Stephen Nulty 1:05 pm on March 12, 2018
Tags: knotty ash,   

Monday 12 March 2018 – Liverpool’s comedy legend Ken Dodd dies aged 90

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Ken Dodd was born in Knotty Ash in the southern suburbs of Liverpool, UK and yesterday 90 years later died in the same house he was born in and in which he had lived his entire life.  Synonymous with Knotty Ash, Ken Dodd never lived in any other house in his long life.  He had recently been released from hospital after suffering from a chest infection and, perhaps aware of his imminent death, he had married his partner Anne Jones on Friday.  They had been together for over forty years and  she was at his bedside when he died.  Famous for his commitment to touring, and to performing five-hour stand-up shows, Dodd performed his last show at the Liverpool Echo Arena on the 28 December 2017.  Dodd was thought to travel some 50,000 miles a year touring, even into very old age, and when released from hospital on 27 February he was determined to recover enough to be able to go back on tour, having cancelled all his 2018 gigs when becoming ill in January. Upon leaving hospital he said: “I’m going to teach my legs how to work again – they’ve forgotten, you know – and once I’ve recovered myself I’ll get back to doing the job, which is the only job I’ve ever had. While I was in here [hospital], I wrote some jokes, so it should be all right.”  Sadly It wasn’t to be and perhaps fittingly the dedicated Liverpudlian’s last public performance was in the city he loved and lived in his entire life.

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Described as perhaps the last of the great music hall stars, Dodd had been entertaining for over eighty years,beginning his career as an eight-year-old charging neighbouring children to watch a Punch & Judy show with puppets his father had given him for his birthday.  He would charge twopence to sit on boxes and watch, or a penny to stand at the back, and a cigarette card for those who were “hard-up.”   He also became a choirboy and begun doing stand-up routines at working men’s clubs using jokes written by his father and costumes designed by his mother.  At that time he called himself “Professor Yaffle Chuckabutty Operatic Tenor and Sausage Knotter.”  The reference to butty, or sandwich, was something that would be familiar in later years in his routines with puppets he imagined worked in the butty mines in Knotty Ash.  He began his professional career in 1954 at Nottingham Empire and within two years he was topping the bill in Blackpool. 


His vivid imagination was also something he was known for and in later years he would be described by his own defence counsel during a trial on tax evasion charges as a fantasist. He was acquitted of the charges.  It was clear that Dodd’s performing was and always remained the backbone of his life.  During his 1989 trial he said: “Since I am stripped naked in this court, I might as well tell you the lot. I am not mean, but I am nervous of money, nervous of having it, nervous of not having it.”  He described money as a yardstick of success, but that it was “important only because I have nothing else.”  Ken Dodd was also an eccentric, with examples such as keeping love letters in a safety deposit box and keeping hundreds of thousands of cash in his wardrobes at his home.

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Photos: Ken Dodd on stage and with The Beatles


Dodd was famous for his one-liners and his daft jokes.  Brian Logan, writing in the Guardian, said he was “a master at making people happy.”  Kenn Dodd held the world record for telling 1,500 jokes in three-and-a-half hours.  He was also a singer, with 19 UK top 40 hits including “Tears” which was the third-best selling single in the UK in the 1960s only beaten by two tracks by The Beatles.  He also enjoyed success on television and radio from the 1950s onwards.  He was knighted for services to comedy and charity in 2017, becoming Sir Ken Dodd and his new wife becoming Lady Anne when they married on Friday.

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Anne Jones (above) spoke to reporters outside their Liverpool home, describing him as  “a most life-enhancing, brilliant, creative comedian, [who] just wanted to make people happy. […] I have lost a most wonderful husband. He lived to perfect his art and entertain his live and adoring audiences. I’ve been overwhelmed by the love and affection which I’ve already received from  dear friends and the public.” Lady Anne added: “We first met when I was in the Ken Dodd Christmas Show in 1961 at the Manchester Opera House. I’ve had the supreme joy and privilege of working and living with him as a partner for the past 40 years.”

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OTHER TRIBUTES

Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham recalled that he had been “the butt of some his gags” at Sir Ken’s 90th birthday celebrations in Liverpool in November.  Flags are flying at half mast at public buildings in Liverpool following his death and a book of condolences has been opened in his honour.


Dodd’s publicist, Robert Holmes: “To my mind, he was one of the last music hall greats. He passed away in the home that he was born in 90 years ago. He’s never lived anywhere else. It’s absolutely amazing. With Ken gone, the lights have been turned out in the world of variety. He was a comedy legend and a genius.”


Actress, and fellow Liverpudlian, Claire Sweeney, wrote on Twitter: “RIP Sir Ken Dodd. A legend and an inspiration. I have a lot to thank You for. I Was thrilled you had the best birthday party in Liverpool before you left us. Your city, friends,Family and Show business will miss you terribly.”


