Michael Barrymore

Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

These included Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People, My Kind of Music, Kids Say the Funniest Things, and his own variety show, Barrymore.

Barrymore spent his early career working as a Redcoat at Butlins holiday camps and then in the West End theatre shows of London, where he met dancer Cheryl Cocklin in 1974.

With Cheryl as manager and the mastermind behind Barrymore's rise to fame, he first won a 1975 edition of New Faces, became a regular panellist on Blankety Blank and then the warm-up man for Larry Grayson on the Generation Game and also for Little and Large theatre shows.

In the early days, Barrymore used to do impressions of John Cleese and Norman Wisdom, among others.

They married in 1976.

At his peak, Barrymore was voted the UK's favourite television star several times, and became one of the highest-paid stars on television from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s.

Barrymore rose to fame via appearances on Blankety Blank and Who Do You Do? and his television career began firstly by having his own sketch show entitled The Michael Barrymore Show in 1983, which starred a young Nicholas Lyndhurst, and he also appeared in Russ Abbott's Madhouse as various characters between 1981 and 1982.

He walked out of his contract with LWT, who produced The Michael Barrymore Show, after only one series; he then landed the presenter's role on the BBC gameshow, Get Set Go!.

He appeared in a number of Royal Variety Performance shows, his first being in 1983.

He became the host of ITV gameshow Strike It Lucky (which later became Strike It Rich) in 1986 and it grew in popularity over the years and this was watched by 18 million viewers at its peak.

However, before that he had his own show between 1988 and 1989, produced for the BBC entitled Michael Barrymore's Saturday Night Out; it was set in Jersey and the theme tune, "Doin' the Crab" had been released as a single in 1987.

After his peak of popularity in the mid-1990s, Barrymore appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and other shows including The Friday Night Project, Graham Norton's Bigger Picture, This Morning, The Sharon Osbourne Show and The Saturday Night Show.

The show lasted throughout the 1990s right up to 2000, and was consistently nominated for awards over the years in the UK.

Among the many famous guests that appeared on Barrymore were Cliff Richard, Uri Geller, and Spike Milligan.

This was Barrymore's first successful presenting role (Get Set Go! had been cancelled after only one single series ), which led then to his own light entertainment show, Barrymore in 1991.

In 1991, Barrymore was given his own show entitled Barrymore where he interviewed guests, performed his comedy routines and joined in with other performers on the show.

In 1993, he headlined the Royal Variety Performance.

Following his appearance on the 1993 Royal Variety Performance, where he performed a version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" with soldiers, he became popular on television and on the stage.

The Royal Variety Show performance brought the house down and cemented Barrymore's place at the heart of the British public.

Barrymore became well known through his catchphrases of "Awight!", on making his entrance, and on Strike It Lucky, "Top, middle or bottom?"

and "What is a hot spot not?", to which the studio audience would reply "a not spot".

Following on from the success, Barrymore had a very public battle with substance abuse.

He went into rehab due to his alcohol and drug addiction in 1994.

He left after a couple of months and went on to write a best-selling book about his experiences, including rehab, and he also went on a stage tour called Back in Business in 1994.

He then regained his former status and made another series of Barrymore and recorded a new series called My Kind of People.

He came out as gay on 19 August 1995 and split from his wife in 1996.

He made a new series of Strike It Lucky, now called Strike It Rich and another Barrymore series.

More editions of Strike It Rich and Barrymore were shown in 1997 and he also appeared in Spice World as Mr. Step.

A spin-off talent show, My Kind of People and game show My Kind of Music followed the success of both Barrymore and Strike It Rich.

Following a dip in ratings, Barrymore was cancelled in 1997 (it later returned in 2000).

He went on to new projects with Kids Say the Funniest Things, Animals Do the Funniest Things and Barrymore on Broadway.

He was voted the UK's favourite TV star several times, and became one of the highest-paid stars on TV.

He starred in Bob Martin from 2000 to 2001, a comedy drama in which he played the title role of a failing television game-show host.

Barrymore won the National Television Award for Most Popular Entertainment Presenter five out of the first six years, last at the 6th NTAs in 2000.

Barrymore's television career effectively ended after the Death of Stuart Lubbock in 2001 following a party at Barrymore's house in Essex.

Barrymore was the subject of police investigations and legal action around the case over several years.

Born Michael Ciaran Parker in Bermondsey, he lived on the Dickens estate for the first 18 years of his life with his two elder siblings.

His father left when Barrymore was 11 and they never saw each other again.

Barrymore and his siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith of their Irish mother, Margaret.