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Keith Harris

Known For
Acting

Known Credits
12

Gender
Male

Birthday
September 21, 1947 (78 years old)

Place of Birth
Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, UK

Keith Harris

Biography

Keith Shenton Harris (21 September 1947 – 28 April 2015) was an English ventriloquist, best known for his television show The Keith Harris Show (1982–90), audio recordings, and club appearances with his puppets Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey. He had a UK Top 10 hit single in 1982 with "Orville's Song" which reached number 4 in the charts.

The son of variety performers, Harris assisted in his father's ventriloquy acts as a child; as a teenager, he created his own ventriloquism characters which he performed at holiday resorts in the summer season, attracting the attention of television producers. He debuted on screen in 1965 and became a popular act guest starring on various shows; he had his first solo series Cuddles and Company in the 1970s, but got his big break in 1982 with The Keith Harris Show. He, Orville and Cuddles became popular performers on primetime television until the show was cancelled in 1990, as audiences and television producers began to move away from variety performances.

After a low period and two failed business ventures in the early 1990s, he embarked on a busy stage career (mostly in pantomime) and found new appreciation in the 2000s, appearing as a guest in several television programmes. His output declined after a 2013 cancer diagnosis and he died two years later.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Keith Harris (ventriloquist), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Acting

2011Big Brother's Bit on the Sideas Keith Harris & Orville
2011Pointless Celebritiesas Self
2011PressPausePlayas Keith Harris & Orville
2008Celebrity Juiceas Keith Harris & Orville
2005The Friday Night Projectas Keith Harris & Orville
2004Shamelessas Keith Harris
2002Dick and Dom in da Bungalowas Keith Harris & Orville
2000When Louis Met...as Keith Harris & Orville
1988Michael Barrymore's Saturday Night Outas Keith Harris & Orville
1984Royal Variety Performance 1984as Keith Harris & Orville
1982Woganas Keith Harris & Orville
1979Blankety Blankas Keith Harris & Orville

Production