Career
Bobby Crush first came to public attention after six winning appearances on Hughie Green's British ITV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, in the early 1970s. He received the Variety Club of Great Britain award for 'Best New Artist' of 1972.
His West End successes include 3 seasons at the London Palladium (guest starring with Jack Jones, Vic Damone and Julie Andrews). As a regular performer at that legendary venue, Bobby's name appears on the "Roll of Honour" at the Palladium's stage door. Bobby has also played a year at the Victoria Palace with Max Bygraves in "SwingalongaMax", has appeared in "The Royal Variety Performance" and starred in his own one-man show at the Fortune Theatre.
Bobby's work overseas include a tour of Canada with Sir Harry Secombe in "The London Palladium Show", concerts in Australia and New Zealand, as well as performing on the Queen Mary 2, P&O, Crystal and Royal Caribbean cruise liners, where his shows invariably receive standing ovations.
Bobby's television appearances include his own TV series "Sounds Like Music" (two seasons), "Through the Keyhole", "When Britain First Had Talent", "Celebrity Cash In The Attic", "The Unforgettable Hughie Green", "Let's Have A Party - the Piano Genius of Mrs. Mills", "This Morning", "Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV", "Celebrity Squares", "Give Us A Clue", "The Talent Show Story", "Live from Her Majesty's", "Wetty Hainthrop" for Comic Relief (with Victoria Wood & Julie Walters), "The Antiques Roadshow", "Jim Davidson's Generation Game", "Noel's House Party" and he was a guest judge on "Star Search" (Sky) and "Pot of Gold" with Des O'Connor (Carlton)
Theatrical roles include "Liberace" in "Liberace's Suit" (Jermyn Street Theatre), "Dr. Frank N. Furter" in "The Rocky Horror Show", "Vernon Gersch" in "They're Playing Our Song", "LM" in "Pump Boys and Dinettes", "Billy Flynn" in "Chicago" and "Liberace" in "Liberace, Live from Heaven" (Leicester Square Theatre / New Zealand tour / Edinburgh Festival)
Bobby's broadcasts include his own week of shows on BBC Radio 2, guest contributor on "Barbara Windsor's Ladies of Song" (BBC Radio 2), "The Ken Bruce Show", "The Bobby Crush 40th Birthday Concert" (Radio 2, nominated for the "Monte Carlo Radio Prize"), "The Gloria Hunniford Show", "Steve Wright In The Afternoon", "John Inman and Friends", "Maestro" and "Loose Ends" (BBC Radio 4, 7 appearances)
His recordings include his debut album "Bobby Crush", which reached the UK top 20, chart singles "Borsalino" and "The Sting" and "The Double Decker Party Album" (double gold disc). He has made 13 piano albums (not including compilations) and is also featured vocally on Pickwick's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" playing the role of "Pharoah" and Songs from the musical "Hair" for Carlton Records.
Following the release of his album "Reel Music", Bobby toured with 60's singing star Gene Pitney, playing a total of 30 dates with him including the London Palladium. Other career highlights include "The Stonewall Equality Show" at the Royal Albert Hall and a tour of "Back to Bacharach", Bobby's tribute show to the composer Burt Bacharach, for which he also wrote the script.
As a writer, Bobby has written pantomime scores, a musical ("Sherwood") and comedy material for Russ Abbot and Les Dennis. Bobby's greatest success as a songwriter was penning the music and lyrics for Keith Harris and Orville's hit "Orville's Song", which reached no. 4 in the UK charts, sold over 250,000 copies and brought both Keith and Bobby silver discs.
Following years of playing "principal boy" roles, Bobby is now regarded as one of the country's top pantomime dames, having played this role every Christmas since 2000.
On September 18th 2012, Bobby celebrated 40 years in showbusiness.
His latest venture is a tour with "4 Poofs and A Piano" (from Jonathan Ross' TV show). The tour will take place February - April 2013.
Crush came out as gay in an interview with Gay Times in 2004.
Bobby now lives in Central London, having been raised in East London. He is currently preparing his autobiography, which will be published in 2014 (working title: "Not The Boy Next Door")
More information can be found at www.bobbycrush.com
Bobby can also be followed on "Twitter" - @theBobbyCrush
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