Keith Harris (ventriloquist)
| Keith Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born |
21 September 1947 Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 28 April 2015 (aged 67) Blackpool, Lancashire, England |
| Known for | Ventriloquist |
Keith Shenton Harris (21 September 1947 – 28 April 2015) was an English ventriloquist, best known for his television show The Keith Harris Show (1982–90), audio recordings, and club appearances with his puppets Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey. He had a UK Top 10 hit single in 1982 with "Orville's Song" which reached number 4 in the charts.
Born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, Harris grew up in Blacon near Chester, where his father owned a chemist shop, and North Baddesley. His parents were both variety performers and from age nine Harris appeared on his father's knee as a "dummy".
Harris was severely dyslexic at school and began creating ventriloquism characters as a teenager. After appearing in summer seasons at holiday resorts, he had spots on the television series Let's Laugh (1965). Harris became a popular act on television variety shows, and following a spell as the host of The Black and White Minstrel Show, was given his own show called Cuddles and Company. He appeared several times on BBC TV's long-running show The Good Old Days.
Harris' best known creation, Orville the duck, came about after he saw some green fur lying around backstage at a performance of The Black and White Minstrel Show in Bristol. Orville, recalled Simon Farquhar in his Independent obituary of Harris, was "a huge, gormless, falsetto-voiced green duckling sporting a nappy fastened by a giant safety pin". Harris recorded "Orville's song", written by Bobby Crush. It made the Top Ten in the UK singles chart in 1982 and sold 400,000 copies. It was later voted the worst song ever recorded.
The Keith Harris Show ran on Saturday evenings on BBC1 from 1982 to 1990 and a series for children The Quack Chat Show (1989–90) also on BBC1. Harris appeared in several Royal Variety Performances and also performed privately for the Royal Family. At the request of Diana, Princess of Wales he was booked as an act for the birthdays of Princes William and Harry at each of their respective third birthdays at Highgrove and Kensington Palace.
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