1]
On 6 July 2006 Davidson was declared bankrupt for failing to pay a £700,000 tax bill.[2]
[edit] Controversy
Davidson makes no attempt to hide his prejudices, and from time to time makes jokes about ethnic minorities, homosexuals and disabled people in his stand-up act.
Davidson has been the subject of media coverage, especially in British tabloid newspapers. The Shropshire Star reports that much of it has focused upon his divorce payments, income tax bills, and court orders for cancelled shows, with a tendency to concentrate upon where his comedy is ill-received rather than where it is well-received.[12] He once refused to go on stage in Plymouth because some disabled ticket holders were in the front row, quoting him as saying that "I've got nothing against disabled people but part of my act is taking the piss out of the front row. Just imagine if I had have ripped it out of them? The papers would have had a field day. Instead I asked them to move but they wouldn't budge." The disabled people in question responded they had bought front row tickets, were aware of the nature of his act, and on that basis why should they move. Some critics later said that a feature of a great comedian is to be able to tailor his act to suit any audience.[13] Meanwhile, disabled comedian Laurence Clark now turns the tables on Davidson, refusing to perform if Davidson ever turned up to one of his shows, and comparing Davidson to Tony Blair's manifesto speeches.[14]
Martin Fletcher describes Davidson as "extraordinarily foul-mouthed, racist, and sexist" and a "throwback";[15] whilst quoting Garry Bushell describing Davidson as a "family entertainer". In a Channel 4 poll of the "100 Worst Britons", Davidson came in at #20.[16]
In 2002, Davidson was escorted from the grounds of the Marriott Bristol Royal Hotel, England, after it was alleged that he had become confrontational and abusive to staff.[17]
In 2003, Davidson was sued after a woman was seriously injured in a fall at Wellington Pier, which Davidson leased at the time. It was alleged that he had failed to maintain the pier properly. The case was subsequently withdrawn.[18]
In 2004, comedian Jimmy Carr threatened legal action against Davidson, accusing Davidson of having stolen some of his comic material.[19]
In October 2006, he was again accused of making insensitive jokes about cancer sufferers, blind people, a woman in a wheelchair, and the recent trial over the murder of Damilola Taylor, prompting a woman to walk out of the show in disgust. Davidson vehemently denied the charge, claiming that jokes about blind people and cancer sufferers would have merited a "mass walkout." He also said the comments about the Damilola Taylor trial were taken out of context, stating that "my actual remark was that I thought the killers should be locked away forever. And if she objects to that then that is her prerogative."[20]
In December 2006, Davidson was embarrassed by a 15 year old boy who heckled him during a performance of his pantomime, Dick Whittington in Kent. Reportedly, Davidson came on stage at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford, delivering the scripted line, "Do you know who I am?” The boy, a Scout in full uniform, "brought the house down" by responding loudly with, "Yes, you’re a fucking wanker." According to the newspaper The Sun, Davidson was enraged & spent the remainder of the first half of the show in a sullen mood. He reportedly tried unsuccessfully to find the boy's scoutmaster during the interval to personally address his heckler.[21]
In March 2007, he was quoted to have said on the Channel Four show "100 Greatest Stand Ups": "I hate women; if we couldn't fuck 'em, who'd have 'em?"
In 2007, Davidson was called on to defend the good character of close friend Brian Wright, one of Britain's biggest cocaine barons. Despite Davidson testifying to Wright's good character, the judge concluded that Wright was in fact "a master criminal, manipulative, influential and powerful," and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. [22]
[edit] Trivia
- Comedian and writer John Junkin wrote most of his early TV scripts, as did scriptwriter Terry Ravenscroft.[23]
- The inshore lifeboat at Caister on Sea is named after Davidson in recognition of his fund raising work for the Caister Volunteer Rescue Service, it being a station independent of the RNLI.[24]
- One of b3ta's weekly image challenges was called "What if Jim Davidson was Prime Minister?"
- On Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand Ups, he described female comedians, including Jo Brand, as "fucking shite".
[edit] Credits
[edit] Television
Big Break, Home James, New Faces, Stand Up Jim Davidson, The Generation Game, The Jim Davidson Show, Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, Manimal, Life's a pitch, Jim Davidson live at Sun City, What's on Next, Tiswas, It's me or the dog, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
[edit] Film
- Davidson made his first feature film appearance, somewhat incongruously, in the Peter Greenaway directed A Zed and Two Noughts (1985).
- Colour Me Kubrick (2006) With John Malkovich.
[edit] Music
- "Watching Over You"
- "A Time for Remembering"
- "Love Please Stop Leaving Me"
[edit] Theatre
- Davidson wrote and performed in the "adult" pantomime Sinderella with '60s singer Jess Conrad, comedians Dave Lee, Roger Kitter, Dave Kristian, Mia Carla, Charlie Drake and balloon dancers The Oddballs.
- Boobs in the Wood 1999 an adult pantomime performed with Victor Spinetti.
- In 2004 Sinderella Comes Again toured again with a new script and was released on DVD and video.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c missingauthor. "Davidson "nearly made bankrupt"", BBC News, 2003-08-27.
- ^ a b missingauthor. "missingtitle", BBC News, missingdate.
- ^ Jack Kibble-White and Steve Williams. Part Eighteen: I Heard a Seat in the Stalls Go "Gerdonk!". Retrieved on September 23, 2005.
- ^ Proboards104
- ^ missingauthor. "Davidson ready to make Tories laugh", The Daily Telegraph, missingpublisher, 2004-04-24.
- ^ Jim Davidson (1994-10-06). The Full Monty. Time Warner Paperbacks. ISBN 0-7515-0737-7.
- ^ Jim Davidson (2002-08-01). Close to the Edge. Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-188312-1.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. missingpublisher.
- ^ missingauthor. missingtitle. missingpublisher.
- ^ "Sir John Mills renews wedding vows", BBC News, 2001-01-16.
- ^ missingauthor. "missingtitle", The Daily Mirror, Mirror Group, missingdate.
- ^ "Still space for a blue comedian?", Shropshire Star, 2005-08-22.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. missingpublisher.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. missingpublisher.
- ^ Martin Fletcher. "Voyeurism, sexism and non-celebrity: reality TV eats itself", Socialist Democracy, 2005-06-06.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. Channel 4.
- ^ "Hotel boss asks comic to leave", BBC News, 12 December 2002.
- ^ "Comic Davidson sued over fall", BBC News, 16 October 2003.
- ^ "Stand-ups square up over fat joke", BBC News, 5 August 2004.
- ^ http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2006/10/12/4553/it%27s_strife%2C_jim...
- ^ Gordon Smart. "Bizarre: Davidson gets dib dib GOB", The Sun (newspaper), News Group Newspapers, 2006-12-20.
- ^ "Cocaine baron jailed for 30 years", BBC News, 03 April 2007.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. missingpublisher.
- ^ missingauthor (missingdate). missingtitle. missingpublisher.
| Preceded by Bruce Forsyth |
Host of The Generation Game 1995-2002 |
Succeeded by Bruce Forsyth |
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1953 births | Living people | English comedians | English stand-up comedians | English television presenters | Anglo-Scots | Officers of the Order of the British Empire | Charlton Athletic F.C.
