Arise, Sir Tommy!

[Buenchico]

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2020/10/09/tommy-steele-living-in-a-showbusiness-fairy-story-after-knighthood/

[New Judge]

Hold on, hold on!

In 1980 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work as an entertainer and actor. In this latest instalment of gongs he was promoted to Knight Commander for his services to entertainment and charity. As far as "entertainment" goes, in between he has scarcely been seen or heard of. The odd appearance on the likes of "The One Show" or "This Morning" is all I can find. In fact, I don't really know what he's been living on during those four decades.

In an interview he is quoted as saying:

"I have always been very lucky that things have happened to me. I went into Half A Sixpence, which was a musical, and then next thing I know I am on Broadway, then I am in Hollywood doing films. It sounds like a blinking fairy story and I suppose it is. It’s a showbusiness fairy story.”

I might also suggest it's about as credible as a fairy story. The only films of any note I can see him being in after Half a Sixpence was “Finian’s Rainbow” which was made in a year later and where he played second or even third fiddle to Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.

Don't get me wrong, he was a good entertainer in his time - which lasted but a short while. "Half a Sixpence" was a good yarn but it was made over fifty years ago. He was a very good squash player (along with Leonard Rossiter who numbered among the top ten amateur squash players in the UK) and I understand he’s done a bit of sculpting. But a Knighthood? Anybody any ideas why he has been awarded a "K" other than because it was "Buggins' Turn"?

[iluvmargie]

Anyone remember his song Little White Bull? I had the record many, many years ago.

[Everhelpful]

NJ,What did Lenny Henry,John Major,Elton John etc,do to deserve one?

[Mamyalynne]

As ever The Birthday Honours List covers many areas and some will sit easier with us than others,in a difficult year I think the balance is quite good and if it brings more smiles that squabbles it can only be good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54468492

[New Judge]

//NJ,What did Lenny Henry,John Major,Elton John etc,do to deserve one?//

Well that nice Mr Major was the Prime Minister. Whether that's justification for a Knighthood is debateable but it's certainly more justification than awarding one to Mr Steele. The other two - one thought he was a comedian and took part (I think) in the Red Nose nonsense for a few years; the other sang a few songs and inexplicably made a pile of money from the exercise. Neither justifies a Knighthood on those bases.

[dannyk13]

NJ, he had more to him than 'Half a Sixpence
//He soon expanded beyond the horizons of pop music, appearing on Broadway and in the West End.//

[Mamyalynne]

Oh leave him be, never more happy than when he's a grumblin'.

[iluvmargie]

I also saw him at the Liverpool Empire Theatre a few years ago playing Fagin in Oliver. Everybody marvelled at how good he was and didn't look his age.

[Bobbisox1]

Tommy did well on the West End , liked him a lot back in the day ' A handful of Songs'

[Cloverjo]

I can’t see why actors get knighthoods and damehoods for doing a nice job and getting well paid for it. Maureen Lipman is getting one too.
I admire her and Mr Steele very much, but....

[MargoTester]

NJ - Elton John has raised nearly £276 million for AIDS charities and Lenny Henry has helped raise £1.3 billion through Comic Relief. I think that justifies a Knighthood.

[New Judge]

//I also saw him at the Liverpool Empire Theatre a few years ago playing Fagin in Oliver. Everybody marvelled at how good he was and didn't look his age.//

But Fagin was about 110 :-)

[jno]

I was also intrigued by the link in the middle of that story saying "Cross-dressing songwriter guilty of beheading mother and putting head in freezer". I don't think I'll bother clicking on it, though.

Good for Sir Tommy, though like NJ I did wonder what he'd done lately. Wikipedia says he released an audio thriller serial this year, which may have been excellent.

[roopower]

I saw him at the Theatre Royal in Norwich years ago and he was amazing. I also saw him in the title role of Scrooge in the musical and was very disappointed, he seemed to take the whole thing as a laugh and in places it was very poignant. Anthony Newley was the Scrooge and in my eyes a hard act to follow but then I was / am a big fan.
So many 'celebrities' and 'stars' do huge amounts for charities that we don't hear about.