Everett, Kenny (1944–1995)

English television and radio broadcaster. He developed a zany and surreal style as a disc jockey and comic, but his professional progress was hampered by his tendency to make gaffes.

Everett's career began on the pirate radio station Radio London. He moved to the BBC's Radio One, then worked on Capital Radio from 1973 to 1980. He hosted his own shows on ITV (Independent Television) and BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).

Early life Everett grew up in Liverpool, a fan of vintage radio comedies like The Goon Show. His first job as a disc jockey, on the pirate radio station Radio London, was cut short by his making a joke on air at the expense of one of the sponsors. However, before long Everett was taken up by the BBC's Radio One, launched in 1967, and became a popular fixture on the station, despite a brief hiatus caused by another inappropriate joke, this time about the wife of a politician.

Career In 1973 Everett became a star presenter on the independent London station Capital Radio, remaining there until 1980. By that time he had successfully moved into television, with his own show first for ITV and then for the BBC. These programmes afforded ample scope to Everett's powers of invention, featuring a gallery of his grotesque impersonations, such as the punk yob Gizzard Puke and the female starlet Cupid Stunt. His subsequent career was not helped by his jocular impromptu cry of ‘Let's bomb Russia!’ at a Conservative Party rally before the 1983 election, though in the late 1980s he was a disc jockey for the Capital Gold radio station. Everett was diagnosed as having AIDS in 1993 and, in an effort to remove the taboo from the subject, announced it publicly.