TOMMy
STEELE – CHRONOLOGY
17th December 1936 Born in Bermondsey, South London.
21st April 1952 Went
to sea as a crew member of the Sythia
Spring 1956 While on shore leave, met Lionel Bart and Michael Pratt and formed a skiffle group called “The Cavemen”
7th August 1956 Paid off from Mauritania
19th September 1956 Spotted singing in 2 I’s Coffee Bar in Soho
22 September 1956 Auditioned for Hugh Mendl of Decca Records
24th September 1956 Cut first Decca record – Rock with the Caveman/Rock Around Town
15th October 1956 First TV appearance for BBC on “Off the Record”. Booked immediately for another performance
23rd October 1956 Cameo
appearance in movie “Kill Me Tomorrow” performing Rebel Rock
October 1956 Booked for four weeks at the upscale Burnett’s Stork Club – first professional gig
5th November 1956 Stage debut at Empire Theatre, Sunderland – as the headliner, six weeks tour
1956 Voted into the Top 10 Male Vocalists in prestigious NME Reader’s Poll
January 1957 “Singing the Blues” becomes #1 single – even before Elvis Presley had a #1 hit
21 January 1957 Two-week engagement at Café de Paris, London
February/March 1957 Filmed The Tommy Steele Story (aka “Rock Around the World”) – less than six months after first record.
March 1957 Appeared in the Six-Five Special series for BBC TV (i.e., American Bandstand in the US)
Summer 1957 Tommy buys new home in Catford for his mother and names it for his hit record, “Shiralee”. Buys his first car
20th May 1957 London stage debut at the Dominion Theatre in a variety show, his second UK Tour, along with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. His
recording of Butterfingers hits the top 10
May 1957 Ann Donoughue, a dancer from Yorkshire, is introduced to Tommy (backstage at the Chiswick Empire) by his friend, Lionel Bart
May 1957 The Tommy Steele Story premieres at the Rialto Cinema, Leicester Square
July 1957 The Tommy Steele Story is re-titled Rock Around the World and premiers in the US in Milwaukee
July 1957 Handful of Songs/Water,Water jumps to top 5 on the hit parade
1957 Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
5-13th September 1957 First European tour: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Brussels
29th September 1957 Appeared on the Jack Jackson Show (i.e., Ed Sullivan in the US)
October 1957 NME Polls vote Tommy #2 World Music Personality (Elvis was #1)
October 1957 NME Polls vote Tommy #2 British Male Vocalist ( Dickie Valentine was #1)
October 1957 NME Polls vote Tommy #1 British Music Personality
15th October 1957 Appeared in “Off the Record” TV show. TV Station flooded with calls for return performance
19th October 1957 Appeared in “The Golden Year” on TV in celebration of his first year as an entertainer
Oct/Dec 1957 Filmed The Duke Wore Jeans in England (at the home of Winston Churchill) playing the dual role of Tony Whitecliff/Tommy Hudson
4th November 1957 Presented to Her Majesty, The Queen, at the Royal Film Performance in London, who told him that Prince Charles and Princess Anne
thoroughly enjoyed his film , The Tommy Steele Story
10th November 1957 On ITV News being presented to The Queen
18th November 1957 Appeared at the Royal Film Performance
November 1957 Headlined a live episode of the “6-5 Special” from the 2 I’s Coffee Bar
November 1957 Chosen to be included in the Madame Tussard’s Wax Museum
24th December 1957 Appeared on ITV Christmas Eve Show. Singing “Princess” to his sister Sandra
5th January 1958 Appeared in Sunday Night at the Palladium. Sang 15 minutes of songs from Goldilocks
March 1958 Begins South Africa Tour
1958 The Duke Wore Jeans premiered at London’s Dominion Theatre
April 1958 Begins Scandinavian Tour (performing in Odense, birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen). Tour sold out
1958 In Dundee, Tommy mobbed by hundreds of fans, injured badly, cancelled two months of engagements
1958 “A Handful of Songs” named Outstanding British Composition of 1957 at the Ivor Novello Awards
June 1958 “The Only Man on the Island” hits the top 20
12th June 1958 On ITV News in an engagement party interview with fiancé, Ann Donoughue
28th June 1958 Appeared on “Saturday Spectacular” hosted by Bob Monkhouse
August 1958 Starred in premier episode of “Oh Boy” television show
28th October 1958 Surprise Guest on “This Is Your Life”
Winter 1958 Rioting in Nottingham causes police to cancel two shows for Tommy’s safety
15th November 1958 Tommy announces, at Granada Kettering, that this would be his last “Rock” concert
18th December 1958 Performs in first pantomime, Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, at London Coliseum playing the role of Buttons
(Is bitten by the stage bug and begins to move away from Rock n Roll)
December 1958 Named Entertainer of the Year by Cool Cats Awards
Year End 1958 Named #4 Vital Personality and #6 Favorite Male Vocalist in NME polls. Drop attributed to his withdrawal from Rock N Roll
1959 Humpty Dumpty, Empire Theatre, Liverpool
May/June/July 1959 Filmed Tommy the Toreador in Spain and England playing the role of Tommy Tomkins
1959 His final rock record, Give,Give,Give/Tallahassee Lassie, released
August 1959 Sent to Moscow as Britain’s representative to World Youth Conference
1959 Performed four television specials for Saturday Spectaculars
December 1959 Donates all royalties from the sale of Little White Bull to Children’s Cancer Research
December 1959 –
January 1960 Filmed Light Up the Sky (aka “Skywatch”) in England playing the role of Eric McGaffey. One of year’s biggest films
1960 In attempt to divert Tommy from Ann, his agents book him on lengthy tour of South Africa, Australia, Scandinavia, and Spain.
