Ken Dodd Ken Dodd, born November 8, 1927, Liverpool, is a veteran British comedian and singer, famous for his buck teeth, frizzy hair, feather duster (or "tickling stick"), and his catchphrase, "How tickled I am!" He works largely in the music hall tradition, although he has appeared in several dramatic plays and as the Tollmaster in the Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen.
His comedy style is fast and furious, relying on a high number of one-liner jokes. Dodd sometimes intersperses his comedy with music, and sings with a baritone voice. He has had many recording hits. His first single Love Is Like A Violin (1960), produced on Decca by Alex Wharton, went to No. 8 (UK), and his song Tears, which topped the charts for five weeks in 1965, is still one of the biggest selling singles of all time in the United Kingdom.
His stage performances used to involve Diddy Men - children dressed up, or ventriloquists dummies - supposedly residents of his mythologised home town, Knotty Ash. Unlike many other famous Liverpudlians, who have left the city on finding fame, Dodd has stayed loyal to his roots and still lives in the part of Liverpool where he was born, in Knotty Ash.
His performance stamina is legendary. His solo stage shows can still run for more than five hours. He claims that on one occasion the caretaker of the theatre handed him the keys on stage and told him to lock up when he was finished. Whilst appearing on a Comic Relief television special, he overran his spot but refused to be silenced, forcing the presenters to enter the stage and attempt to manually remove him. He is a very difficult television interview subject because of his seeming inability to stop performing and telling jokes.
He always ends his stage performances with a soulful rendition of his hit song "Happiness".
More controversially, he went on trial for tax evasion in 1989, but was acquitted.
He had a stalker named Ruth Tagg who sent Dodd and girlfriend Anne Jones threatening letters and a dead rat, and attempted to burn down his house by pushing burning rags through the mail slot.
In a 2005 poll of comedians and comedy insiders to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by his peers.
UK chart singles "Love Is Like A Violin" (1960) "Once In Every Lifetime" (1961) "Pianissimo (1962) "Still" (1963) "Eight By Ten" (1964) "Happiness" (1964) "So Deep Is The Night" (1964) "Tears" (1965, number 1 hit and sold over a million copies) "The River (Le Colline Sono In Fioro)" (1965) "Where's Me Shirt" "Promises" (1966) "More Than Love" (1966) "It's Love" (1966) "Let Me Cry On Your Shoulder" (1967) "Tears Won't Wash Away These Heartaches" (1969) "Broken Hearted" (1970) "When Love Comes Round Again (L'arca di Noe)" (1971) "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)" (1972) "(Think Of Me) Wherever You Are" (1975) "Hold My Hand" (1981)
