Richard Digance (pronounced DYE-jance; born 24 February 1949) is an English

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Early life

Digance was born in Plaistow,

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. After his family moved to nearby

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

, he attended Vicarage Lane Primary School and then Thomas Lethaby Secondary Modern. After gaining two A-Level passes in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and Modern British History, he moved to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, where he studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

during which time he was inspired by

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

Career

In the 1970s, he toured the United States. Though failing to make much of a name, he supported

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated ...

, whilst in Britain he also supported Jethro Tull on two British tours,

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

, Tom Jones,

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980 ...

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

and

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

. From 1974-78 Doug Morter, guitarist and singer with

Hunter Muskett Hunter Muskett is an English folk-rock band, that first existed between 1968 and 1974, and reformed in 2010. Beginnings The group was formed at Avery Hill College in South London, when Terry Hiscock and Chris George were joined by fellow stu ...

joined Digance as accompanist on vocals and guitar. Richard Digance began his TV career on Sound of The City for

Thames TV Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broad ...

, produced by Richard Newman, in the early 1970s. This debut appearance was followed by

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

and then the Today programme.

was his only

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

appearance, except for appearing on The Ronnie Corbett Show years later, and then link-man for

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

coverage of The Cambridge Folk Festival. He then became a regular contributor on The 6 o'clock Show with

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', ''Give Us a Clue'', '' This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...

. He had to wait over a decade to be given his own show. His first own TV Special was in 1985 for

, A Dabble With Digance. After the success of this special he was signed to TVS in Southampton after being a studio warm-up act there for Matthew Kelly and this first series of six programmes screened on Thursday nights. He also filmed a pilot with,

Chris Barrie Chris Barrie (born Christopher Jonathan Brown, 28 March 1960) is a British actor, comedian, and impressionist. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show ''Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in the ...

who went on to star in

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...

. Digance left for

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 unt ...

under

Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...

and filmed numerous Saturday night TV Specials for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. His guests included

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

Marc Cohn Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song "Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album, which was a Top 40 h ...

Buffy St Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, Pacifism, pacifist, and soc ...

Joe Pasquale Joseph Ellis Pasquale (born 20 August 1961) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. He won the fourth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2004 and participated in the eighth series of ''Dancing on Ice'' ...

Juan Martin ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

Julia Fordham Julia Fordham (born 10 August 1962) is a British singer-songwriter. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde, before signing a recording contract of h ...

, Chris de Burgh and many others. An additional series with

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 ''Bo ...

Wednesday At 8 made him a popular guest during this period from 1985 to 1995. His guest-spots are almost endless; Surprise Surprise with

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

- The

Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a Northern Irish television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regular appear ...

Show - The Jim Davidson Show -

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 -

Live From Her Majesty's ''Live from...'' was a Sunday night live entertainment variety show, variety television show that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 January 1983 to 27 November 1988 and was hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck. It was broadcast live from a theatre in ...

- Live From Piccadilly - Summertime Special with Michael Barrymore - Live From The Palladium with

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

Magpie - Celebrity Snooker and Fish o'Mania with Steve Davis - Pebble Mill At One - Saturday Night At The Mill - That's Entertainment with

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

and

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

Crosswits ''Crosswits'' was a British game show produced by Tyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time and filmed from their City Road studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was first shown on 3 September 1985 originally hosted by Barry C ...

- The Tom O'Connor Show - The Parkinson Show with

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

and many more. He received a BAFTA Nomination as TV Entertainer Of The Year. He came to more public attention as a regular turn on the popular Sunday evening Live from... (Her Majesty's/the Piccadilly/the Palladium) variety series (produced by

LWT 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 ...

for

) and also on Summertime Special, a variety showcase of the 1980s. He is known for his television one-hour specials, starting in 1985 with A Dabble of Digance. Abracadigance was a series of four shows in 1988. The 1992 show, Richard Digance's Greatest Bits, recorded at the Brighton Dome, included some of his most popular routines from stage and screen, including the "Nursery Rhymes", "Remembers" and "Jungle Cup Final". Appearances on TV Specials included HRH The Prince of Wales Princes Trust Galas 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 an ...

with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

- All At Sea, again before HRH The Prince of Wales - Christmas Eve Forces Special from The Berlin Wall and The Zeebrugge Disaster Concert at The London Palladium. In the next decade he made two series for Carlton Westcountry TV visiting villages in a Morris Traveller and using locals as guests and remains the only entertainer to perform a TV show from a prison, Dartmoor. Digance also had a

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

career through the 1980s with his show 'A Digence Indulgence' which had a year 7 run up until the summer of 1987. He has released 43 albums and 20 published books. He is a regular guest in '

Dictionary Corner ''Countdown'' is a British game show involving word and number tasks that began airing in November 1982. It is broadcast on Channel 4 and is currently presented by Colin Murray, assisted by Rachel Riley, with resident lexicographer Susie Dent ...

' on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

game show

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

, nearly 200 appearances. In October 2003, he received the Gold Award from the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

for his services to music. He appeared at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2013, performing a solo show, and also his children's musical, War of the Worms, narrated by his daughter, Rosie. He performed 32 completely different shows across 32 nights.

Personal life

Richard has two daughters, Polly and Rosie and two grandchildren, Izzy and Ellie. He now lives just outside

Salisbury, Wiltshire Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. He semi-retired from live performance in 2021 and now only performs at his favourite theatres. This decision allowed him to concentrate on his writing, studio work, painting and acting as Musical Consultant fo
Ochre Moon
a website created by renowned blogge
Charlotte Murray

Discography

* ''England's Green and Pleasant Land'' (1974) * ''Treading the Boards'' (1975) * ''How the West was Lost'' (1975) * ''In Concert'' (1975) * ''Earl's A Winger'' (1977) * ''Live At The Q.E.H.'' (1978) * ''Commercial Road'' (1979) * ''Homework'' (1984) * ''A Digance Indulgence'' (1985) * ''Richard Digance at the Fairfield Halls'' (1985) * ''A Drop of Digance'' (1996) * ''On a Serious Note'' (1996)The CD is undated. Date given by Richard Digance himself in an email dated 15 June 2020. * ''Best of the Transatlantic Years'' (compilation CD) (1997) * ''A Varied Selection'' (1998) * ''Guitar Tunes'' (1998) * ''Richard Digance Compilation'' (2002) * ''The New Richard Digance CD'' (2002) * ''Back on Song'' (2005) * ''Past and Present'' (2007) * ''This is Great Britain'' (2013) * ''The Toast of Christmas Past'' (2013) * ''Golden Anniversary'' (2017)

References

External links

Official website

List of credits at BBC Online

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digance, Richard 1949 births Living people People from Plaistow, Newham English male comedians English television executives English folk singers Mercury Records artists Chrysalis Records artists 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians