Paul Curtis murals of Ken Dodd Liverpool entertainer, on the Royal Court Theatre, Roe street, L1
Info from - Exactly two years after his death, two magnificent murals were unveiled in memory of the great Sir Ken Dodd – on the wall of the theatre he helped save. The murals now adorning the Liverpool Royal Court were commissioned by The Comedy Trust and created by the artist Paul Curtis, best known for his Liverbird wings mural. Lady Anne Dodd – who performed the emotional ceremony – told the ECHO: “They are just amazing, absolutely amazing. I’m humbled. I’m thrilled to bits. I woke up sad this morning because it’s a sad day in one way, but this just shows he brought happiness. “Ken would have felt humbled – he would have said it was tattyfilarious, plumptious and ‘I’m totally discomknockerated!’” The first of the bright and colourful murals shows a sharply dressed Doddy, tickling stick in hand, by the seaside, in reference to Blackpool but also his love of playing seaside theatres all over the country. The second features a couple of Diddy Men and words from the Squire of Knotty Ash’s trademark song – Happiness, which was sung by the Liverpool Royal Court Community Choir, as a big crowd gathered outside the theatre for the unveiling. Lady Anne added: “They couldn’t be in a better place. They will be seen by so many people – walking by or going past on buses – and hopefully they will make people smile.” The murals were funded by the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson with a contribution from his City Fund. Sir Ken, who performed at the Royal Court across several decades, starting in the 1950s, played a huge part in keeping the theatre open in the 1970s. In 1974, he entered the Guinness Book of Records thanks to his “Marathon Mirthquake” at the theatre – it lasted three hours, 30 minutes and six seconds and included 1,500 jokes. Later, he became part of the Royal Court Theatre and Arts Trust – and even sold the first tickets at the box office for Laughter Show
Size: 3084px × 3966px
Location: 1 Roe St, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK, L1 1HL
Photo credit: © Tony Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: @hotpixuk, artist, ash, centre, city, comedian, comedy, court, curtis, diddy, diddymen, discomknockerated, dodd, doddy, england, entertainer, entertainment, famous, gift, gotonysmith, greatest, happiness, happy, hotpixuk, ken, knotty, levelling, liverpool, marathon, men, merseyside, mirthquake, mural, murals, northern, painted, painting, paul, plumptious, possess, powerhouse, record, royal, scouse, scousers, sir, song, tattyfilarious, theatre, trust, uk
