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Jim Davidson (comedian)

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Jim Davidson as Buttons in Sinderella Comes Again.
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Jim Davidson as Buttons in Sinderella Comes Again.

Jim Davidson OBE (born Cameron James Davidson in Kidbrooke, London, England on December 13 1953) is a fairly popular but controversial English comedian, TV presenter and actor. A recovering alcoholic who has been married four times, he has been made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for his charity work.

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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/3184883.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5153936.stm

Contents

Biography

Jim Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London 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 when the regular comedian hadn’t turned up.

He became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and then first auditioned for Opportunity Knocks in 1975, but was unsuccessful, reporting that Hughie Green told him 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.

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 http://www.tiswasonline.com/pies_gunge_water.php?section=water#10 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. 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

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 14years 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 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/04/24/dp2401.xml#4

Music

Davidson has also produced some engaging 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.

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, 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 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.

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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/3184883.stm He has also been quick to take advantage of the video and DVD age, and all of his works are available on back catalogue.

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 his 2004 autobiography Close to the Edge, 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 http://www.tabloidbaby.com/Book/Updates/kneecap.htm.

Davidson's numerous marriages spurred Sir John Mills to send a telegram on the occasion of his fourth, which read simply: Will It Last? http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/johnmills_3.htm. It didn't, and after 10 years (the longest of any of his marriages), his wife Tracy accepted that like the three before her, she had been a hapless victim of the fickle comedian's bad moods, roving eye and general bad behaviour towards women http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:60670819/Jim+Davidson+was+a+husband+with+two+faces~R~+One+was+kind+and+gentle,+the+other+you+didnt+want+to+see+~R~~R~+BY+HIS+EX-WIFE+TRACY~R~(Features).html?refid=ency_topnm. Davidson subsequently returned the compliment to Sir John and his wife on their 60th Wedding Anniversary, with a telegram bearing the same wording http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1119790.stm.

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. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tonyparsons/tm_column_date=12072004-name_index.html

On 27 August, 2003, after a meeting with the Inland Revenue where he was almost declared bankrupt, Davidson claimed he spend £10,000 a week on back taxes, commission to agents, maintenance and school fees, and a £2.2million pound 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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/3184883.stm

In 2004, Davidson, a self-professed Conservative, (not BNP as many assume) publicly left the United Kingdom for Dubai in protest of the Labour Party government.

On July 6 2006, Davidson was declared bankrupt for failing to pay a £700,000 tax billhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5153936.stm

Controversy

Davidson makes no attempt to be politically correct, and from time to time makes jokes about ethnic minorities 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 http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=36439 It cites as an example an incident where 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 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 suit any audience http://www.funny.co.uk/news/art_75-1276-Davidson-Refuses-To-Perform-For-Disabled-People.html 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 http://www.salisburyartscentre.co.uk/mixsub.htm

Martin Fletcher describes Davidson as an "extraordinarily foul-mouthed, racist, and sexist" and a "throwback" 'http://www.socialistdemocracy.org/RecentArticles/RecentRealityTVEatsItself.html; 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 http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/britons/results.html

Trivia

Credits

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, CSI, Jim Davidson live at Sun City, What's on Next, Tiswas, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Film

Music

Theatre

References

External links

 

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