| Biography | Ted Rogers (20 July 1935 - 2 May 2001) was a fast-talking English comedian and light entertainer who started his career as a Redcoat entertainer and is best remembered as the host of the Yorkshire Television game show 3-2-1.
Rogers was born in Kennington, South London and went to school in Lambeth. His idol as a youngster was Danny Kaye and Rogers won a holiday camp talent contest impersonating Kaye as a youngster, but he would later put all showbusiness offers on hold whilst he did his national service in the RAF.
In the early 1960s Rogers would appear as a stand up comedian on the radio programme Billy Cotton Band Show, alongside singers such as Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and Alma Cogan and comedians Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd. He went on to become a familiar presence on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the 1970s. Rogers also appeared on the comedy panel game Jokers Wild.
Rogers achieved his biggest success as the presenter of ITV's variety gameshow 3-2-1. It ran for just over ten years in a top-rating Saturday night slot. He earned £130,000 a year in the early 1980s from 3-2-1 alone, and combined this with a career as a highly paid after dinner speaker and made regular cabaret and public appearances.
3-2-1 was cancelled in 1988 when still attracting audiences of 12 million and in the Top 20 ratings. In April 1996 Rogers told the Sunday Mirror that "The Oxbridge lot got control of TV and they didn't really want [the show]. It was too downmarket for them. We were still getting 12 million viewers when they took it off after 10 years. These days if a show gets nine million everyone does a lap of honour". Later that year, in an interview with Garry Bushell Rogers said "Entertainment is in the hands of Oxbridge graduates. We treat our stars disgracefully. Look at ITV and Benny Hill, look how the BBC treated Les Dawson. We need to make programmes that entertain an audience again."
After 3-2-1Rogers was a staunch supporter of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government of the 1980s: he spoke at their election rallies in 1979, 1983 and 1987. On the night of the 1979 General Election he said "We'll know in the morning if we have a silly old woman as Prime Minister or whether Margaret Thatcher got in". In the early 1990s, Rogers fell on hard times and was declared bankrupt in early 1992 having apparently invested his fortune in a failed business venture. His home at Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, was repossessed and Rogers' production company collapsed with debts of £80,000. He moved to Haslemere, Surrey into a more modest house.
In 1996 Rogers performed three times a week as the headline act in the summer show in Whitby, North Yorkshire from 1 July to 6 September. In 1997-98 Rogers appeared in the touring production of the play Danny and Me about his hero. Towards the end of the decade, the satellite/cable station Challenge began re-running episodes of 3-2-1. In 2000, Rogers was seen during the sponsor credits for the ITV quiz Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - sitting in a dressing room with 3-2-1 mascot Dusty Bin and bemoaning the new show's success. |