Keith Chegwin
| Keith Chegwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 January 1957 Bootle, Lancashire, England |
| Occupation | Television presenter Actor CEO of Cheggers Bingo |
| Website | |
| keithchegwin.com | |
Keith Chegwin (born 17 January 1957) is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.
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[edit] Early career
Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double (1967) and Egghead's Robot (1970). He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode Burial at Sea (1970). Chegwin's most prestigious acting role was that of Fleance in Roman Polanski's 1971 film Macbeth. In 1973 he also appeared in the pilot episode of Open All Hours. He then had smaller parts in The Liver Birds, The Adventures of Black Beauty, My Old Man, ITV's The Wackers, Z-Cars and The Tomorrow People in 1975. His last major acting role was in the 1975 film Robin Hood Junior, although he had two small roles with Tom Courtenay in the Chester Mystery Cycle (1976) and 23 years later in the 1999 film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?. He appeared in TV ads for products such as Pepsi, Barley Water, Tizer, and Cadbury Creme Eggs.
He performed in West End stage shows such as Tom Brown's School Days with Russell Grant and Simon LeBon, and The Good Old Bad Old Days with Anthony Newley and Captain Pugwash, written by Bill Kenwright.
In the 1970s, he had a career as a singer releasing singles on the Pye Records label and hitting the charts as a member of the pop group Kenny. He also worked as a disc jockey for 194 Radio City,[1] and four years at BBC Radio 1.
[edit] Career as a TV presenter
In the mid 1970s, he moved away from acting and became a household name presenting programmes such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Cheggers Plays Pop and Saturday Superstore.[2] As Brown Sauce, he and Swap Shop co-presenters Maggie Philbin and Noel Edmonds released the pop single "I Wanna Be a Winner", which reached number 15 in January 1982, and a follow-up single as The Saucers called "Spring Has Sprung".
Chegwin's career waned in the late 80s and 90s because of his alcoholism, a struggle detailed in his autobiography, Shaken But Not Stirred.[3] He hosted the Sky talent programme Sky Star Search in 1990.[4] He stopped drinking after his appearance on the Richard and Judy show This Morning on 5 November 1992. Chegwin's career regained speed in 1993 when he presented the "Down Your Doorstep" outside broadcast segment on The Big Breakfast, in which he cried, "Wake up you beggars, it's Cheggers!". He subsequently hosted the show itself, and went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout in 1999 on Channel 5.
In 2000, Chegwin presented the Channel 5 and Yorkshire Television's Naked Jungle, which later became infamous as the UK's first naked game show.[5] He was originally asked to host the show clothed, but opted to join in the spirit of things. According to the Daily Mail, the show "plumbed new depths [of indecency on television]".[citation needed] He identifies Naked Jungle as "the worst career move" in his entire life.[6] The programme and Chegwin were condemned in the House of Commons.[6]
He presented regularly on GMTV. He appeared in an episode of the sitcom Extras in 2006. He also has his own recording studio and video edit suite and does his voice over work from home.[6] He frequently sends in jingles to the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1.
Chegwin hosted the Children's BAFTA Television & Film Industry Awards in London. He has been asked to present the Children's BAFTAs again.
He hosts his own quiz nights for the corporate world ref [2] and also works alongside Graham Fisher's International It's A Knockout. Cheggers Mini Knockout Rodeo Show also travels the country putting on corporate events and family vacations.[7]
Chegwin runs his own gaming on-line bingo website www.cheggersbingo.com[8] It is the longest running celebrity-owned bingo website.[citation needed]
The Kill Keith movie was released in November 2011[3] and Chegwin also makes an appearance in the new Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant comedy series Life's Too Short, alongside Shaun Williamson and Les Dennis.
[edit] Personal life
Chegwin is the younger brother of DJ Janice Long.[9][10]He married Maggie Philbin, his co-presenter of Swap Shop, in 1982. The couple had a daughter, Rose, and were divorced in 1993[11]
[edit] References
- ^ [1] North West Radio website, viewed 1 July 2007. also last.fm
- ^ "Newspaper Report". Southportreporter.com. http://www.southportreporter.com/383/. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ Chegwin, Keith (March 1995). Shaken But Not Stirred. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0340639788.
- ^ "TVARK". TVARK. http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/miscellaneous/sky.html. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ The personal webpage of Andy Crawford.
- ^ a b c Levine, Nick (20 November 2007). "Television – Interview – Keith Chegwin". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a80228/keith-chegwin.html. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
- ^ http://www.keithchegwin.com keithchegwin.com
- ^ "Cheggers | Bingo". Cheggersbingo.co.uk. http://www.cheggersbingo.co.uk/cheggersbingo/bingo/home/. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ IMDB Profile
- ^ Cheggers Life[dead link]
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679905/bio
