Joseph Patrick Daniel Longthorne (31 May 1955 – 3 August 2019) was an English singer and impressionist. He performed on stage and television, and released three

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

albums. Longthorne started his TV career at the age of fourteen when he landed a part in

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

's series ''

Junior Showtime ''Junior Showtime'' was a British variety show for children made by Yorkshire Television and shown on ITV between 1969 and 1974. The series' executive producer was Jess Yates. Jeff Evans ''The Penguin TV Companion'', London: Penguin, 2006, p. 4 ...

'', and rose to popularity in 1981 through the

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

series ''Search For a Star'', leading to his own television series ''The Joe Longthorne Show''.

Early life

Longthorne was born in Hull, England, into a musical family of a "travelling, Romany background". He grew up in the Hessle Road area of Hull, known for its fishing community, and considered himself as a " Hessle Roader". He attended Villa Place Primary School, St Wilfred's Primary School and Sydney Smith High School. Longthorne came first in a talent show when he was six; his prize was a toy motor car. At fourteen he landed a part in

's series ''

'', and remained with the show for over two years. He later turned professional and earned a living in Northern

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class ...

Television

Longthorne appeared on television in 1981, through the

series ''Search For a Star'', where he performed as a singer and impressionist. His success on the show led to appearances at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

and a month-long season at London's Talk of the Town. He played the London Palladium many times. In 1988 he presented his own television series ''The Joe Longthorne Show''. He appeared regularly on several TV programmes in the 1980s, amongst which the notable ones are ''Les Dennis Laughter Show'' and the ''Royal Variety Performance''. He performed in theatres in the United States and at the Sydney Opera House. Longthorne also released three

albums for

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

, ''The Joe Longthorne Songbook'', ''Especially For You'' and ''The Joe Longthorne Christmas Album''.

Impressions

Longthorne was known for his renditions of songs in the style of Dame Shirley Bassey. His other impersonations included Frank Sinatra,

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

and Tom Jones.

Awards

The Variety Club awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007; this placed him amongst past recipients such as Frank Sinatra,

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. Longthorne was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2012 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,

Personal life

Longthorne lived in Blackpool, Lancashire, with his husband and manager, James Moran. Longthorne was bisexual, and had a son, Ricky, from a previous relationship, and the two of them were estranged for 17 years until reuniting in 2009. Longthorne was diagnosed with chronic lymphatic

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

, for which he received treatment, around the time of his appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in 1989. He continued to perform in spite of his illness. However, in 2005 the lymphoma degenerated into

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, and he underwent a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

. In 2014, Longthorne was found to have throat cancer, but remained adamant in newspaper interviews that he would continue to perform after his operation. Longthorne died at home in Blackpool on 3 August 2019, aged 64. He is interred at Layton cemetery in Blackpool.

Albums

*''Only Once'' *''The Singer'' *''I Wish You Love (1993)'' *''Live at the Royal Albert Hall (1994)'' *''The Joe Longthorne Songbook 1988'' *''The Christmas Album 1989'' *''Especially For You 1989'' *''The Joe Longthorne Christmas 2003'' *''Sings to the Gods 2008'' *''Golden Memories'' *''A Man and His Music (2013)'' *''Joe Longthorne the Christmas Album (2013)'' *''Love & Reflection 2002'' *''Seasonal Songs from the Heart 2005'' *''Perfect Love 2005'' *''What a Wonderful World 2006'' *''You and Me 2008'' *''Live: A Man & His Music'' *''Joe Longthorne – The Collection (2015)'' *''The Silver Years (2020)''

Bibliography

*''Joe Longthorne – Sugar in the Morning: The Autobiography (2015)''

References

External links

– Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longthorne, Joe 1955 births 2019 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from throat cancer English Romani people English autobiographers English impressionists (entertainers) English male singers English television presenters Entertainers from Yorkshire LGBT entertainers from England LGBT Romani people Members of the Order of the British Empire Musicians from Kingston upon Hull People from Blackpool Romani singers