Jim Davidson (comedian)

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Jim Davidson
Birth name	Cameron James Davidson
Born	13 December 1953 (1953-12-13) (age 55) Kidbrooke, London, England
Medium	Television presenter, comedian, actor
Nationality	British
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Sue Walpole (1971–1972) (div.) Julie Gullick (1981–1986) (div.) Alison Holloway (1987–1988) (div.) Tracy Hilton (1990–2000) (div.)
Notable works and roles	The Jim Davidson Show, The Generation Game

Jim Davidson OBE (born Cameron James Davidson on 13 December 1953) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. Despite controversies surrounding aspects of his act and personal life, he has been made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment, particularly of British Soldiers in conflict zones.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Television 1.2 Touring show 1.3 Music 1.4 Business 1.5 Forces and Charity 2 Personal life 2.1 Spouses and Children 2.2 Taxation and bankruptcy 3 Controversies 4 Credits 4.1 Television 4.2 Film 4.3 Music 4.4 Theatre 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Jim Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London and attended Kidbrooke Park Primary School, Blackheath and St Austen's School in Charlton. Having impressed some acquaintances of his father with impressions of celebrities, he was chosen to appear in Ralph Reader's Gang Show at the Golders Green Hippodrome aged 12 and appeared on television in the Billy Cotton Band Show. He also briefly attended a stage school in Woolwich.

Upon leaving school he was a drummer for pub bands and worked as; a supermarket shelf stacker, a messenger and air ticket clerk for a travel agency, a cashier for Wall's ice cream, for Rank Xerox (having trained as a reprographics operator) and as a window cleaner.^[1]

He found his way into show business, when as a regular in a pub in Woolwich, he undertook an act after the regular comedian hadn’t turned up. He then became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and first auditioned for Opportunity Knocks in 1975 unsuccessful and was 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.^[2]

[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 award as "Funniest Man On Television". Davidson made a few appearances on Tiswas in 1977, and claimed in 2004 to have been the first Phantom Flan Flinger on that programme.^[3] He starred in high rating TV sitcoms Up The Elephant And Around The Castle and Home James. His one man show for Thames, Stand Up Jim Davidson was recorded on stage at London's Royalty Theatre.^[4]

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. In September 2007, Davidson appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen in the UK, and in May 2008 he appeared in the BBCs Comedy Map of Britain.

[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 to 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. 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. He has also, for the first time in 14 years, in 2006, 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.

[edit] Music

Davidson has also produced some engaging musical pieces of work, mostly produced in conjunction with his friend Greg Lake of the Emerson Lake and Palmer progressive rock group. These include albums of a contemporary nature, as well as Scottish ballads and folk songs.

[edit] Business

Davidson also has several business interests. He set up a company which either bought or leased several seaside theatres or piers, including the Winter Gardens building in Great Yarmouth, converting it 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.^[6] He has also been quick to take advantage of the video and DVD age, and all of his works are available on back catalogue.

[edit] Forces and Charity

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 made the 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, 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. His is presently the Chairman of The British Forces Foundation charity which aims to promote the well-being and esprit de corps of service personnel. Davidson was awarded the OBE in the New Year's Honours List 2001 for his services to charity.^[7]

A former Master Free Mason of the Chelsea Lodge, England (resigned),^[8] Davidson was the founding Master of British Forces Foundation (Lodge) No. 9725.^[8][9]

[edit] Personal life

Davidson has always been a good subject for the tabloid press. His multiple marriages, abusive language on stage, battles with substance abuse, and admissions of domestic violence have made him a compelling target.

In Davidson's first autobiography The Full Monty^[10] (1993), 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. Just for a giggle she kept blackening it up to make it look worse."

In his second autobiography Close to the Edge^[11] (2001) 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.^[12]

Davidson's numerous marriages spurred Sir John Mills to send a telegram on the occasion of his fourth, which read simply: "Will It Last?".^[13] 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.^[14]

Davidson was quoted in July 2004 as saying, in light of footballer Ray Parlour's divorce: "As much as I love my girlfriend, I will not be making her my fifth wife."^[15]

In 2004, Davidson, a self-professed Conservative, publicly left the United Kingdom for the tax-free haven of Dubai in protest of the Labour Party government. At the time, he declared that "I may as well go to Dubai and be an ethnic minority there than wait five years till I become one here."^[16] He has subsequently been quoted as attributing his move as being motivated primarily by the tax-free status afforded him.

