Keith Chegwin
Encyclopedia
Keith Chegwin is an English
television presenter, former child actor
and singer.
, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double (1967) Egghead's Robot (1970). He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch
episode Burial at Sea (1970). Chegwin's most prestigious acting role was that of Fleance
in Roman Polanski
's 1971 film Macbeth
. He then had smaller parts in The Liver Birds
, The Adventures of Black Beauty
, My Old Man, ITV
's The Wackers, Z Cars and The Tomorrow People
in 1975. His last major acting role was in the 1975 film Robin Hood Junior, although he had two small roles with Tom Courtenay
in the Chester Mystery Cycle
(1976) and 23 years later in the 1999 film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
. He appeared in TV ads for products such as Pepsi
, Barley Water
, Tizer
, and Cadbury Creme Eggs.
He performed in West End
stage shows such as Tom Brown's School Days with Russell Grant
and Simon LeBon, and The Good Old Bad Old Days with Anthony Newley
and Captain Pugwash, written by Bill Kenwright
.
In the 1970s, he had a career as a singer releasing singles on the Pye Records
label and hitting the charts as a member of the pop group Kenny
. He also worked as a disc jockey
for 194 Radio City
, and four years at BBC Radio 1
.
, Cheggers Plays Pop
and Saturday Superstore
. As Brown Sauce
, he and Swap Shop co-presenters Maggie Philbin
and Noel Edmonds
released the pop single "I Wanna Be a Winner", which reached number 15 in January 1982, and a follow-up single as The Saucers called "Spring Has Sprung".
Chegwin's career waned in the late 80s and 90s because of his alcoholism
, a struggle detailed in his autobiography, Shaken But Not Stirred. He hosted the Sky talent programme Sky Star Search in 1990. He stopped drinking after his appearance on the Richard and Judy
show This Morning
on 5 November 1992. Chegwin's career regained speed in 1993 when he presented the "Down Your Doorstep" outside broadcast
segment on The Big Breakfast
, in which he cried, "Wake up you beggars, it's Cheggers!". He subsequently hosted the show itself, and went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout
in 1999 on Channel 5.
In 2000, Chegwin presented the Channel 5 and Yorkshire Television
's Naked Jungle
, which later became infamous as the UK's first naked game show. He was originally asked to host the show clothed, but opted to join in the spirit of things. According to the Daily Mail
, the show "plumbed new depths [of indecency on television]". He identifies Naked Jungle as "the worst career move" in his entire life. The programme and Chegwin were condemned in the House of Commons
.
He presented regularly on GMTV
. He appeared in an episode of the sitcom Extras in 2006. He also has his own recording studio and video edit suite and does his voice over work from home. He frequently sends in jingles to the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1
.
Chegwin hosted the Children's BAFTA television & Film Industry Awards in London. He has been asked to present the Children's BAFTAs again.
Keith Chegwin host his own quiz nights for the corporate world ref http://www.keithchegwin.com and also works alongside Graham Fisher's International It's A Knockout. Cheggers Mini Knockout Rodeo Show also travels the country putting on corporate events and family vacations.
Keith Chegwin runs his own gaming on-line bingo website www.cheggersbingo.com
It is the longest running celebrity owned bingo website.
The Kill Keith
movie is due for release in November 2011. http://www.killkeith.co.uk He also makes an appearence in the new Ricky Gervais
& Stephen Merchant
comedy series Life's Too Short
alongside Sandra Bullock
, Johnny Depp
and Liam Neeson
.
In December 2011, Chegwin will play Buttons in the pantomime, Cinderella, at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
television presenter, former child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
and singer.
Early career
Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film FoundationChildren's Film Foundation
The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985...
, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double (1967) Egghead's Robot (1970). He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch
Doomwatch
Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...
episode Burial at Sea (1970). Chegwin's most prestigious acting role was that of Fleance
Fleance
Fleance is a figure in legendary Scottish history. He was depicted by sixteenth century historians as the son of Banquo and the ancestor of the kings of the House of Stuart. In reality both Banquo and Fleance are likely fictional. Fleance is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play...
in Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's 1971 film Macbeth
Macbeth (1971 film)
Macbeth is a 1971 British-American drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, about the Highland lord who becomes King of Scotland through treachery and murder. It features Jon Finch as Macbeth and Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth...
. He then had smaller parts in The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds
The Liver Birds is a British situation comedy, set in Liverpool, Merseyside, North-West of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpool housewives had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents...
, The Adventures of Black Beauty
The Adventures of Black Beauty
The Adventures of Black Beauty is a British children's television drama series produced by London Weekend Television and shown by ITV in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974...
, My Old Man, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's The Wackers, Z Cars and The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
in 1975. His last major acting role was in the 1975 film Robin Hood Junior, although he had two small roles with Tom Courtenay
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
in the Chester Mystery Cycle
Chester Mystery Plays
The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century.A record of 1422 shows that the plays took place at the feast of Corpus Christi and this appears to have continued until 1521. Plays on Corpus Christi Day in 1475 included 'The trial...
(1976) and 23 years later in the 1999 film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? is a film written by Ben Steiner, directed by Peter Hewitt and released in 1999. The British movie was filmed in Sheffield....
. He appeared in TV ads for products such as Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, Barley Water
Barley water
Barley water, usually flavoured with lemon or other fruit, is a traditional British soft drink. It is made by boiling washed pearl barley, straining, then pouring the hot water over the rind and/or pulp of the fruit, and adding fruit juice and sugar to taste. The rind may also be boiled with the...
