Ted Rogers (comedian)
| Ted Rogers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward George Rogers 20 July 1935 Kennington, London, England |
| Died | 2 May 2001 (aged 65) London, England |
| Occupation | Television comedian |
Ted Rogers (20 July 1935 - 2 May 2001) was a fast-talking English comedian and light entertainer who started his career as a Redcoat entertainer and is best remembered as the only host in the original series of the Yorkshire Television gameshow 3-2-1.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and career
Rogers was born in Kennington, south London and went to school in Lambeth. His idol as a youngster was Danny Kaye and Rogers won a holiday camp talent contest impersonating Kaye as a youngster, but he would later put all showbusiness offers on hold whilst he did his National Service in the RAF.
In the early 1960s Rogers would appear as a stand up comedian on the radio programme Billy Cotton Band Show, alongside singers such as Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Alma Cogan and comedians Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd.
He went on to become a familiar presence on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the 1970s.
[edit] 3-2-1
Rogers achieved his biggest success as the presenter of ITV's variety gameshow 3-2-1. It ran for ten years in a top-rating Saturday night slot.
Rogers also appeared on the comedy panel game Joker's Wild. He earned £130,000 a year in the early 1980s from 3-2-1 alone, and combined this with a career as a highly-paid after dinner speaker and made regular cabaret and public appearances.
3-2-1 was cancelled in 1988 when still attracting audiences of 12 million and in the top twenty ratings. In April 1996 Rogers told the Sunday Mirror that "The Oxbridge lot got control of TV and they didn't really want it. It was too downmarket for them. We were still getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after 10 years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honour".[1]
Rogers also provoked ire in the music world with the obvious sub-text of his comedy act and persona deemed politically incorrect and epitomised the banality of American imported ideas regarding the game-show genre. One acidic song sung by indie group The Fall, "Joker Hysterical Face" with the barbed lyric, "Ted Rogers' brains burn in hell".
[edit] After 3-2-1
Rogers was a staunch supporter of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government of the 1980s: he spoke at their election rallies in 1979, 1983 and 1987. Rogers fell on hard times and was declared bankrupt in early 1992 having apparently invested his fortune in a failed business venture. His home at Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, was repossessed and Rogers' production company collapsed with debts of £80,000. He moved to Haslemere, Surrey, into a more modest house.
In 1996 Rogers performed three times a week as the headline act in the summer show in Whitby, North Yorkshire from 1 July to 6 September. In 1997/1998 Rogers appeared in the touring production of the play "Danny and Me" about his hero. Towards the end of the 1990s the satellite/cable station Challenge began re-running episodes of 3-2-1. In 2000, Rogers was seen during the sponsor credits for the ITV quiz Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - sitting in a dressing room with 3-2-1 mascot Dusty Bin and bemoaning the new show's success.
Shortly before his death, he made several commercials for fast food chain, McDonald's. His final television appearance saw him playing the host of a downmarket quiz show in the BBC children's sitcom ChuckleVision. Had he lived, he would have worked with his old friend Jackie Mason on a Vaudeville-type act in America which was due to start in October 2001.
[edit] Personal life
Ted Rogers was married twice, firstly in 1953 to his childhood sweetheart Marge Robertson, with whom he had two daughters, and then in 1979 to Marion Mitchell, with whom he had a daughter, Canna Marie, in 1986 and a son, Danny Edward, in 1990.
[edit] Celebrity Guest
In 1989 Rogers appeared on the ITV game show You Bet!.
[edit] Death
On 2 May 2001 Ted Rogers died after open-heart surgery to replace a heart valve at St Thomas' Hospital in London.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Sunday Mirror, 7th April 1996
- ^ "Entertainer Ted Rogers dies". BBC News. 2 May 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1309373.stm. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
