News

The actor, musician and all-round subversive talks about getting his own back on critic AA Gill, his favourite football song and why he’d really like a part that involves lying down

You’ve performed naked on stage with Max Bygraves, bared all in Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and posed nude for the BBC’s Celebrity Painting Challenge. Do you enjoy getting your kit off? VerulamiumParkRanger

I should point out that in two of those instances, I was paid to do so. The Max Bygraves one, I chose to do, merely to disrupt his show. I did a whole one-man show naked at the Albany Empire called Whatever Happened to the AA Man’s Salute, so I’m not afraid to be naked. I don’t think Saltburn is up my alley, but if a part came along and I had to dance naked to a song at the...

Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features drummer Steve Ferrone.

The first time Tom Petty asked Steve Ferrone to join the Heartbreakers on tour, the drummer said he wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

Jenny Morrill Dec 20, 2016

Russ Abbot, Bullseye, Noel Edmonds and a film we all watched in the same room. Christmas TV was more exciting in the 80s...

Cast your mind back to when Christmas Day wasn't about Doctor Who followed by sticking something on Netflix until it was time to go watch the annual fist fight outside the pub.

See related Looking back at Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy The Wolf Of Wall Street review The Wolf Of Wall Street & Scorsese's confrontational films

In the 80s, Christmas was about seeing which fantastic fare the TV had decided to bless us with. Of course, the more prepared among us knew this well in advance, having eagerly pored over the Radio Times/TV Times to check that Jimmy Cricket's Family Laugh 'n' Waz would be shown. There it was – right after Reflections On The Eucharist With The Reverend Paul Leyland.

Ron Moody in 'Oliver!' movie. Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' actor nominated for an Oscar dead at 91 (Note: This Ron Moody article is currently being revised.) Two well-regarded, nonagenarian British performers have died in the last few days: 93-year-old Christopher Lee (June 7, '15), best known for his many portrayals of Dracula and assorted movie villains and weirdos, from the title role in The Mummy to Dr. Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 91-year-old Ron Moody (yesterday, June 11), among whose infrequent film appearances was the role of Fagin, the grotesque adult leader of a gang of boy petty thieves, in the 1968 Best Picture Academy Award-winning musical Oliver!, which also earned him a Best Actor nomination. Having been featured in nearly 200 movies and, most importantly, having had his mainstream appeal resurrected by way of the villainous Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies (and various associated merchandising,...

There are just seven celebrities left in Strictly Come Dancing now, so it's about to get even more intense. But at least this week they get to go travelling - alright, not really, but everyone's dances will be inspired by countries around the world. But what does that mean? Well, we have the song and dance list right here so read on to find out...

Caroline Flack & Pasha Kovalev

Country: Turkey

Dance: Charleston

Song: 'Istanbul' - They Might Be Giants version

Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton

Country: USA

Dance: Jive

Song: 'Surfin' USA' - The Beach Boys

Jake Wood & Janette Manrara

Country: Greece

Dance: Argentine Tango

Song: 'Zorba the Greek'

Mark Wright & Karen Hauer

Country: USA

Dance: Salsa

Song: 'Viva Las Vegas' - Elvis Presley

Pixie Lott & Trent Whiddon

Country: Netherlands

Dance: Viennese Waltz

Song: 'Tulips from Amsterdam' - Max Bygraves

Simon Webbe & Kristina Rihanoff

Country: Austria...

Les Dennis isn't exactly in our day-to-day thoughts, truth be told, but the news yesterday (January 23) that the light entertainment legend would be joining Coronation Street still managed to put a massive smile on our face. Les on the cobbles! Amazing!

To celebrate Les's biggest gig in quite some time, we look back at the celebrity good egg's life and career in order, and come up with eight reasons why we absolutely love him...

He's a talent show king!

Way back before Britain's Got Talent, The X Factor et al, there was New Faces, a notoriously tough competition where a panel of judges - including a youthful Noel Edmonds - marked variety acts on their "star quality", usually without chucking water over each other or trying to get into the papers with a particularly daring dress, as all that palaver is a modern talent show invention.

After doing the rounds...

While Max Bygraves is naturally best remembered as a variety entertainer, the films he made at the height of his fame in the 1950s deserve closer attention. They provide connections between postwar dramas such as Brighton Rock (1947) and Cosh Boy (1953) and the more celebrated kitchen-sink realism that followed the critical and commercial success of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960).

