Kenneth Alan Taylor (born 1937) is a British pantomime writer and actor. He is best known for having played the

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of '' travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or el ...

for thirty years in his own productions at

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and F ...

Career

He started writing Pantomimes in 1962 in Oldham, and then moved to the Nottingham Playhouse to write there for more than 30 years. He was artistic director of

for seven years. According to Nick Clark of ''The Stage'' magazine, "He is one of the UK’s foremost pantomime writers, directors and, until recently, dames." He also played Cecil Newton in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' from 1987 to 1988 and again in 1990.

Awards and recognition

He was awarded best actor in a lead role and MTA for The Father. He was also awarded the BEM for services to theatre. His awards include the

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

best supporting actor for Price and a

Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

honorary doctor of letters in 2011. In January 2019,

Nottingham City Transport Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well as beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly owned, it is today the second ...

named one of their buses after him to mark his 35th Nottingham Playhouse Pantomime.

Personal life

He was born in 1937 in Canning Town, London. Taylor is married to

Judith Barker Judith Barker (born 22 June 1943) is an English actress, best known for her role as the upwardly mobile homewrecker Janet Reid in ''Coronation Street'', which she played from 1969 to 1977. Since her departure from ''Coronation Street'', Barker ...

. They have two children; award-winning make-up designer Jessica Taylor and Award-winning lighting designer Jason Taylor. He has five grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Kenneth Alan Pantomime dames Living people 1937 births Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Newham English male soap opera actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male dramatists and playwrights Writers from the London Borough of Newham People from Canning Town