Gorden Kaye
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| Gorden Kaye | |||||||
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| Born | Gordon Fitzgerald Kaye 7 April 1941 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England |
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| Other name(s) | Gordon Kay Gordon Kaye |
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| Occupation | Actor | ||||||
| Years active | 1968-present | ||||||
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Gorden Fitzgerald Kaye (born 7 April 1941) is a BAFTA-nominated English comic actor.
Kaye is possibly best known for his starring role in the British TV comedy 'Allo 'Allo! as René Artois.
As a youngster, he played Rugby League for Moldgreen ARLFC before studying at King James's Grammar School in Almondbury, Huddersfield.
After first coming to prominence playing Elsie Tanner's nephew Bernard Butler in the UK's long-running soap opera Coronation Street in 1969, he later made an impression on producer/writer David Croft following memorable guest roles in It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Are You Being Served? and Come Back Mrs Noah.
Croft offered him the lead role in a series he had written called Oh, Happy Band! but Kaye was unavailable and the part went to Harry Worth. Oh, Happy Band! disappeared after one series and, in 1982, Croft sent Kaye the script for the pilot episode of 'Allo 'Allo! inviting him to play the central character of René Artois. He accepted and went on to appear in each of the show's 85 episodes and many productions of the hit stage version. Note; It was in 1982 Gordon appeared as one of the two waiters in the famous "They're tasty, tasty, very very tasty" adverts for Bran Flakes.
Kaye is the author of a 1989 autobiography, Rene & Me: A Sort of Autobiography (with Hilary Bonner, ISBN 0-283-99965-9) in which he describes his experiences as a shy, gay, overweight, typecast youth. The unusual spelling of the name Gorden (usually spelt Gordon) was due to an Equity typing error.
Kaye suffered serious head injuries in a car accident during the Burns' Day storm on 25 January 1990.[1] Although he cannot remember any details of the incident, he still has a scar on his forehead from a piece of wooden advertising boarding that smashed through the car windscreen.
While recovering in hospital from emergency brain surgery to treat injuries sustained in the accident, Kaye was photographed and "interviewed" by Sunday Sport journalist Roger Ordish. The Sunday Sport was sued by Kaye, but despite clearly being unable to give consent to such behaviour, the British Court of Appeal held that his privacy had not been invaded — a decision often said to be the low point of British privacy law.[2]
Gorden Kaye returned as Rene Artois in a 2007 one-off television revival of 'Allo 'Allo and in a stage show in Brisbane, Australia at the Twelfth Night Theatre in June and July, alongside Sue Hodge as Mimi Labonq and Guy Siner as Lieutenant Gruber. The other characters were portrayed by various famous Australian actors including Katy Manning, Steven Tandy, Chloe Dallimore, Jason Gann, Tony Alcock and David Knijnenburg.
He is currently appearing in a second UK tour of the play There's No Place Like a Home[3] with Tony Adams, Ray Alan, Peter Byrne, Brian Cant, Christopher Beeny and Sue Hodge.
[edit] Roles in Croft's Shows
| Show | Role | Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| It Ain't Half Hot Mum | The Burly Soldier | The Pay Off | 08/11/1977 |
| Come Back Mrs Noah | The Television Presenter | Series | 1977 - 1978 |
| Are You Being Served? | Mr. Tomiades The Plastic Mac Mr. Fortescue |
Do You Take This Man? Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person Closed Circuit |
29/11/1978 09/11/1979 21/05/1981 |
| 'Allo 'Allo! | René François Artois | Series and 2 Specials | 1982 - 1992, 1994 2007 |
