Don Maclean
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Don Maclean | |
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| Born | 1942 or 1943 (age 81–82)[1] |
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Don Maclean MBE KSS[2] (born 1942/1943) is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s.
Born in Birmingham, he attended Clifton Road School, Balsall Heath and St. Philip's School, which was a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys in Edgbaston. His first job was as a civil servant at the Inland Revenue and he was an entertainer in pubs, clubs and holiday camps. Maclean's first television appearance was on the soap opera Crossroads and early in his career he was a comedy compère of the BBC television series The Black and White Minstrel Show.
On Crackerjack, Maclean usually performed a live routine or routines with Glaze in front of a studio audience of children and a filmed insert with Glaze, in the style of a silent comedy film. Live routines would almost always work in the 'joke' where an exasperated Glaze would exclaim 'Maclean!' to which Maclean would answer 'Yes, I had a bath this morning!'. Also notable was that when responding to Glaze's exasperation, Maclean would regularly give an alliterative reply, such as "Don't get your knickers in a knot" or "Don't get your tights in a twist".[3] Maclean also appeared in the film Carry On Columbus. A practising Roman Catholic, from 1990[4] Maclean presented BBC Radio 2's religious show Good Morning Sunday, until he was replaced by Aled Jones in 2006.
He hosted the panel games The Clever Dick-Athlon (1988–90) and Are You Sitting Comfortably (1993–96), both for Radio 2, and First Letter First (1993) for BBC1. He also toured in the play There's No Place Like a Home with Gorden Kaye. In 2009, he claimed that the BBC is keen on programmes which attack churches and that there is a wider secularist campaign to get rid of Christianity.[5]
In 2006 Maclean pleaded guilty to drink-driving and had his licence suspended for twelve months.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Comic Maclean banned for drink-driving". Birmingham Mail. 22 March 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- ^ Comedian Don Maclean made Papal Knight, bbc.co.uk; accessed 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Peter Glaze - Crackerjack Comedy Legend Signed Letter (And Doctor Who) | #532599169".
- ^ "BBC Genome Project". Don Maclean (first episode). 15 July 1990. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "BBC is anti-Christian and pro-Muslim says ex host", christian.org.uk; accessed 21 May 2015.
External links
[edit]- Don Maclean at IMDb
| International | |
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| National | |
- 1942 births
- Living people
- English male stage actors
- English male television actors
- English male comedians
- English television presenters
- British radio DJs
- Blackface minstrel performers
- BBC Radio 2 presenters
- Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at St Philip's School
- Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands
- English Roman Catholics
- Comedians from Birmingham, West Midlands