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An
entertainer and producer of international status Duggie actually
began his career as an 11-year-old film star. Duggie landed the
part through auditions for a northern boy for the Robert Donat film
The Cure for Love.
He got the showbiz bug at the age of 15, on leaving school, went on tour with a boy singing group The Four Blue Pages. During three years of continuous touring in variety his voice broke and developed an unmusical croak overnight. |
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He decided to turn to comedy after working with
so many idols, and his first engagement as a comedian was at the
age of 18 at the Old Collins Music Hall on Islington Green, a mecca
at that time for agents and talent scouts. He was spotted by a representative
of Vie Oliverwho introduced him to the BBC producer Alistair Scott-Johnson,
who gave him his first broadcast in Variety Playhouse.
Many more radio shows followed and in all over 100 broadcasts for the BBC. Duggie became popular as a summer show comedian and starred in summer shows throughout the country. Always in demand as a pantomime Dame he spent three consecutive Christmas seasons at Richmond Theatre, London, and for the Derek Salberg at Bournemouth and Birmingham. Duggie played in the Peter Chelson award winning Feature Film starring Jerry Lewis 'Funny Bones' as The Reporter and the film starring James Bollom 'Seaview Knights' as Charlie. |