Comedy legend Sir Ken Dodd dies at 90

Photo Credit: Daily Express

By Ikenna Amadi

Legendary comedian, Sir Ken Dodd, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time, has died aged 90.

Dodd, famous for his marathon-length stand-up shows and for creating the Diddymen, passed away in the very same home he grew up in, in Liverpool suburb Knotty Ash.

Just on Friday, Dodd had married his partner of 40 years, Anne Jones, and had recently returned from a six-week hospital stint, where he was being treated for a chest infection.

“To my mind, he was one of the last music hall greats,” Dodd’s publicist Robert Holmes said.

“He passed away in the home that he was born in over 90 years ago. He’s never lived anywhere else. It’s absolutely amazing.”

Dodd was knighted at Buckingham Palace last year. He  was born the son of a coal merchant in 1927, and became a comedian in 1954, starting out playing to live audiences in music halls.

He then broke out into TV and radio, becoming one of the biggest, most beloved names in the game.

Dodd was also a talented musician. His single ‘Tears’ was the third highest-selling song of the entire 1960s, only beaten out by two Beatles singles.

In the same decade, he got his name into the Guinness Book of World Records, for telling a whopping 1,500 jokes in the space of three hours.

Tributes have been pouring in for Dodd all morning, from both inside and outside of the comedy world.