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Jimmy Cricket, the northern Irish comic who became a regular fixture on British television throughout the 1980s, has died aged 80.
Known for his catchphrase: “And there’s more!”, Cricket fronted his own ITV series of the same name on which he rocked his signature look of tailcoat, short trousers and wellington boots marked clearly with “L” and “R” on the wrong feet. He also appeared at the 1984 Royal Variety Performance as well as in the BBC’s long-running light entertainment vehicle The Good Old Days.
A statement from his family posted on the Jimmy Cricket Facebook page read: “Our beloved Jimmy passed away this morning after a short illness. He spent his last few days surrounded by his family, love, laughter and songs.”
Born James Joseph Mulgrew in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, Cricket left school aged 16 and began working as a Butlin’s Redcoat a couple of years later. After moving first to Stockport and then Rochdale, Cricket worked the northern comedy circuits in England throughout the 1970s, gaining his big break when he reached the semi-finals of TV talent show Search for a Star in 1980.
He spent the 1980s as a household name, with numerous appearances in The Krankies Klub and The Good Old Days. In 1987 he was the featured celebrity on an episode of This Is Your Life. By the mid 1990s he had moved towards radio, starring in four series of the acclaimed BBC Radio 2 show Jimmy’s Cricket Team alongside other comedy talent.
Cricket had a reputation as a family man, marrying May Tweedie in 1972. The couple had four children. The family statement said: “Jimmy brought so much laughter and happiness to countless audiences throughout his career. Whether on stage, screen or radio, or if you met him in person. But that was nothing compared with the happiness he gave to his family. A devoted husband to May for 52 years. A wonderful dad to his four children and a very silly grandad indeed to his four grandchildren. He was our greatest champion and loved us all loudly. Forever our clown, he was cracking jokes to the wonderful NHS staff and to us all right until the end.”
Cricket was known for his charity work, appearing alongside Peter Kay and Matt Lucas in the 2007 Comic Relief video for I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and frequently put on tours to raise funds for the Francis House Children’s Hospice in Manchester.
In 2015, Cricket was awarded a papal knighthood, the Roman Catholic Church’s highest honour, by Pope Francis, in recognition of his charity work. Commenting on the award at the time, Cricket said: “The parish priest arrived and took out this certificate - it was a papal knighthood and it was in Latin. I thought, ‘He’s got the wrong fella here, is he sure it’s not the neighbour?’”
He added: “I do what I love. If I can raise money by entertaining people, sure it’s not hard work. To get an honour for doing something that you love is quite a blessing.”
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