[edit] Spouses and Children

• Sue Walpole (1971–1972; divorced), 1 child Sarah Walpole-Davidson, born 25 April 1972
• Julie Gullick (1981–1986; divorced), 1 child Cameron James Davidson, born 12 August 1982
• Alison Holloway (1987–1988; divorced)
• Tracy Hilton (1990–2000; divorced), 3 children Charles Albert John(born 1989), Freddie Aristotle(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 £2.2 million 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 Radio Times magazine.^[6]

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.^[6][17]

[edit] Controversies

Davidson has been known to make jokes about ethnic minorities, homosexuals and disabled people in his stand-up act, which has made him a subject of media coverage and frequent criticism. The Shropshire Star reported 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.^[18] He once refused to go on stage in Plymouth because some disabled ticket holders were in the front row, quoting him as saying, "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, saw no reason why they should move. Some critics later said that a feature of a great comedian is to be able to tailor his act to suit any audience.^[19] Meanwhile, disabled comedian Laurence Clark turned the tables on Davidson, refusing to perform if Davidson ever turned up at one of his shows, and compared Davidson to Tony Blair's manifesto speeches.^[20]

Martin Fletcher describes Davidson as "extraordinarily foul-mouthed, racist, and sexist" and a "throwback";^[21] 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.^[22]

In the mid-1980s, Davidson was convicted of drink-driving, criminal damage to a police car, assaulting two police officers, and unlawful possession of a firearm, after being stopped by Surrey Police officers when returning to his Wentworth home in his Rolls-Royce late one night. After a struggle with the officers following a positive breath test, he was arrested, and an Argentinian pistol - a smuggled "souvenir" of his visit to entertain British troops during the Falklands War - was found in his car.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[23]

Davidson was sued in October 2003 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.^[24]

In 2004, comedian Jimmy Carr threatened legal action against Davidson, accusing Davidson of having plagiarised some of his comic material.^[25]

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: "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."^[26]

In December 2006, Davidson was embarrassed by a 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, loudly replied, "Yes, you’re a fucking wanker."^[27]

In 2007, Davidson was called on to defend the good character of close friend Brian Brendan 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.^[28]

In August of the same year, UK newspaper The People alleged that Davidson had taken part in a number of "bizarre sex sessions" with a prostitute. Among other allegations, the paper claimed that Davidson had gone on all fours and impersonated a dog, while at the same time requesting sexual favours.

In September 2007, on celebrity reality TV programme Hell's Kitchen, Brian Dowling mentioned comments made by Jim Davidson about his homosexuality. Davidson asked Dowling, "Are you on our side?" when referring to whether or not he would be participating for the boys or girls team, and called him a "shirtlifter". Davidson later described himself as a "homophobic arsehole". The programme was aired on ITV on September 4, 2007.^[29] On September 10, 2007 Davidson was asked to leave Hell's Kitchen following further problems with Dowling.^[29]

After Davidson's exit from the programme, the BBC reported that the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom had received 46 complaints over Davidson's "bullying" of Dowling. ITV1, the channel which had originally broadcast the programme, issued a statement, regretting Davidson's "unacceptable remarks".^[30]

In December 2007, Davidson again courted controversy when he chose to make a joke about rape victims, while on stage at Newark Palace Theatre, in Nottinghamshire. The local paper, the Nottingham Evening Post stated that: "there were moments when he did stray too far over the line (most notably with a routine on rape)"^[31]

[edit] Credits

[edit] Television

• Big Break
• Home James
• Hello der mon!
• New Faces
• Stand Up Jim Davidson
• Chalky in: White Man's Burden
• Chalky in: Goaty's revenge
• This was your life
• The Generation Game
• The Jim Davidson Show
• Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
• Life's a Pitch
• Jim Davidson Live at Sun City
• What's on Next
• Manimal
• Tiswas
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
• Hell's Kitchen

[edit] Film

• Davidson made his first feature film appearance 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.

2006 ;Jim appeared in Pantomime for the first time in years .He played the lead role in Dick Whittington at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by Bruce Forsyth

Host of The Generation Game 1995-2002

Succeeded by Bruce Forsyth

• Jim Davidson Official Site
• Sinderella Comes Again
• Jim Davidson Official Forum
• Jim's Hell's Kitchen profile
• Jim Davidson at the Internet Movie Database