Feb-May 1960 Australian Tour (proposed to Ann by telephone) Agents’ ploy has failed
18th June 1960 Married Ann Donoughue at St Patrick’s Church, Soho Square, London
1960 The Big Show of 1960, Blackpool Opera House along with Alma Cogan
Summer 1960 Last single to make it into the top 20 – What a Mouth
8th November 1960 Plays Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer at the Old Vic Theatre, London
9th July 1962 Performs
before Her Majesty The Queen in Festival of London
4th November 1962 Appears once again at the Royal Variety Performance
December 1962 –
February 1963 Filmed It’s All Happening (aka The Dream Maker) playing the role of Billy Bowles
21st March 1963 First night of Half A Sixpence at the Cambridge Theatre, London initiating the role of Arthur Kipps. Tommy learns to dance
Runs through November 1964
4th November 1964 Appeared once again at Royal Variety Performance
25th December 1964 Television performance of Richard Whittington, Esquire with his own songs and lyrics
25th April 1965 First night of Half A Sixpence at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York City
Nominated for 9 Tony Awards
Tommy Steele: Winner of the Outer Circle Critics Achievement Award
Tommy Steele: Winner of the Whitbred Anglo-American Award for “Best Performance in a Musical This Season”
May/August 1966 Filmed The Happiest Millionaire for Walt Disney, Hollywood, in the role of John Lawless, the butler
1966 Tommy gets tap dance lessons from Gene Kelly (and later from Fred Astaire)
September 1966 –
April 1967 Filmed Half A Sixpence in England
1967 Named “New Star of the Year” and “Star of the Future” for his role of John Lawless in The Happiest Millionaire
May-Sept 1967 Filmed Finian’s Rainbow in Hollywood in a superb performance of the leprechaun, OG (with Fred Astaire & Petula Clark)
1967 Appears at the Golden Globe Awards Ceremony
4th March 1968 Appeared once again at the Royal Film Performance
March 1968 Filmed Twelfth Night for ATV. Later shown on 12th June 1970, portraying Feste
April-August 1968 Filmed Where’s Jack? In England, pure dramatic role of Jack Sheppard, a notorious “Robin Hood”
November 1968 –
February 1969 Played Truffaldino in a limited season of the classic Italian operetta The Servant of Two Masters in England. Never transferred to film
27th March 1969 Daughter, Emma Elizabeth Hicks, is born
Summer 1969 Wrote and filmed Tommy Steele and Things for BBC TV. Nominated for an Emmy in the United States
23rd December 1969 Begins Dick Whittington at Palladium, London
Summer 1970 Wrote and filmed Tommy Steele in Search of Charlie Chaplin for BBC TV
Summer 1970 The Tommy Steele Show, Blackpool Summer Season and the London Palladium
18th February 1971 Made American cabaret debut at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas (after previewing in Toronto)
April/June 1971 Appeared in Meet Me in London at the Adelphi Theatre, London (with the Steelemen and the Steelettes, not the original “Steelemen” but
names given to the group of dancers on the show)
July 1971 Appeared in a variety show at the Tivoli Theatre in Copenhagen, and in a cabaret show at Bern’s Theatre in Stockholm
1971-1972 Wrote and appeared in The Tommy Steele Hour
1973 Wrote and appeared in A Special Tommy Steele for London Westend TV. Was Britain’s entry at the Montreaux Festival
March 1973 Appeared in The London Palladium Show at the O’ Keefe Centre in Toronto
April/May 1973 Six weeks variety show at the London Palladium
September 1973 Cabaret and concert tour of Scandinavia. While on tour, he composed his autobiography, My Life, My Song
April 1974 Recorded My Life, My Song for Pye Records and BBC TV
26th September 1974 Foyle’s Library Luncheon at the Dorchester Hotel in honour of the publication of his autobiographical record, issued on 27th September.
