| Janette and Ian Tough | |
|---|---|
Janette Tough as "Wee Jimmy Krankie" (looking at camera) and Ian Tough at a public event in the 1980s. |
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| Born | Janette: 16 May 1947 Stirlingshire, Scotland Ian: 26 March 1947 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Television presenters, comedians, singers |
| Children | none |
The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo that enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and releasing their own music single. They have regularly appeared in pantomime. The duo comprises wife Janette Tough and her husband Ian. As the Krankies they portray schoolboy Wee Jimmy Krankie (Janette), and Jimmy's father (Ian), though in their comedy act they also portray other characters.
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Janette was born on 16 May 1947 in Stirlingshire, Scotland, and Ian on 26 March 1947 in Glasgow, Scotland. The two met each other in 1966, and were married in 1969.
They began their career as a comedy duo performing various characters, working the comedy circuit. In 1978 they got their "big break" when they were given a place at the Royal Variety Performance.
During the 1980s they were given roles in several television shows, including the BBC's stalwart children's entertainment series Crackerjack.
In early 1981 they released a couple of singles.
Janette also appears as Jimmy Krankie in the video for 2007 Comic Relief single "500 Miles" with The Proclaimers, Brian Potter, Andy Pipkin and other celebrity stars
In 1999 Janette Tough made a cameo appearance in a season 4 episode of Murder Most Horrid ("Elvis, Jesus, and Zack"). The episode concerns an artist who fakes his death to gain popularity. Janette is seen at the end of the episode, calling Dawn French's character for help faking her own death. Also in 1999 she appeared as Janice, friend of Petula in an episode of Dinnerladies entitled 'Christmas'.
In 2003, "Wee Jimmy Krankie" was voted "The Most Scottish Person In The World" by the readers of The Glasgow Herald. In 2004, Janette was badly injured in a fall during a performance in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, but has since made a full recovery.[5][6][7]
Janette makes recurring appearances in various series of French & Saunders. She played, for example, Anadin Skywalker in the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace parody.[8] Her most recent appearance was on the 2005 Christmas Special, in which she appeared in the mock theatre trailers for The Graduate and Chicago. She also appeared in the fifth series of Absolutely Fabulous playing both a midwife and nightmare baby in the episode "Book Clubbin."
The Krankies appeared in a widely-seen advertising campaign for 'stv Bingo'.[9] In 2007, The Krankies appeared in the video for the Comic Relief remake of The Proclaimers' song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), which featured Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin (fictional characters portrayed by Peter Kay and Matt Lucas respectively).
On the 12 June 2008 they appeared as guests on The Paul O'Grady Show, where they appeared in character at the beginning, before coming on later in the show not in character. Ian sat in the middle of the sofa next to Ivana Trump, and Janette sat on the end closest to the host, Paul O'Grady. Janette made several jokes about her age and height. Ian made several comments which were feeder lines to these jokes. They were promoting a forthcoming tour in which they performed with other "semi-retired" acts such as Frank Carson, Brotherhood of Man, and Jimmy Cricket (all best known in the 1970s and 1980s).
In a 2008 interview, David Tennant (jokingly) suggested that he would like Wee Jimmy Krankie to take over the role of Doctor Who.[10] In 2009, 14 December, they once again were on the Paul O'Grady show for the pantomime special of 'Sleeping Beauty' where Janette played the Prince's nurse and Ian played the jester. This was billed as the last ever Paul O'Grady pantomime. The duo appeared on ITV's daytime show Loose Women on 25 February 2010.
During the 2010 panto season, the Krankies made a re-appearance to Scottish panto alongside John Barrowman at the SECC for Aladdin. They appeared as the Police, with Janette parodying Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga and made an appearance as Wee Jimmy Krankie.
In December 2011, during an appearance on BBC Radio Scotland's Stark Talk programme, Ian Tough revealed the couple had enjoyed a colourful sex life at the time when their profile was at its highest in the 1980s, admitting to episodes of 'swinging'. He told the story of one amorous incident where the pair almost sailed off course to France in a small boat while partaking in a sex act. [11]