Jim Davidson

James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter.

He hosted the television shows Big Break and The Generation Game.

Known for his Right-wing politics, he also developed two adult pantomime shows, Boobs in the Wood and Sinderella.

The son of a Scottish father from Glasgow and an Irish mother from Cork, Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London, and attended Kidbrooke Park Primary School, Blackheath, and St Austin'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, Davidson worked as a drummer for pub bands, as well as holding a job as a supermarket shelf stacker, a messenger, air ticket clerk for a travel agency, a cashier for Wall's ice cream and for Rank Xerox (having trained as a reprographics operator) and a window cleaner.

Davidson found his way into show business when, as a regular in a pub in Woolwich, he stepped in after the pub's regular comedian had not turned up.

He then became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and first auditioned unsuccessfully for Opportunity Knocks in 1975.

His audition for New Faces was more successful, and he proceeded to win the show by one point, coming second in the overall contest.

Davidson appeared on an edition of the BBC1 series Seaside Special, shown on 20 August 1977, hosted by Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton.

His appearance garnered negative reviews in The Stage, with the show's reviewer, Martyn Wade, commenting that: "...comedian Jim Davidson had already won first prize for lack of taste with crude racist jokes tracing the adventures of a black man whose nickname was Chalky and whose other names included Toilet-Roll. 'Day-light come and I gotta sign on' is a representative line from Mr Davidson's act."

Davidson's success was quickly followed by many more appearances on television, including What's on Next, and several series of his own television show, The Jim Davidson Show (1979—1982), which ran for five complete series and won Davidson the TV Times award as "Funniest Man on Television".

It peaked at No. 52 in December 1980.

Davidson has several business interests.

He set up a company which bought or leased several seaside theatres or piers, including the Winter Gardens building in Great Yarmouth, which was converted into a nightclub.

He starred in TV sitcoms Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983–1985) and Home James! (1987–1990).

His one-man show for Thames Television, Stand Up Jim Davidson (1990), was recorded at London's Royalty Theatre.

Davidson became known for Big Break (1991–2002) and as the third host of The Generation Game (1995–2002), as the successor to Bruce Forsyth and Larry Grayson.

Davidson was awarded the OBE in the 2001 New Year Honours List for his services to charity.

Davidson is a Freemason and a long-standing member of the Westminster City Council Lodge No. 2882.

He was formerly also a member of the Chelsea Lodge No. 3098 (whose members are all entertainers) but has resigned; he was the founding Worshipful Master of British Forces Foundation Lodge No. 9725 on its formation in 2000.

He lost £700,000 on a pantomime production of Dick Whittington and after a meeting with the Inland Revenue in 2003, he sold the company.

Davidson has entertained the British Armed Forces, and is currently chairman of the British Forces Foundation charity, which aims to promote the wellbeing and esprit de corps of service personnel.

On 27 August 2003, after a meeting with the Inland Revenue, Davidson claimed he spent £10,000 a week on back taxes, commission to agents, maintenance and school fees, and a £2.2 million mortgage: "My problem is money – I used to earn five times as much as I do now, but I still pay the same maintenance, school fees and commission to agents," he told Radio Times magazine.

In 2006, for the first time in 14 years, he refused to play Great Yarmouth, stating that the resort was "full of overweight people in flip-flops and fat children of all colours and no class".

Davidson has appeared in the UK singles chart under his own name with the double A-sided "White Christmas"/"Too Risky".

On 6 July 2006, having failed to keep up payments on a £1.4 million back tax bill that he had reduced to £700,000, Davidson was declared bankrupt.

In September 2007, Davidson appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen (2007) in the UK, and in May 2008 he appeared in the BBC's Comedy Map of Britain.

On 2 January 2013, Davidson was set to become a housemate in the 11th series of Celebrity Big Brother, but was arrested at Heathrow Airport by police officers working on Operation Yewtree.

On 3 January 2014, a year after being arrested and without being charged, he became a housemate in the show's 13th series.

On 29 January 2014, he left the Big Brother house as the winner.

Davidson's touring material developed from his original London comedy circuit show, aimed for pub and club audiences, a demographic considerably different to that of his television work.

He later developed his touring material into his adult pantomime work, including productions with titles such as Boobs in the Wood, a spoof of Robin Hood, and Sinderella.

In spring 2020, Davidson launched his own YouTube channel, where he presented short videos each week, giving his take on the recent news events, and sharing his opinion on news stories and events of the day.

The channel was launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in the United Kingdom.

Davidson continued to upload short videos, usually on a daily basis.

In December 2020, after lockdown measures were put into place in England, Davidson named his daily uploads "Lockdown Diary".

By the autumn of 2020, Davidson's online career expanded further when he launched Jim Davidson TV, his own dedicated website and a forerunner to his business venture named "Ustreme", which launched in November 2020 and replaced Jim Davidson TV.

Throughout his career, Davidson has made jokes about women, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and disabled people in his stand-up act, which has made him a subject of frequent criticism.