Bobby Davro

Bobby Davro (born Robert Christopher Nankeville, 13 September 1958 in Ashford, Middlesex)^[1] is an English actor and comedian.

He made his television debut in 1981. In 1983 he made his television breakthrough at Live from Her Majesty's followed by appearances on the television show Copy Cats.

Between 2007 and 2008 he played Vinnie Monks in the BBC One soap EastEnders, participated in Dancing on Ice in 2010 and took part in Your Face Sounds Familiar in 2013.

Career

Davro appeared on a variety of television shows, mostly with ITV, throughout the 80s and 90s. Davro's popularity was at its highest during the mid 80s with his own Saturday night ITV shows; Bobby Davro on the Box, Bobby Davro's TV Annual and Bobby Davro's TV Weekly. He also made appearances on the popular comedy impressions sketch show Copy Cats. Davro went on to make two more shows with ITV; Davro's Sketch Pad and Davro in 1990, but by this time the comedian's brand of humour was proving to be less popular with audiences as ratings for his shows declined.

The 90s saw Davro switching channels to the BBC, appearing on television shows such as Public Enemy Number One and the talent show The Heat Is On. During the filming of Public Enemy Number One, Davro suffered a broken nose when some stocks he was placed in toppled over and caused him to fall face-first onto the studio's concrete floor. This incident was not televised but was used in a BBC safety video.^[2]

Davro made another attempt at the comedy sketch show format which proved successful for him in the 80s, on the short lived show Rock with Laughter. He replaced John Eccleston as co-presenter on the game show Run the Risk with Peter Simon: this featured on the BBC's Saturday morning children's show Live & Kicking. Davro returned to UK TV screens in May 1997, as host of Yorkshire Television's Winner Takes All for 65 episodes which was produced for Challenge TV.

Between 10 June and 5 July 2015 Davro appeared at the King's Head Theatre, Islington as ping-pong-playing London cab driver Eric in a revival of Simon Block's comedy Not a Game for Boys. He was joined in the cast by Alan Drake and Oliver Joel and was directed by Jason Lawson.^[3] The production was well-received, with Danny Coleman-Cooke of britishtheatre.com saying: "Davro is brilliant as the sexist, bitter captain from hell Eric. .. Davro really captures the tragedy of the character and his quest for escapism, especially in the scene where Eric admits that his 45 minutes a week at the table is the only time in life that he feels truly happy. The funnyman has clearly not lost his comic timing but the depth and emotion of his performance here may well surprise some of his fans and critics alike."^[4]

In December 2015 Davro announced a 20-date UK tour for 2016, starting at the Epsom Playhouse on 17 May 2016.^[5] On 6 February 2015 he was a guest for Graham Norton on his weekly BBC Radio 2 show.^[6]

Live performances

• In 2005, he appeared in Birmingham, as an act for Jasper Carrott's Rock With Laughter, alongside performers such as, Bill Bailey, Jasper Carrott, Lenny Henry, Bonnie Tyler, Tammy Palmer and the Lord of the Dance troupe.
• In 2005 and 2006, he performed on stage in Aladdin with Melinda Messenger and John Rhys Davies in Woking, Surrey.
• Davro performed in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford in 2010 and 2011
• In 2011 he performed at the Derngate Theatre Northampton in Aladdin.
• In 2012 he returned to the Derngate Theatre in the production of Cinderella alongside Denise Welch.
• In 2013, he co-starred in the pantomime of Robin Hood at the Theatre Royal Plymouth alongside Lee Mead and Nigel Havers.
• In February 2016 Davro appeared, in a free gig, at The Railway Inn, Billingshurst, as headline on their monthly Joke Club night.^[7]
• In March and April 2016 he appeared as Scarecrow in the pantomime The Wizard of Oz at Dorking Halls, Dorking.^[8]

EastEnders

In August 2007, Davro joined the cast of the popular BBC One soap opera EastEnders, playing Vinnie Monks, a love interest for Shirley Carter. The character first appeared on screen in October.^[9] He left in Autumn 2008 to "pursue other avenues".

Guest appearances

In 2006, Davro made a special guest appearance as a judge on Channel 5's All Star Talent Show.

On 20 September 2009, Davro appeared in a new series of the Channel 4 programme Come Dine with Me. This was a celebrity episode in which he appeared with EastEnders actress Laila Morse who plays the part of Big Mo, DJ Dane Bowers and former The Word presenter Dani Behr. Davro came second place.^[10]

Dancing on Ice

In January 2010, he took part in the ITV skating show Dancing on Ice and was paired with newcomer Molly Moenkhoff. He began the show as an outsider at 66/1 to be the outright winner and made his first and only competitive appearance along with the other male celebrities in week 2. Following a poor performance he was the first male celebrity to be eliminated after a dance-off against actor Gary Lucy.^[11]

Your Face Sounds Familiar

In 2013, Davro along with other celebrities took part in the ITV entertainment series Your Face Sounds Familiar. He was eliminated in the fifth week. His chosen charity for the series was Kids 'n' Cancer.^[12]

Celebrity Big Brother

On 28 August 2015, Davro entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to take part in the sixteenth series. On 24 September, he reached the final on Day 29 and placed 4th.

Personal life

Trudi Jameson, the mother of Davro's three children, is from Sutton Coldfield. Between 2007 and 2011 Davro dated Vicky Wright, daughter of Wolves and England footballing legend Billy Wright.^[13]

Davro's father, Bill Nankeville, was a runner; a British national mile and 1500m champion, world-record holder, and represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games.^[14] In 2003 Davro was one of the contestants in the Channel 4 reality TV show The Games, in which 10 celebrities competed against each other in Olympic style events.

Charity

Davro is a supporter of the UK charity Kids 'n' Cancer.^[15]

References

External links

• Richard Herring meets Bobby Davro