1-15th October 1974 Exhibition of his paintings at the Christopher Wade Gallery in London. Includes those painted especially for My Life, My Song
17th December 1974-
November 1st 1975 Hans Andersen at the London Palladium. Went on tour through April 24, 1976.
26th October 1975 Unveiling of sculpture Bermondsey Boy at the Rotherhithe Civic Centre
Oct/Nov 1976 Twentieth Anniversary variety tour of major cities in England
Spring 1976 Wrote and filmed Tommy Steele and a Show for Thames Television. Britain’s entry to Montreaux Festival. Nominated for an Emmy.
December 1976 Hans Andersen revived for the London Palladium
14thDecember 1977 Xerox Pro-Celebrity Squash Tournament Challenge. Beat John Cleese
17th December 1977 Directed and re-created the role of Hans Andersen at the London Palladium
17th July –
12th August 1978 Played Jack Point in The Yeoman of the Guard (aka “Merryman and His Maid”) at the Tower of London for the Festival of the City of
London. Also recorded for television by ATV and shown on 23rd December 1978
1st January 1979 Awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the theatre. Her Majesty The Queen presented the award by saying to
Tommy, ”This is from us.” The British people!
December 1978 –
March 1979 Staged and played the lead in the television version of Quincy’s Quest for Thames Television. Shown at Christmas on ITV.
Summer 1979 One-man show at ABC Theatre, Blackpool
11th October 1979 First performance of An Evening with Tommy Steele at The Prince of Wales Theatre, London
1979 Recorded The Tommy Steele Family Album for Ronco Records
1980 Voted “Entertainer of the Year” by London’s Variety Club – a tremendous accolade
Summer 1981 Painting “The Entertainer” on exhibit at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
1981 “Quincy” was published
December 1982 Statue “Eleanor Rigby” is unveiled in Liverpool
30th June 1983 Singing in the Rain, opens at the London Palladium and runs through 1984
15th September 1983 Honored by Variety Club Luncheon for 25 years of stardom in the West End
1983 Novel
“The Final Run” is published
1986 Conducted Aarthus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark in concert of his composition, “A Portrait of Pablo” (Picasso)
1992 Some Like It Hot stage production and original cast recording
1993 Presented with the “Hans Christian Andersen Award” at the Danish Embassy in London
1995 One man show, “ What A Show!” goes on tour
1995 40th Anniversary Show goes on tour
Oct/Nov 1995 Exhibition of his paintings and sculptures at the Gallery of Frost and Reed, Bond Street, London
1997 Tour: 28 cities in UK
1998 Fairfield Hall at Croydon - Concerts
14th May, 1999 Dauphne du Maurier Festival
September 1999 Preview of proposed musical “Charlie Chaplin, the Musical” at the Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford. Sadly, the musical did not
materialize.
Tour of 8 cities in Scandinavia and Denmark – Concerts
July 2000 Tivoli Gardens - Concert
2001 Invited to Her Majesty The Queen’s anniversary party
23rd May 2002 On the final stage of her Golden Jubilee Tour, Her Majesty The Queen visited with invited guests at the Royal Academy in London.
Tommy Steele was one of the invited guests
Spent 9 months in America
October 2003 –
February 2004 Scrooge, the Musical throughout all the major cities of the United Kingdom. Appeared in several television promotions.
December 2004 Appears as “special surprise guest” at the Royal Variety Performance where he reprised many of his Rock songs and had Prince Charles
doing the “Hand Jive”. Televised.
December 2004 Honored with the prestigious Blue Plaque Award, voted by the people of Southwark, and placed on the Nickleby House where Tommy
lived as a child. Shown on television.
December 2004 –
January2005 Scrooge, the Musical, Palace Theatre, Manchester
First entertainer to receive a Gold Star on the “Stars Wall” of the Palace Theatre. Shown on television.
2005 Among top ten personalities invited by Her Majesty The Queen to her anniversary celebration
Approached by Quentin Tarantino to revive his career in films. Tommy’s comment: “Not Half!” That leaves a 50% chance!
June 2005 Awarded plaque by London Palladium for being their most prolific performing headliner with 1,767 performances
October 2005-
January2006 Revives Scrooge, the Musical at the London Palladium