Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson OBE
Davidson (left) with journalist Garry Bushell in February 2014.
Birth name	James Cameron Davidson
Born	(1953-12-13) 13 December 1953 (age 63) Kidbrooke, London, England
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Years active	1974–present
Genres	Black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy
Spouse	Sue Walpole (m. 1971; div. 1972) Julie Gullick (m. 1981; div. 1986) Alison Holloway (m. 1987; div. 1988) Tracy Hilton (m. 1990; div. 2000) Michelle Cotton (m. 2009)
Children	5

James Cameron "Jim" Davidson, OBE (born 13 December 1953) is a British comedian and presenter. His highest profile roles came on television when he hosted Big Break and The Generation Game. He is also a stand-up comedian and writer, developing adult pantomime shows such as Boobs in the Wood and Sinderella, both of which have played to sell-out audiences.

Davidson has become known for his use of controversial jokes about women, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and disabled people, although he denies accusations that he is prejudiced against these groups.

The son of a Glaswegian father, Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London, and attended Kidbrooke Park Primary School, Blackheath, and St Austen's School in Charlton. Having impressed some acquaintances of his father with impressions of celebrities, he was chosen to appear in Ralph Reader's Gang Show at the Golders Green Hippodrome aged 12 and appeared on television in the Billy Cotton Band Show. He also briefly attended a stage school in Woolwich.

Upon leaving school he was a drummer for pub bands and worked as a supermarket shelf stacker, a messenger, air ticket clerk for a travel agency, a cashier for Wall's ice cream, for Rank Xerox (having trained as a reprographics operator) and as a window cleaner.

Davidson found his way into show business when as a regular in a pub in Woolwich, he undertook an act after the regular comedian hadn’t turned up. He then became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and first auditioned for Opportunity Knocks in 1975, unsuccessfully; he was told by Hughie Green to "go away". His audition for New Faces was more successful, and he proceeded to win the show by one point, and then to come second in the overall contest.