Background and career
James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He presented the TV shows Big Break and The Generation Game, and developed and starred in the adult pantomime shows Sinderella and Boobs in the Wood. In 2014 he was the winner of the 13th series of Celebrity Big Brother. Davidson has incorporated jokes about various minority groups in his stand-up act, which has made him a subject of criticism. He has been involved in several public controversies due to his style of humour.
The son of a Scottish father from Glasgow and an Irish mother from County Cork, Davidson was born in Kidbrooke, London, and attended Kidbrooke Park Primary School, Blackheath, and St Austin's School in Charlton. Having impressed some acquaintances of his father with impressions of celebrities, he was chosen to appear in Ralph Reader's Gang Show at the Golders Green Hippodrome aged 12 and appeared on television in the Billy Cotton Band Show. Upon leaving school, Davidson worked as a supermarket shelf stacker, a messenger, air ticket clerk for a travel agency, a cashier for Wall's ice cream and for Rank Xerox (having trained as a reprographics operator), and a window cleaner. Davidson started in show business when, as a regular in a pub in Woolwich, he stepped in after the pub's regular comedian was not available. He then became a regular on the London comedy circuit, and first auditioned unsuccessfully for Opportunity Knocks in 1975. His audition for New Faces was more successful, and he won the show by one point, coming second in the overall contest.
Davidson's success was quickly followed by many more appearances on television, including What's on Next, and several series of his own television show, The Jim Davidson Show (1979—1982), which ran for five complete series and won Davidson the TV Times award as "Funniest Man on Television". Davidson appeared on an edition of the BBC1 series Seaside Special, shown on 20 August 1977, hosted by Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton. Davidson's appearance garnered a negative review in The Stage, with the show's reviewer, Martyn Wade, commenting that: "...comedian Jim Davidson had already won first prize for lack of taste with crude racist jokes tracing the adventures of a black man whose nickname was Chalky and whose other names included Toilet-Roll. 'Day-light come and I gotta sign on' is a representative line from Mr Davidson's act." He starred in TV sitcoms Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983–1985) and Home James! (1987–1990). His one-man show for Thames Television, Stand Up Jim Davidson (1990), was recorded at London's Royalty Theatre. Davidson became known as the host of Big Break (1991–2002), and as the third host of The Generation Game (1995–2002) following Bruce Forsyth and Larry Grayson. In September 2007, Davidson appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen (2007) in the UK, and in May 2008 he appeared in the BBC's Comedy Map of Britain. On 2 January 2013, Davidson was set to become a housemate in the 11th series of Celebrity Big Brother, but was arrested at Heathrow Airport by police officers working on Operation Yewtree. On 3 January 2014, a year after being arrested and without being charged, he became a housemate in the show's 13th series. On 29 January 2014, he left the Big Brother house as the winner.
Davidson's touring material developed from his original London comedy circuit show, aimed for pub and club audiences, a demographic considerably different to that of his television work. He later developed his touring material into his adult pantomime work, including productions with titles such as Sinderella, a spoof of Cinderella, and Boobs in the Wood, a spoof of Robin Hood. In 2006, for the first time in 14 years, he refused to perform at Great Yarmouth, stating that the resort was "full of overweight people in flip-flops and fat children of all colours and no class".
Davidson appeared in the UK singles chart with the double A-sided "White Christmas" / "Too Risky". It peaked at No. 52 in December 1980.
Davidson has several business interests. He set up a company which bought or leased several seaside theatres or piers, including the Winter Gardens building in Great Yarmouth, which was converted into a nightclub. He lost £700,000 on a pantomime production of Dick Whittington, and after a meeting with the Inland Revenue in 2003, he sold the company.