Comedian Russ Abbott said: Sadly another legend has passed away. An icon a one-off and a true professor of comedy. One of the greatest. How tickled I am to have known him.”  Russ Abbot was playing on one of Dodd’s catchphrases, “How tickled I am…”


Liverpool comedian John Bishop wrote on Instagram: “True comedy legend. RIP Sir Ken Dodd.”


Actor David Morrissey, who is also from Knotty Ash, wrote on Twitter: “Ken Dodd was such an important part of my life growing up in Knotty Ash. He was a great comic and a great man. Thanks for all the laughs.”


Reverend Julia Jesson of St Jonh’s Church, Knotty Ash: “Everyone knew about Knotty Ash thanks to Ken. I met him several times and I was struck by what a Godly and humble man he was.”


Comedian Gary Delaney on Twitter: “RIP Sir Ken Dodd. One of the all time greats. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday,” joking about the length of Sir Ken’s performances.

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Photos: Ken Dodd with one of his Diddymen and trademark tickling sticks and with the Queen Mother and Danny LaRue at a Royal Command Performance


DYEkqwBX0AA9WMkBlackpool Council on Twitter: “Very sad to hear that Sir Ken Dodd has passed away. Over the decades he entertained thousands in Blackpool and was the perfect choice to open the Comedy Carpet [pictured] for us in 2011 #thankyousirken.”


Actress and comedian Dawn French, writing on Twitter: “What a wonderful day for sticking a cucumber through your neighbour’s letter box and shouting the aliens have landed! Tatty bye Doddy. And thanks. #doddy.”  The cucumber joke is a classic Kenn Dodd joke and Doddy is often what he was known as by his fans.  Ken Dodd also called himself the Squire of Knotty Ash or the King of Knotty Ash.


Actor and comedian David Walliams on Twitter: “Comedy flowed through him like water. RIP Sir Ken Dodd.”


Actor and comedian Sandi Toksvig: “Best dinner companion I ever sat next to. Don’t think I said a word. Just laughed and laughed and tried not to drown in my soup. Thank you for the genius.”


Comedian Dara Ó Briain: “Ah, Ken Dodd has died. So happy I got to meet him once, and more importantly, saw him do one of his incredible five-hour shows. He was an education to watch and, afterwards, at 1.30am, he had beers with me in the dressing room and talked showbiz. A privilege, and a loss. RIP.”


Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, on Twitter: “Will miss Ken Dodd – he attended Liverpool Cathedral faithfully while I was Dean there. Always friendly, always wise, always funny. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”


Comedian, singer & TV presenter, Tom O’Connor: “A great loss to entertainment. I feel sorry for up-and-coming comedians who’ll never have a chance of seeing his brilliance at work.”


BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker: “Growing up I used to love it when Ken Dodd came on the telly. He was always mad and chaotic but he guaranteed a laugh. There were so many strings to his bow. Comedian, ventriloquist and – amazingly –  in the 1960s his single Tears was the third highest-selling song in the UK. It was only outsold by two tunes from The Beatles. A cameraman friend tells a story about doing an interview with Ken many years ago. At the end, Mr Dodd put something in his top pocket and tapped it saying ‘Thanks for that, have a drink on me.’ It was a tea bag!”


Comedian and poet, Pam Ayres: “Thank you, Ken Dodd. One of my happiest memories is of taking my mum to see him in the New Theatre, Oxford, and seeing her laugh as I had never seen her laugh in my life.”


DJ Tony Blackburn: “So sorry to hear that Sir Ken Dodd has died. I went to see his shows and met him several times and found him a very lovely man. Thanks for all the laughs Ken, you made me, and a lot of people laugh for many years. RIP.”


TV presenter Carol Vorderman: “I won first prize in the Prestatyn Carnival fancy dress competition wearing my home made Diddy Man costume. I was lucky enough in later life to meet him many times and to split my sides laughing for hours on end listening to him. “His energy and his joy for life and people was inspiring. Happiness, Happiness. the greatest gift that I possess…. wise words, Sir Kenneth…. May your tickling stick be ever tattifalarious and may the Jam Butties be plentiful in heaven.”


Hollyoaks actress Annie Wallace: “So sad to hear of Ken Dodd’s death. A fine entertainer and true son of beautiful Liverpool, never be forgotten. Tattifalarious!”


Liverpool’s Lord Mayor, Malcolm Kennedy: “Liverpool has lost one of its greatest sons. Ken was a phenomenal entertainer and I was proud to have called him my friend. He was a wonderful ambassador for the city, a tireless fundraiser for charities, and quite simply one of the nation’s greatest comics. He will be sadly missed.”


Gyles Brandeth, TV/Radio personality, writer and former MP, on Twitter: “He had a genius for laughter. And spread happiness wherever he went. The human tickling stick is gone and  it’s a sadder world. RIP Ken Dodd.”

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Photo: Anne Jones and Ken Dodd’s nephew John Lewis outside Ken and Anne’s Knotty Ash home

Sources & Further Reading:

ARTICLES RELATED TO KEN DODD’S FUNERAL (28 March)