David Stuart English,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(4 March 1946 – 12 November 2022) was a British charity fundraiser, cricketer, actor, writer and former president of

RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several ma ...

. He was appointed MBE in the

2003 Birthday Honours The 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 2003 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 2003 for New Zealand. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour. United Kingdom Knight Bachelo ...

, and CBE in the

2010 Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sai ...

for services to cricket and charity. English founded the Bunbury Cricket Club, through which he raised £14m for charity. He was involved in the creation of the Bunbury Festival, a British under-15s cricket tournament that has helped the careers of over 1000 first-class cricketers, and over 125 international players. English was a journalist on the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet. The ''Sketch'' was Conservative in its politics and populist in its tone during its existence through all its ch ...

'' and then worked for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. At Decca he was press officer, handling publicity for artists including

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

. He became President of

, signing artists including the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

. English had a career in acting, appearing in the films '' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) and ''

Lisztomania Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote o ...

'' (1975). He wrote a series of children's books called ''Bunbury Tails'' and a spin off animated series called ''The Bunbury Tails''.

Early life

English was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 4 March 1946, and grew up in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

. After leaving school, he worked on the ground staff at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. He later played cricket for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

Bunbury cricket club

English set up Bunbury cricket club as a vehicle to raise funds for charity through which he raised £14m. The club recruited celebrities and former cricketers to play matches. English was appointed CBE in the

for services to cricket and charity. He had previously been appointed MBE in the

for services to charity.

Bunbury Festival

In 1987, English was asked to fund the ECB annual schools cricket competition. In return the competition was renamed The Bunbury Festival after his series of children's books. In 2019, the England cricket team won the one day world cup and had ten players who had attended the Bunbury Festival as youths. The festival supported the careers of over 1000 first-class cricketers, and over 125 international players.

Music, media and acting career

English was a journalist on the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and worked for

. At Decca he was press officer, handling publicity for artists including the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

. He became President of

, signing artists including the

and

. English had a career in acting, appearing in the films '' A Bridge Too Far'' and ''

''.

''Bunbury Tails''

''Bunbury Tails'' is a series of children's books written by David English. The plot for the books focussed on the exploits of a rabbit cricket team. The characters from the books were later used for an animated series called ''The Bunbury Tails''. The characters in the books are rabbit puns on sporting personalities, mainly but not exclusively cricketers. Characters include: Ian Buntham (

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as one of ...

), Goldenhare Gower (

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 T ...

), Dennis Lettuce (

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

), Viv Radish (

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is a retired Antiguan cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Usually batting at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

), Frank Buno (

Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 1995 to 1996. At regional level, he held the European heavyweight ...

) and Rajbun ( Rajendrasinh Jadeja).

''The Bunbury Tails''

''The Bunbury Tails'' is a 1992 children's British animated TV series based upon the books. It was created by David English and Jan Brychta, and broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. Five episodes were made, with a theme song by David English and

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

and additional music by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

, who contributed the track "

Ride Rajbun "Ride Rajbun" is a song by English musician George Harrison. It was released in 1992 on the multi-artist charity album ''The Bunbury Tails'', which was the soundtrack to the British animated television series of the same name. Harrison co-wrote t ...

". An album of the music was also released with the same name with proceeds going to charity.

Death

English died of a heart attack on 12 November 2022, at the age of 76. He was survived by his children (Amy and David Jr) and his partner Lia Lanaja. The day after his death, the England cricket team playing in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final wore black armbands as a mark of respect. The

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

wrote: "The ECB is saddened to learn of the loss of David English CBE. He did so much for the game, and for charity, and he played a part in the rise of many England Men’s cricketers. Our thoughts at this time are with his friends and family."

Autobiographies

English wrote two autobiographies; * *

References

External links

* *
Oil painting of English
by Bingham Brothers {{DEFAULTSORT:English, David 1946 births 2022 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English cricketers 20th-century English male actors Male actors from London People from Hendon Cricketers from the London Borough of Barnet English film actors English children's writers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire