Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. An accomplished

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpet player, he could also play many other instruments. In a career as a versatile performer on stage, television and film, he became best known to British television viewers as long-running presenter of the children's series ''

Record Breakers ''Record Breakers'' was a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001. Format The programme was a spin-off series from '' Blue Peter'' wh ...

''.

Early career

Castle was born in Scholes, near Holmfirth,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. The son of a railwayman, he was a tap dancer from an early age and trained at Nora Bray's school of dance with Audrey Spencer, who later ran a big dance school, and after leaving Holme Valley Grammar School (now Honley High School) he started his career as an entertainer in an amateur concert party. As a young performer in the 1950s, he lived in Cleveleys near

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and appeared there at the local Queen's Theatre, turning professional in 1953 as a stooge for Jimmy Clitheroe and Jimmy James. By 1958, he was appearing at the Royal Variety Show where he was invited to appear on the Royal Command Performance (1958) and received wide acclaim, being hailed as the hit of the show. This was also where he met lifelong friend, Harry Secombe, with whom he went on to work on numerous occasions As a singer, he released one charting single in 1960, the Christmas song "Little White Berry".

Television and film career

Castle guest-starred in an episode of the Morecambe and Wise series '' Two of a Kind'', which aired on 3 August 1963. He received billing twice for his guest appearances in both halves of the show. In 1965, Castle starred with

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

in the film '' Dr. Who and the Daleks'', the first of two cinematic spin-offs from the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series. He played the role of Dr. Who's first male assistant, Ian Chesterton, and was cast to perform the role more comedically than it had been played by William Russell in the equivalent serial. He appeared in '' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'' as a jazz musician. Castle also appeared in '' Carry On Up the Khyber'' in 1968 and in the TV musical '' Pickwick'' for the BBC in 1969. In the 1990s, he appeared again in ''Pickwick'', touring the country, starring alongside Sir Harry Secombe, and the show was recorded again. (Secombe had starred in the original West End production in 1963.) In 1973, Castle teamed up with the comedy actor

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

in an original one-off called "Another Fine Mess" (an episode from Barker's series '' Seven of One''). Barker was one of Castle's best friends, and paid tribute to their work together shortly after Castle's death. In 1967 and 1968, Castle co-starred with Jimmy Edwards in the London West End run of the comedy farce show '' Big Bad Mouse'' when Eric Sykes had to withdraw because of illness. The show was resident at the Shaftesbury Theatre and, being loosely scripted, it offered both Edwards and Castle the chance to freely ad-lib and generally break the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

with the audience, Castle breaking into trumpet performances while Edwards walked into a front stall seat to read a newspaper, tap dancing and firing

ping-pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

balls into the stalls. He also once stood in for

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

hosting '' The Generation Game'' in 1975 while Forsyth was ill. He made many appearances on BBC television's long running variety show '' The Good Old Days'', making use of his multi instrumental and performing skills. In 1988, Castle presented and performed in the Anglia Television series ''Marching as to War'', which traced and re-enacted the early history of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

''Record Breakers''

In 1972, he first presented ''

'', a children's show, and he remained host for over 20 years. He recorded the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

"Dedication" for the show himself, and usually performed it live over the closing credits. While presenting the show he broke nine world records himself, including: * Fastest tap-dance 1,440 taps per minute – 24 taps per second, set on 14 January 1973. * Longest wing walk – 3 hours, 23 minutes. * Playing the same tune on 43 different instruments in four minutes. * On 2 November 1985, the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' reported that "Twinkle-toed Roy Castle has the world at his feet...the millionth time in 24 hours. This was the moment when he tap-danced his way to a new record and raised £1 million for charity. The comedian, host of TV's ''

'', averaged nearly twelve steps a second during the sponsored feat in London. Roy, 53, had already qualified as the world's fastest tap-dancer." He was a host of the show until a few months before his death in 1994, alongside Norris and (until his murder in 1975) Ross McWhirter, Fiona Kennedy and

Cheryl Baker Rita Maria Stroud (''née'' Crudgington; born 8 March 1954), known professionally as Cheryl Baker, is an English singer and television presenter. She was a member of pop group Bucks Fizz, which won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and, followi ...

. From then on, hosting was taken over by Baker and former athlete Kriss Akabusi. It continued until 2001, making it one of Britain's longest-running shows.

