Comedian Stan Boardman where is he now
REX/ WENN Comedian Stan was discovered on Hughie Green’s Opportunity Knocks
Liverpool-born Stan, 79, and his wife Vivienne have grown-up twins, five grandchildren and live on Merseyside. Stan is working with actor Ricky Tomlinson on a new film due for release next year. “I’m one of 10 children – seven sisters and two brothers. My brother John died after six months and Tommy, who was three years older than me, died when a German bomb blew up the air-raid shelter we’d taken cover in during the Liverpool Blitz.
I’ve become one of the luckiest people in the world Stan Boardman
“I got the comedy bug at school where we’d always be telling jokes, and from my mother who was very funny. I loved football and although I played for Liverpool FC for two years, I never made the first team because I got my call-up papers for the Army and joined the Royal Engineers in Hampshire. Later, I worked as a pipe fitter and had my own haulage firm.
“Vivienne and I took our twins on their first holiday to Butlins in 1976. The children got me up on stage, telling jokes in a talent contest, which I won. There were more heats, ending with a final at The London Palladium where I won £1,000. “The producers of Opportunity Knocks heard about it and put me on the show the next week. Although I didn’t win the audience vote with the clap-o-meter, I returned three more times in front of 20 million TV viewers. Opportunity Knocks was huge for me and I got recognised and stopped everywhere I went.
REX Performing in the mid 80s
“It led to presenting work and spots on TV shows including Seaside Special and Summertime Special, and there was non-stop work in summer seasons, panto and variety shows. “The Comedians was equally important. People enjoyed the show and every comedian was a larger-than-life character – it made stars of working-class men like Frank Carson, who used to be a plasterer. I did shows all over – the phone never stopped ringing. I had bookings from Spain to Australia to Dubai, and a ten-year stint doing my show in Jersey.
The best TV for 2017 Fri, December 9, 2016 Peaky Blinders, Broadchurch, Homeland, The Voice UK and more. Here's the best TV coming your way in 2017. Play slideshow BBC•ITV•Channel4 1 of 13 The Best TV to watch out for in 2017 including Peaky Blinders, Broadchurch, Homeland & The Voice UK
“I worked with all kinds of people, from Les Dawson to Bobby Crush, Rose Marie and The Black Abbots who taught me to play golf, which has become my hobby. I also appeared four times as a guest on Des O’Connor Tonight, but it’s that ill-fated last appearance in the 80s, where I told a story about a German Focke-Wulf plane that bombed our chip shop in Liverpool, that everyone remembers. “In recent years, I’ve done shows such as Celebrity Come Dine With Me, Celebrity Wife Swap and Watchdog. “I was working as a lifeguard in Bognor Regis when I met Vivienne, who was swimming. I asked if I could save her and she replied, ‘No, I’m OK!’ We got chatting, started dating and got married in 1967.