Ken Dodd: The Biography

by StephenGriffin (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $3.25

  The first complete biography of the last of the great generation of British comedians. This book is published to coincide with Dodd's fiftieth year in showbiz. A new generation of fans and comedians, including Johnny Vegas, Victoria Wood and Vic Reeves, are now rediscovering Dodd's unique talents. Dodd has a huge and loyal fan base, and yet there has been astonishingly little published about him previously Unbelievably, even in his late seventies, Ken Dodd still tours the country, performing in packed venues three or four nights a week with his legendary four-hour sets. 'I do it because that is what I do. I do it because that is what I am,' he said when asked why he continues with this punishing schedule. To many, he is the last great music-hall-inspired variety comic. Yet to those who've never seen him live he is still merely the purveyor of Diddymen and sugary ballads. But what drives this man, who still lives in the house in which he was born in Knotty Ash? Why has he never married, despite having two long-term 'fiancees'? What about his famously strange relationship to money, culminating in his infamous 1989 trial for tax evasion? What was the story behind his stalker? And how did this feather-duster salesman from Liverpool become one of the greatest, though least-lauded, comic geniuses of his generation? In this major new biography, Stephen Griffin has interviewed friends, colleagues and fellow comedians to get inside the mind of the Diddyman.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.28

  On the eve of his eightieth birthday Ken Dodd is still touring the country, performing in packed venues an average of two nights a week with his legendary four hour sets. 'I do it because that is what I do. I do it because that is what I am,' he said, when asked why he continues with this punishing schedule. Ken Dodd's career has spanned over five decades as he went from singer to actor, and presently, most famously, comedian. He is considered the last, great, music-hall inspired variety comic, but what drives this man whose career has been tainted by hardship? Dodd still lives in his childhood home of Knotty Ash and has never married, despite having two-long term fiancees. In 1989 his strange relationship to money culminated in a trial for tax evasion, and he was also famously stalked by a mystery woman. How did this feather-duster salesman become one of the most loved, though least-lauded, British comedians of all time? Stephen Griffin interviewed friends, colleagues and fellow comedians to get inside the mind of the original Diddyman.