Singing career

Between 1958 and 1969, Castle recorded three LPs. One of these, ''Songs for a Rainy Day'' was recorded in 1966 for the Columbia label and was reissued in the UK on CD by EMI Gold, re-titled ''Isn't This a Lovely Day'' in 2005. The record features twelve songs with rain as the theme. British

players of the day Gordon Beck (piano), Jeff Clyne (bass), Leon Calvert (flugelhorn), Ike Isaacs (guitar), Ray Swinfield (flute) and Al Newman (saxophone) played on the record and it features jazz arrangements by Victor Graham covering a variety of styles such as

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

, (" Pennies From Heaven", " Stormy Weather"), ballads ("February Brings The Rain", " Here's That Rainy Day", "Soon It's Gonna Rain") and bossa novas (" Everytime It Rains", "The Gentle Rain"). Castle's recording career also included the spoken word. In 1978, for the Scripture Union Label, he recorded eight Bible parables, released on side 1 of the LP ''Castle on Luke Street'', (SU0806), from the 'Luke Street' books, by David Lewis. Side 2 was spoken by Kenneth Williams,

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was an English actress of stage, film and television.Derek Nimmo, and Thora Hird, who narrated one story each.

Personal life

Castle married dancer Fiona Dickson on 29 July 1963 with Harry Secombe acting as Best Man. They had been introduced to each other by Eric Morecambe Both Castle and his wife were committed

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and they regularly attended the

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church near their home. They had four children. Their youngest son, Ben Castle (born 1973), is a jazz saxophonist who has played with a wide range of artists, including

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

, Carleen Anderson, Beth Rowley,

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

, and performed on film soundtracks. Castle was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fan and supported

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Fewer than six months before his death, he attended the Liverpool–Everton derby match at Anfield on 13 March 1994 and stood on the Spion Kop terrace. He had also been in the crowd at Liverpool's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in May 1992, shortly after he was first found to have cancer. At that time

paid tribute to him, referring to their portrayal of characters that bore a strong resemblance to

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

in '' Another Fine Mess''. On 31 December 1992, Castle was awarded the OBE in the 1993 New Year Honours.

Illness and death

Castle was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in early 1992, and was told that his chances of recovery were slim and that it was unlikely that he would live for more than six months. He underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

and went into remission later that year. A non-smoker, he blamed his illness on

passive smoking Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active Tobacco smoking, smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the ...

during his years of playing the trumpet in smoky jazz clubs. On 26 November 1993, Castle announced that his illness had returned, and underwent a second round of treatment. Over the spring and summer of 1994, in spite of his deteriorating health, he carried out the high-profile ''Tour of Hope'' to raise funds for the erection of the building that would become the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, which is the only British charity dedicated solely to defeating lung cancer. During and shortly after Castle's illness, many smoke-free restaurants and cafes were awarded the ''Roy Castle Clean Air Award'' to denote their adherence to a smoke-free regime (which at that time was voluntary). His final contribution to ''Record Breakers'' was aired at the conclusion of the 1993 series, although the programme continued until 2001. He died at his home in Gerrards Cross,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

on the morning of 2 September 1994, two days after his 62nd birthday. A week before his death he was made a freeman of the City of Liverpool. His funeral service took place on 8 September 1994 in

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

. Present at the funeral service along with his family were Sir Harry Secombe,

, Sir Cliff Richard, and Sir John Mills. A memorial service at

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...

was held on 20 October 1994.

Legacy

His widow Fiona worked with the charity after her husband's death, and campaigned for the British

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor employ ...

, which came into effect in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 2004,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 2006, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 2007, banning smoking in virtually all enclosed public places.

Works

Filmography

References

External links

h2g2 page
*
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Roy 1932 births 1994 deaths 20th-century English male singers 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English singers 20th-century British trumpeters 20th-century English comedians Actors from Kirklees BBC television presenters Comedians from West Yorkshire Deaths from lung cancer in England English children's television presenters English Christians English male comedians English male dancers English male film actors English male singers English male stage actors English male television actors English trumpeters Male actors from West Yorkshire English male trumpeters Musicians from Yorkshire Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Holmfirth Tap dancers Television personalities from West Yorkshire World record holders