Geoffrey McIntyre Rowe (8 March 1948 – 14 December 2021), known by his stage name Jethro, was a British

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and singer from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Early life

Rowe was born in

St Buryan St Buryan ( kw, Pluwveryan) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village of St Buryan is situated approximately west of Penzance along the B3283 to ...

, on 8 March 1948, the son of a farmer. After leaving school, he apprenticed as a carpenter and worked in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

tin mine Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

. His father, Hugh, founded the St Buryan Male Voice Choir, and Jethro made his first stage appearances with the St Just District Operatic Society in St Just as a bass singer.

Career

Rowe started touring pubs and clubs in Cornwall, singing traditional songs. One night, he ran out of voice and could not sing any more, so he told a joke instead. It was well received, and so he began developing his comedy act. His gags included misogyny, bodily functions, and jokes about genitalia, which always went down well in the working men's clubs and stag parties. This changed little when he started theatre tours, with fellow comedian

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

describing him as "gloriously un-PC". From 1967 he also played rugby as a prop forward in over 100 matches for Penzance & Newlyn RFC, a team that later became the

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates ( kw, An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn ...

. It was here that Geoff Rowe acquired the name "Jethro", influenced by the character of Jethro Bodine in the American television sitcom ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

''.Joel Cooper
"'I can't do this anymore': Health concerns for comedian Jethro ..."
''Devon Live'', 8 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2020"Jethro announces his retirement"
''Chortle.co.uk'', 24 February 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020 After his popularity grew in Cornwall and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

through the 1970s and 1980s, Rowe made his first national television performance in 1990 on the ''

Des O'Connor Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter. He was a long-time TV chat-show host, beginning with ''The Des O'Connor Show'' in 1963, which ran for ten years. He a ...

Show'', making several subsequent appearances. He also appeared five times on

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''. He also developed two adult pantomime shows such as ''B ...

's ''

The Generation Game ''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes. The game There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's m ...

'' show, twice giving a demonstration of how to make a

Cornish pasty A pasty () is a British baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, South West England, but has spread all over the British Isles. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetab ...

, and on regional television, though much of his material was considered unsuitable for a television audience. He produced his first video, ''A Portion of Jethro'', in 1993, followed by several others. He also claimed that, during the height of his popularity, he sold some 250,000 theatre seats a year. In 2001, he appeared in a

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

. His best known routine was "This Train Don't Stop Camborne Wednesdays", partly because it was one of the few that could be performed in polite society, and therefore was aired more on the television. On the news of his death, Great Western Railway posted a tribute to him on the platform of Camborne station. In February 2020, Rowe announced that he was retiring from public performances at the end of the year; the final shows were later postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Style

Jethro's standup act made use of his strong Cornish accent and rural style of dress, with a "no-holds barred, foul-mouthed and sexually explicit routine". He was sometimes criticised for incorporating racism, sexism, and homophobia into his act. Comedian

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leadin ...

noted that Jethro's success over a long career was admirable, but also stated, "Part of my admiration is that his stuff isn't as horrible as that of some of his contemporaries. Which is a bit of a negative positive."

Personal life and death

Rowe spent his later years living in

Lewdown Lewtrenchard is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In the Domesday Book of 1086, a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers h ...

, where he bred horses and owned a comedy club, which closed in 2012.Judi Spier
"10 things you didn’t know about the comedian Jethro"
''Devon Life'', 12 March 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020 In 1995, he walked from

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

to Lewdown and raised £20,000 for the Bristol Cancer Open Scanner Appeal. He said that "Jethro" and "Geoff Rowe" were two entirely different people, and described himself as "a total recluse" off the stage; embarrassed when people recognised him in the street. He died in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 14 December 2021, at the age of 73. Jethro had been fighting lymphoma for the previous two years, and subsequently contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in the time leading up to his death. He is survived by his partner, Jennie, and his two sons, Jesse and Lanyon.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb name, nm1088514, Jethro 1948 births 2021 deaths Cornish Pirates players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England English racehorse owners and breeders English singers English stand-up comedians People from St Buryan Deaths from lymphoma