, Tizer
Tizer
Tizer is a red-coloured soft drink sold in the United Kingdom. The name originally comes from the phrase 'Tizer the Appetizer'. It was launched in 1924 by Fred Pickup of Manchester when it was known as 'Pickup's Appetizer'. After the death of Pickup it was owned by the Armour Trust before being...
, and Cadbury Creme Eggs.
He performed in West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage shows such as Tom Brown's School Days with Russell Grant
Russell Grant
Russell John Dammerall Grant is a British astrologer and media personality. He has written several books on Astrology, provides syndicated newspaper horoscopes and operates premium rate astrology phone lines. In March 2010, he began offering a "Pet Psychic" service...
and Simon LeBon, and The Good Old Bad Old Days with Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
and Captain Pugwash, written by Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
.
In the 1970s, he had a career as a singer releasing singles on the Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
label and hitting the charts as a member of the pop group Kenny
Kenny (band)
Kenny were a mid-1970s English pop and glam rock band.-Career:Kenny emerged from a North London band called Chufff. Songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter wrote the bulk of the successful songs for them. In the event, stardom was to prove extremely fleeting...
. He also worked as a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
for 194 Radio City
Radio City 96.7
Radio City 96.7 is a British Independent Local Radio station, based in Liverpool, that serves Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales...
, and four years at BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
.
Career as a TV presenter
In the mid 1970s, he moved away from acting and became a household name presenting programmes such as Multi-Coloured Swap ShopMulti-Coloured Swap Shop
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, is a UK children's television programme. It was broadcast on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for 146 episodes in six series between 1976 and 1982...
, Cheggers Plays Pop
Cheggers Plays Pop
Cheggers Plays Pop was a British children's television show broadcast from 10 April 1978 to 7 November 1986. The show's format consisted of a series of physical and mental challenges undertaken by two teams of children representing their respective schools, together with studio performances by...
and Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore
Saturday Superstore was a children's television series, broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin and John Craven. The show was very similar to its predecessor Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.A regular spot on...
. As Brown Sauce
Brown Sauce (band)
Brown Sauce was a pop band, made up of presenters from the television programme, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. These were Keith Chegwin, Maggie Philbin and Noel Edmonds. They formed for a one-off single in late 1981 called "I Wanna Be a Winner"...
, he and Swap Shop co-presenters Maggie Philbin
Maggie Philbin
Maggie Philbin is an English radio and television presenter whose credits include Tomorrow's World and Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.As a child she became interested in science through wanting to become a vet....
and Noel Edmonds
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
released the pop single "I Wanna Be a Winner", which reached number 15 in January 1982, and a follow-up single as The Saucers called "Spring Has Sprung".
Chegwin's career waned in the late 80s and 90s because of his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, a struggle detailed in his autobiography, Shaken But Not Stirred. He hosted the Sky talent programme Sky Star Search in 1990. He stopped drinking after his appearance on the Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a married couple who are both British television presenters and columnists. Since their marriage, their television appearances have been largely made as a couple. They are best known for presenting This Morning and...
show This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
on 5 November 1992. Chegwin's career regained speed in 1993 when he presented the "Down Your Doorstep" outside broadcast
Outside broadcasting
Outside broadcasting is the electronic field production of television or radio programmes from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly transmission...
segment on The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
, in which he cried, "Wake up you beggars, it's Cheggers!". He subsequently hosted the show itself, and went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout
It's a Knockout
It's a Knockout was adapted from the French show Intervilles. It ran between from 7 August 1966 to 25 December 1988 on BBC1, 28 May 1990 on ITV, 3 August 1991 to 24 December 1994 on S4C and from 3 September 1999 to 6 January 2001 on Channel 5, produced by Richard Hearsey and Ronin Entertainment...
in 1999 on Channel 5.
In 2000, Chegwin presented the Channel 5 and Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
's Naked Jungle
Naked Jungle
Naked Jungle was a one-off television game show produced by the United Kingdom terrestrial TV station Channel 5 in 2000. In itself a fairly innocuous gameshow with an assault course format, it was controversial because its contestants were all nudists. The programme's presenter, Keith Chegwin, was...
, which later became infamous as the UK's first naked game show. He was originally asked to host the show clothed, but opted to join in the spirit of things. According to the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, the show "plumbed new depths [of indecency on television]". He identifies Naked Jungle as "the worst career move" in his entire life. The programme and Chegwin were condemned in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
.
He presented regularly on GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
. He appeared in an episode of the sitcom Extras in 2006. He also has his own recording studio and video edit suite and does his voice over work from home. He frequently sends in jingles to the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
.
Chegwin hosted the Children's BAFTA television & Film Industry Awards in London. He has been asked to present the Children's BAFTAs again.
Keith Chegwin host his own quiz nights for the corporate world ref http://www.keithchegwin.com and also works alongside Graham Fisher's International It's A Knockout. Cheggers Mini Knockout Rodeo Show also travels the country putting on corporate events and family vacations.
Keith Chegwin runs his own gaming on-line bingo website www.cheggersbingo.com
It is the longest running celebrity owned bingo website.
The Kill Keith
Kill Keith
Kill Keith is an upcoming British comedy horror film starring Susannah Fielding, Simon Phillips, and Keith Chegwin.-Plot:Keith 'Cheggers' Chegwin is a household name and has been at the top of his game for nearly 40 years. He's an all round entertainer and has lived with us via our TV screens on...
movie is due for release in November 2011. http://www.killkeith.co.uk He also makes an appearence in the new Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
& Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
comedy series Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short is an observational sitcom series, created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, from an idea by Warwick Davis, and is described by Gervais as being about "the life of a showbiz dwarf", with Davis playing a fictionalised version of himself. Gervais and Merchant appear...
alongside Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
and Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
.
In December 2011, Chegwin will play Buttons in the pantomime, Cinderella, at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon.