Dukes and Lee
| Dukes and Lee | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ronnie Dukes and Audrey Tomlinson (Ricki Lee) |
| Born |
|
| Died |
|
| Medium | cabaret, television, stand-up, music |
| Nationality | English |
| Years active | 1960–1986 |
| Genres | comedy, musical, cabaret, |
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Dukes and Lee were a cabaret duo of Ronnie Dukes who was an English musician, dancer and comedian and Ricki Lee who was an English singer. They originated from Yorkshire and were popular on the cabaret circuit in the 1960's and 1970's.
Career
Ronnie Dukes was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. He trained as a dancer in his youth at the Parkgate school in Rotherham, and took part in dance competitions across the north of England as a teenager. After leaving school at 14 he became a professional entertainer with a touring act called Britains Dead End Kids which included The Patton Brothers.
After two years of national service he returned to show business but suffered a severe leg injury which prevented him from dancing for 13 months. During this time he added more comedy to his act and developed his cabaret show in the working men's clubs of the South Yorkshire area.
In 1953 he met Audrey Tomlinson, aka Ricky Lee, who was singing opera songs at the time, he persuaded her to move to more modern songs and they formed an act together and two years later they were married. As the act evolved his piano playing mother-in-law, Violet Tomlinson joined the stage show and became the butt of many of his jokes.[1]
Their appearances on the ITV variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club[2], led to a headlining making spot for Dukes and Lee at the Royal Variety Performance on November 10th 1975 hosted by Bruce Forsyth at the London Palladium[3]
Their act was self described as an extravaganza and in later years became a family affair with oldest son Dino playing drums and younger son Perry playing bass. Their act billing often described Ronnie and Ricki as a king of comedy and queen of song.
Ronnie was the star of Episode 1 on Series 16 of This is Your Life
Personal life
Dukes married Ricki Lee (born in Attercliffe, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England as Audrey Tomlinson) at Sheffield Cathedral on 28 April 1955 and remained married to her until his death. Dukes and Lee had three children, Dean (Dino), Perry and a daughter called Jolie.
Ronnie died of a heart attack while performing at Behan’s West Park in Jersey on the 7 June 1981 aged 49. His wife and both of his sons were performing with him that evening. He passed away while waiting to go on stage while Ricki was performing. He had briefly retired three years earlier after suffering from heart issues but financial issues had forced him to go back on tour.[4] Ronnie is buried in All Saints Church in Cawthorne, South Yorkshire in a specially constructed vault in the churchyard extension.[5]. Ricki carried on as a solo act for a number of years but passed away in on April 30th 1986 in Jersey at the age of 52.
Discography
- The Dukes and Lee Roadshow (1975) – [[EMI Records]
- Spinning Wheel (1974) – Midland Management
- What Christmas Means to Me (1977) – Damont Records
References
- ↑ "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club – 15th February 1975". archivetvmusings.blog.
- ↑ "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club – 15th February 1975". archivetvmusings.blog.
- ↑ "R1975, LONDON PALLADIUM". www.royalvarietycharity.org.
- ↑ "Belfast Telegraph - Monday 08 June 1981". www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.
- ↑ "The Little Book of Yorkshire". books.google.com.
External links
References
This article "Dukes and Lee" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Dukes and Lee. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
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