A Cry from the Streets (1958) is a sentimental but revealing social drama about unwanted kids and state children's homes. Spare the Rod (1961) has Bygraves as a liberal teacher questioning the treatment Donald Pleasence's brutish headmaster hands out to working-class pupils. In both of these, Bygraves lends his easygoing "man of the people" persona to confront unpleasant social realities – extraordinary for a "family entertainer" in any period, but in the 1950s, a brave and individual one.

Perhaps even more remarkably, in Charley Moon (1956) Bygraves portrays a performer much like himself, touring...

London -- British entertainer Max Bygraves, a veteran singer and comedian known for his old-fashioned charm, has died, his agent confirmed Saturday. He was 89.

Agent Johnny Mans said Bygraves, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died in his sleep Friday at his daughter's home in Hope Island, Queensland, Australia.

Bygraves won fame in Britain's music halls and theaters after World War II, becoming one of the country's best known variety performers and releasing dozens of popular records.

Famed for his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story," Bygraves become a staple performer on radio through the 1950s, and later appeared frequently on British television shows and in a small number of films.

"We have lost one of the best entertainers that Britain has ever produced," Mans said. "His death is a great loss to the entertainment profession and a great loss to all of his friends in the industry."

Born to an east London dockworker,...

Comedian and variety performer Max Bygraves has died at the age of 89, his agent has told BBC News. Bygraves, known for his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story" and his novelty songs including 'Pink Toothbrush', had a successful career in showbusiness that spanned over 60 years. Having previously worked as a carpenter, Bygraves's first break came in the form of a BBC radio broadcast alongside Frankie Howerd. The show, during which he performed his impersonations of Charles Chaplin and Max Miller, led to a job in a touring revue 'For the Fun of It' lasting 61 weeks. In 1950, he made his first appearance at the Royal Variety Show before performing at the London Palladium 14 times in ten years alongside stars such as Judy Garland. Bygraves was awarded an OBE in 1982 and a year later, took over from Bob Monkhouse as the presenter of Family (more)...

Max Bygraves has died. The former 'Family Fortunes' host passed away at his daughter Christine Green's Australian home on Friday night (31.08.12) at the age of 89, his agent has confirmed. The London-born singer-and-presenter - famed for his catchphrase ''I wanna tell you a story'' - had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and though his family admit his death wasn't ''unexpected'', it was still a ''shock''. His son Anthony Bygraves, 65, told Sky News: ''He was a natural, he was a great entertainer. He was a good mate - we had a lot of good times together. ''He had become terribly frail, but somehow...

My father, Stanley Dent, who has died aged 95, swapped the world of accountancy for running Adelphi Films, which produced British feature films throughout the 1950s – comedies, romances, dramas and horror, cheap and cheerful, but good entertainment, featuring stars such as Peter Sellers, Diana Dors, Sid James, Max Bygraves, Tommy Trinder and Dora Bryan.

Stanley was born in London, one of the three sons of Arthur Dent, a successful and charismatic film salesman, and his wife Hettie. He went to Kingsbury county school (now high school), and then qualified as an accountant. During the second world war, he was a gunner in Egypt and Syria. He enjoyed the outdoor desert life, where he learned to steer his jeep by the stars.

Arthur acquired Adelphi Films in 1949 and Stanley joined the company as business director, with his brother David as a producer. Their brother, Harry, had been killed during the war. Adelphi...

Veteran British entertainer Max Bygraves is in mourning after his wife of 69 years died.

The actor/singer is said to be "devastated" after Blossom Murray, 88, passed away at a care home in Queensland, Australia.

She had been battling a long-term chest complaint and the couple moved Down Under from the U.K. three years ago in the hope the warmer climate would help her beat the illness.

According to Britain's Daily Mail, friends of the couple have jetted to Australia to comfort the 88-year-old star.

Bygraves was a popular singer and movie star in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, and was once invited by Judy Garland to perform with her in New York. He later moved into light entertainment and TV work before retiring from showbiz.

Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren has been laid to rest at a funeral service in North London. McLaren passed away earlier this month from rare cancer mesothelioma. He was 64. Dame Vivienne Westwood, Adam Ant, Tracey Emin, the Buzzcocks' Steve Diggle and Sir Bob Geldof attended the funeral of the man once called "the godfather of punk". His coffin, which featured the slogan "too fast to live, too young to die", was carried on a horse-drawn carriage. Mourners were transported to St Mary Magdalene's church in a green double decker bus emblazoned with the words: "Malcolm was here 1946-2010." The vehicle blasted Sid Vicious's version of 'My Way' while traveling through Camden. The 200 attendees also sang along to McLaren's version of the Max Bygraves song 'You Need Hands'. A white floral tribute spelled (more)...