Adele King
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Adèle King (born Adèle Condron-King, 4 April 1951) is an Irish entertainer better known as Twink. She is from Dublin. She is the mother of singer
Chloë Agnew Chloë Agnew (born 9 June 1989) is an Irish singer, best known for being an original and former member of the Celtic music group Celtic Woman. Early life and career Agnew was born to Irish entertainer Adele King, Adele "Twink" King and Iris ...
Twink (Adele King), 57, is an actress and entertainer. She lives in Rathfarnham, Dublin with her daughters, Chloe, 18, and Naomi, 14
''The Irish Independent'', 6 April 2008
from the group
Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble, formed in 2004 for a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland. They started touring internationally as a group after multiple airings on PBS helped to boost the group's popularity. Celtic W ...
.


Career


Stage

King began singing and acting at the age of five. She was a Gaiety Kiddie and worked in
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
with performers such as
Jimmy O'Dea James Augustine O'Dea (26 April 1899 – 7 January 1965) was an Irish actor and comedian. Life Jimmy O'Dea was born at 11 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, to James O'Dea, an ironmonger, and Martha O'Gorman, who kept a small toy shop. He was one of ...
,
Milo O'Shea Milo Donal O'Shea (2 June 1926 – 2 April 2013) was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ''Staircase'' (1968) and '' Mass Appeal'' (1982). Early life O'Shea was born and ...
and
Maureen Potter Maria Philomena Potter (3 January 1925 – 7 April 2004), known as Maureen Potter, was an Irish singer, actress, comedienne and performer. Early life Potter was born in Dublin and educated at St. Mary's school in Fairview. She had a long caree ...
. She was also a Young Dublin Singer, from which was formed the trio Maxi, Dick and Twink.''Don't put your daughter on stage, Mrs. King''
- an interview/profile of Adele 'Twink' King, by Jack Moloney
''Bandstand'' article - The Sligo Champion (20 March 1970) She has spent more than 30 years in Dublin's theatres: 26 years in the Gaiety Theatre, two years in the
Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...
and five years in the Olympia Theatre. At the Olympia Theatre she co-produced and co-wrote much of the shows. She has been described as Ireland's 'Panto Queen'.Charity You're A Star – Coach: Twink
RTÉ Television, 2007
King has had roles in a number of theatrical productions in Ireland, including: ''Dirty Dusting'' at the Gaiety Theatre and ''Menopause: The Musical''.


Television

King has appeared on Irish television regularly since the late 1960s. She has starred in her own series ''Twink'' on
RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
. She spent ten years on ''Play the Game'', and has made many appearances as a guest on a wide range of programmes, including RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show'', being the subject of a tribute on that show in 2005. She also was the subject of a weekend visit by the television programme '' Livin' with Lucy'' with Lucy Kennedy. In 1993 she was the guest act at a Christmas concert by
Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
at Dublin's
Point Theatre The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...
, televised to a worldwide audience of 880 million.Stage has been set for yet another Twink battle
''The Irish Independent'', 21 February 2010
In 2003 she took part in RTÉ's '' Celebrity Farm'' and in 2011, she won TV3's ''Celebrity Head Chef'', receiving €10,000 for charity as a result. She has written an agony aunt page for the Irish magazine ''
TV Now ''TV Now'' (stylised as ''TV NOW'') is an Irish magazine containing a television guide, interviews with television stars and other television-related items. It is part of the '' VIP'' publishing franchise of Michael O'Doherty. ''TV Now'' wa ...
''. In 2011, she was given an agony aunt programme on
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...
called "Give Adele a Bell". However, after a delay, the programme was cancelled in June 2012 without an episode being made. She won a
Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...
for her performance in her 1981 Christmas Light Entertainment Special on
RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RTà ...
.


Theatre school

King established a performance school in summer 2002, the Adèle King Theatre School in
Castleknock Castleknock () is an affluent village in County Dublin, Ireland, located west of the centre of Dublin city. It is in the modern county of Fingal. In addition to the village, the name "Castleknock" also refers to older units of land division: a ...
and Greenhills. Pupils of the school have appeared on television, in films, and in commercials in Ireland and abroad. The school did not re-open for the 2008 autumn term. She was accused of a conflict of interest over her marks for a contestant, known to her, on the talent show ''
Class Act ''Class Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Randall Miller and starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play. An urban retelling of Mark Twain's ''The Prince and the Pauper'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and John Semper from a stor ...
''. Her reaction was: "If
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
's son was on the programme and he threatened to send a big squad to my house if I didn't put his child through, I wouldn't."


Personal life

Twink married
oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...
David Agnew in 1983 and had two children, Chloë in 1989, who sings with the group
Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble, formed in 2004 for a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland. They started touring internationally as a group after multiple airings on PBS helped to boost the group's popularity. Celtic W ...
, and Naomi in 1993. Twink's marriage ended after 21 years, in October 2004.Interview with Eamonn Dunphy, RTÉ Radio 1, 29 September 2007 In February 2006, David Agnew (aged 46) had a baby with clarinetist Ruth Hickey (28). This prompted an infamous phone call from King (54) to ex-husband Agnew. She recorded a hostile message on his answering machine which appeared afterwards on the internet. The recording contained coarse and abusive language. Twink described the Irish singer, the
Linda Martin Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song " Why Me?", the first of a record three c ...
, as a "
cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...
" during a tirade in May 2010. The two had been friends for 30 years but both said afterwards that they had no plans to speak to each other again. Twink has pet dogs, cats, birds, and a donkey. She lives with her daughters in
Knocklyon Knocklyon () is a suburb of the city of Dublin, located in South Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely consists of modern housing, with a number of old cottages and farmhous ...
, Dublin. In April 2015 it was reported that David Agnew and Adele King face a bid by the Bank of Scotland to repossess a house which is mortgaged in both their names. The application for possession against Ms King had already previously been adjourned by the court. In September 2014 it was widely reported across major Irish media outlets that Twink's dog, Teddy Bear, was kidnapped. Commenting on the events, Twink was distressed, and she noted positively on Linda Martin that she helps rescue dogs, and is "a very powerful woman in the dog world" and that the kidnapping marked her own personal "Erin Brockovich moment". On 24 September Twink was reunited with her dog after a public tip-off led to the police arrest of a man in Dublin.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Adele Irish pop musicians Irish stage actresses Irish television actresses Jacob's Award winners Living people Pantomime 1951 births Participants in Irish reality television series