Kenny Everett

Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole) was an English radio DJ and television entertainer, known for his zany comedic style. 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. 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 1973, when commercial radio became licensed in the UK, he joined Capital Radio. In the late 1970s, he transitioned to television where 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, 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. In 2006, the British public ranked him number 45 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars. Everett openly supported the UK's Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher and made a public appearance at the Young Conservatives conference in 1983. 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.