Des O'Connor

Desmond Bernard "Des" O'Connor, CBE (born 12 January 1932) is an English comedian, broadcaster and singer. A former chat show host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years. He has also recorded 36 albums and has had four top-ten singles, including a number-one hit with "I Pretend", with global sales of more than ten million records.

Early life

O'Connor was born in Stepney East London to Maude (née Bassett) and Harry O'Connor. His mother was Jewish and his father was born in Ireland, O'Connor had a Bar Mitzvah. O'Connor has a sister, Patricia, who is one year his junior. He was evacuated to Northampton during the Second World War and was briefly a professional footballer with Northampton Town. After completing his National Service in the Royal Air Force, he worked as a shoe salesman at Church's in Northampton, and for United Counties, both on the road and in the office, before entering show business. Before his break in television, his first theatre appearances were in variety, where he appeared in venues throughout the country.

Des O'Connor (rugby league)

Des O'Connor was an Australian rugby league player from the 1970s.

Career

Des O'Connor came from St. George's rugby union ranks to play for the Newtown Jets in the late 1960s. He played five seasons with Newtown between 1968 and 1973 and captained the Jets to victory in the 1973 Wills Cup Final against St George Dragons. He retired at the end of the 1974 season after successfully taking the Newtown reserve grade team to the premiership. Des O'Connor became treasurer of the Newtown Jets in the 1980s.

References

Desmond O'Connor (cabaret performer)

Desmond O'Connor (also known as Des O'Connor) is an English ukulele playing cabaret host and musical comedy performer. He is an award winning composer and lyricist and musical director/co-creator for the award winning Twice Shy Theatre. He has also been a teacher and head of seniors at Eaton Square School in London SW1. and is a trained educational psychologist, specialising in helping children with special needs or learning difficulties.

Career

Des O'Connor was a member of the Cambridge Footlights at the same time as Sacha Baron Cohen, Mitchell and Webb, Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness. After a year away from Cambridge, he became musical director of the Footlights at the invitation of David Mitchell. At one point, O'Connor was a Latin teacher. He has been a presenter for MTV UK at Bestival and The Big Chill. In 2009 he was composer, lyricist and musical director of Scott Mills The Musical for BBC Radio 1, working alongside co-writer Emlyn Dodd and director Patrick Wilde. Patrick Wilde directed the musical Failed States, written by Desmond O'Connor and Andrew Taylor, which won Best Book and Best Lyrics in the MTM UK musical theatre awards in Edinburgh in 2006. Failed States was revived this year for a run at St James' Theatre, London and at Latitude Festival, 2015, to mark the 10 year anniversary of the London bombings. He and Taylor also wrote the musical Toxic Bankers, which enjoyed an extended run at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2011.