Ted Rogers (comedian)

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Ted Rogers (comedian) bigraphy, stories - Comedians

Ted Rogers (comedian) : biography

20 July 1935 – 2 May 2001

Ted Rogers (20 July 1935 – 2 May 2001) was a fast-talking English comedian and light entertainer who started his career as a Redcoat entertainer and is best remembered as the host of the Yorkshire Television game show 3-2-1.

Personal life

Ted Rogers was married twice, firstly in 1953 to his childhood sweetheart Marge Robertson, by whom he had two daughters, and then in 1979 to Marion Mitchell, by whom he had a daughter, Canna Marie, in 1986 and a son, Danny Edward, in 1990.

After 3-2-1

Rogers was a staunch supporter of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government of the 1980s: he spoke at their election rallies in 1979, 1983 and 1987. On the night of the 1979 General Election he said "We’ll know in the morning if we have a silly old woman as Prime Minister or whether Margaret Thatcher got in". In the early 1990s, Rogers fell on hard times and was declared bankrupt in early 1992 having apparently invested his fortune in a failed business venture. His home at Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, was repossessed and Rogers’s production company collapsed with debts of £80,000. He moved to Haslemere, Surrey, into a more modest house.

In 1996 Rogers performed three times a week as the headline act in the summer show in Whitby, North Yorkshire from 1 July to 6 September. In 1997-1998 Rogers appeared in the touring production of the play Danny and Me about his hero. Towards the end of the decade, the satellite/cable station Challenge began re-running episodes of 3-2-1. In 2000, Rogers was seen during the sponsor credits for the ITV quiz Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – sitting in a dressing room with 3-2-1 mascot Dusty Bin and bemoaning the new show’s success.

In 1999 and 2000 Rogers made several commercials for fast food chain, McDonald’s. On 10 November 2000, Rogers appeared as a guest on TFI Friday. His final television appearance, which was screened at the end of January 2001, saw him playing the host of a downmarket quiz show in the BBC children’s sitcom ChuckleVision. Had he lived, he would have worked with his old friend Jackie Mason on a Vaudeville-type act in America which was due to start in October 2001.

Death

On 2 May 2001 Ted Rogers died after open-heart surgery to replace a heart valve at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

Early life and career

Rogers was born in Kennington, South London and went to school in Lambeth. His idol as a youngster was Danny Kaye and Rogers won a holiday camp talent contest impersonating Kaye as a youngster, but he would later put all showbusiness offers on hold whilst he did his National Service in the RAF.

Official birth records list him as Edward George Rodgers, born Lambeth, 1933 and his death record lists him as being born on 20 July 1933 from 2001.

In the early 1960s Rogers would appear as a stand up comedian on the radio programme Billy Cotton Band Show, alongside singers such as Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, and Alma Cogan and comedians Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd. He went on to become a familiar presence on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the 1970s. Rogers also appeared on the comedy panel game Joker’s Wild.

3-2-1

Rogers achieved his biggest success as the presenter of ITV’s variety gameshow 3-2-1. It ran for just over ten years in a top-rating Saturday night slot. He earned £130,000 a year in the early 1980s from 3-2-1 alone, and combined this with a career as a highly-paid after dinner speaker and made regular cabaret and public appearances.

3-2-1 was cancelled in 1988 when still attracting audiences of 12 million and in the Top 20 ratings. In April 1996 Rogers told the Sunday Mirror that "The Oxbridge lot got control of TV and they didn’t really want [the show]. It was too downmarket for them. We were still getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after 10 years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honour".Sunday Mirror, 7 April 1996. Later that year, in an interview with Garry Bushell Rogers said "Entertainment is in the hands of Oxbridge graduates. We treat our stars disgracefully. Look at ITV and Benny Hill, look how the BBC treated Les Dawson. We need to make programmes that entertain an audience again."The Sun – 3 August 1996

Celebrity Guest

In 1989 Rogers appeared on the ITV game show You Bet! and in January 1993 on Celebrity Squares. In March 1986 he was featured on This is Your Life and in April 1994 he appeared on Surprise, Surprise.