Jimmy Tarbuck
| Jimmy Tarbuck OBE | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Joseph Tarbuck 6 February 1940 Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Comedian, presenter |
| Years active | 1964- |
| Children | Liza Tarbuck |
James Joseph "Jimmy" Tarbuck, OBE (born 6 February 1940),[1] is an English comedian. He was a host of Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the early 1960s, and for his numerous hostings of game and quiz shows on ITV during the 1970s, '80s and early '90s. He is also known for leading ITV's Live From Her Majesty's and its subsequent incarnations during the 1980s. His daughter is the actress, television and radio presenter, Liza Tarbuck.
Biography
Growing up, Tarbuck attended Dovedale Primary School in Liverpool where he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.[2][3] His first television show was It's Tarbuck '65! on ITV in 1964,[4] and he was the last original host of Sunday Night at the London Palladium, from 1965. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game.
In the 1980s, he hosted similar Sunday night variety shows, Live From Her Majesty's, Live from the Piccadilly and finally Live from the Palladium, which were produced by London Weekend Television for ITV. Nicknamed Tarby, he is a Conservative Party supporter,[5] and at the height of his celebrity was a prominent supporter of Margaret Thatcher and her policies, once baking her a cake for her 60th birthday in October 1985.
He was appearing on the fourth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2006, but he was forced to pull out for medical reasons.[6] In 2008, he returned to a variety format on television screens when he co-hosted, alongside Emma Bunton, an edition of ITV1's variety show, For One Night Only. On 25 May 2012 he appeared on Piers Morgan's Life Stories while on 3 December 2012 he was invited to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Variety Performance.
He lives with his wife, Pauline, in Coombe, Kingston upon Thames, London.
On 26 April 2013, North Yorkshire Police arrested Tarbuck for questioning over an alleged sexual assault on a young boy in the 1970s.[7] Having been on police bail, on 24 March 2014, the force announced he would not be charged with any offence.[8]
In 2015, he and Des O'Connor starred in their own one-off show at the London Palladium to raise money for the new Royal Variety Charity. Due to the success of this show, they toured the country in 2016 from April to October. The venues they visited were (in chronological order), Southampton Mayflower Theatre, Leeds Grand Theatre, Southend Cliffs Pavilion, Bristol Hippodrome, Bournemouth International Centre, and Milton Keynes Theatre.
As of 2016 he continues to tour clubs and theatres around the UK with his comedy show, sometimes as a double act with Kenny Lynch.
Notes
- ↑ "Tarbuck, Jimmy (1940-)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ↑ "John Lennon, the boy we knew". The Guardian. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ↑ Norman, Philip (2008) John Lennon: The Life
- ↑ Bemuddlement - It's Tarbuck!
- ↑ Wheeler, Brian (26 May 2004). "Ugly business for show people?". BBC News.
- ↑ "Tarbuck pulls out of dance show". BBC News.
- ↑ "Jimmy Tarbuck arrested over allegation of assault on young boy". Guardian. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ "Jimmy Tarbuck will not face abuse charges". BBC News. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.