Bill Kenwright

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Bill Kenwright
Born	4 September 1945 (1945-09-04) (age 63) Liverpool, England
Occupation	Theatrical producer Football chairman Actor Singer
Website http://www.kenwright.com

Bill Kenwright CBE (born 4 September 1945, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England) is an actor and theatrical producer. He is also the Chairman of Everton football club.

He attended Booker Avenue County Primary School, and then Liverpool Institute High School from 1957 to 1964 and appeared in school productions (including Shylock in Merchant of Venice) on the stage in the Mount St. building (predecessor to LIPA. He was also treasurer of the Christian Union at school.

In 2007 Kenwright was a judge in the BBC1 television series "Any Dream Will Do."

Contents 1 Everton Football Club 2 Professional Career 2.1 Actor 2.2 Theatrical producer 2.2.1 Current and recent productions 2.2.2 Music 3 Personal life 4 Honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Everton Football Club

Bill Kenwright is the current Chairman of Everton Football Club, succeeding Littlewoods director Sir Philip Carter in the role. Kenwright has been on the Everton board since 1984 and was elected as chairman in 1999 when Peter Johnson sold his shareholding in the club.

Five years prior to this Birkenhead based businessman and Liverpool season ticket holder Peter Johnson had pipped Kenwright to the purchase of Everton F.C. despite assurances from the Moores family head Lady Grantchester. In a bizarre twist, Johnson installed Kenwright as vice-chairman and Carter as Chairman.

Kenwright is often compared to those who own other Premier League clubs and Kenwright has always admitted he can't afford to compete financially with other clubs: "People often say to me: 'Get your cheque book out, Bill. If these people think that I have a cheque book with tens of millions of pounds at my disposal, they have the wrong person. I could no more buy all of Peter Johnson's shares than play centre-forward this Saturday. These amounts are not in my personal ball park. "^[1]

It was during his time as director that Everton spent money they did not have on internationals John Collins, Olivier Dacourt and Marco Materazzi. Television company NTL were expected to pay £20m for television rights for Everton games but later withdrew from the deal leaving Everton with a crisis as they had already spent the money based on expected income and were forced to sell the players a year later.^[2]

He brought Ocean Software founder Jon Woods to the club in the capacity of director.

In 2003, he attempted to relocate Everton to the Kings Dock on the riverside but after a public feud with director Paul Gregg over the proposal's finances and sale of Wayne Rooney, the move fell through. Gregg had wanted to keep Rooney at the club and Kenwright reluctantly felt it was best he be sold to ease the club's financial burden. ^[3] Gregg was later replaced by Robert Earl.

He is considered approachable and in 2004 contacted a fan website before the press regarding a EGM called by Tom Cannon as he was not happy with director's performance.^[4]

In 2007, Kenwright announced that he would like to relocate the club to Kirkby as part of the Destination Kirkby regeneration proposals which included a Tesco supermarket. This led to club shareholders calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting. At this meeting, Kenwright revealed that he took business advice from industry leaders Sir Philip Carter and Sir Terry Leahy.^[5]

The EGM was the second called under Kenwright's tenure and he revealed that he would be looking for a new owner for Everton Football Club.

[edit] Professional Career

[edit] Actor

As a young man, he became an actor. He was not spectacularly successful, though he did hold down a role in Coronation Street for almost a year, as Gordon Clegg who was introduced in April 1968, Kenwright resigned in March 1969, although he did return to the show on occasion throughout the 1970's for guest appearances. He made brief stints in other shows, such as The Villains and The Liver Birds and Carry On films.

[edit] Theatrical producer

Kenwright is now a successful theatrical producer, best known for the long-running West End hit Blood Brothers and the record breaking tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Other recent productions have included West End runs of Whistle Down The Wind at the Palace Theatre, Festen in London, on a UK tour and now on Broadway, The Big Life, Elmina's Kitchen, Scrooge - The Musical, The Night Of The Iguana, A Few Good Men, A Man For All Seasons alongside UK tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy, Whistle Down The Wind, Tell Me On A Sunday, and This Is Elvis.

He produced the London revival of Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre in September 2006, starring Anna Maxwell Martin, James Dreyfus and Sheila Hancock.

[edit] Current and recent productions

• Blood Brothers - Phoenix Theatre (London) and on UK National Tour, starring Helen Hobson and Steven Houghton
• "Fur Coat and No Knickers" starring Harold Pinter 2008.
• The Letter - Wyndham's Theatre (London), starring Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews
• Cabaret - UK Tour, starring Wayne Sleep
• The Glass Menagerie - Apollo Theatre (London), starring Jessica Lange and Ed Stoppard
• Treats - Garrick Theatre (London), starring Billie Piper, Laurence Fox and Kris Marshall
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Adelphi Theatre (London), with Andrew Lloyd Webber. First night: July 17, 2007. Star: Lee Mead, winner of BBC One's Any Dream Will Do hunt for a new lead actor

• The Unexpected Guest - UK National Tour, starring Simon MacCorkindale and Dean Gaffney
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - UK National Tour - Currently Starring Craig Chalmers, Antony Hansen, Henry Metcalfe and Tara Bethan
• Hay Fever - UK National Tour, starring Stephanie Beecham
• An Ideal Husband - UK National Tour, starring Kate O'Mara, Michael Praed, Carol Royle, Robert Duncan, Fenella Fielding, and Tony Britton
• Can't Smile Without You - UK National Tour (Prior to West End) - Starring Chesney Hawkes, Siobhan Dillon and Francesca Jackson

[edit] Music

Bill Kenwright has his own record label (Bill Kenwright Records), which has released three albums as of February 2008. The London Palladium cast recording of Scrooge starring Tommy Steele and the 2006 Lyric Theatre Recording of Cabaret were joined in February 2008 by the debut album of Kenwright's new boy group Dream On.

Dream On, comprising five runners up from the BBC's Any Dream Will Do - Craig Chalmers, Lewis Bradley, Chris Crosby, Chris Barton and Antony Hansen was formed in January 2008.

Perhaps less known is Bill's recording career both solo and with a group Bill Kenwright and the Runaways:

• "I want to go back there again"/"Walk through dreams" Columbia DB8239 (Aug 1967)^[6]

and solo, as Bill Kenwright:

• "Love's Black & White"/"Giving Up" MGM 1430 (July 1968)
• "Tiggy"/"House That Fell On Its Face" MGM 1463 (Nov 1968)
• "Baby I could be so good at loving"/"Boy & A Girl" MGM 1478 (Jan 1969)
• "Sugar Man"/"Epitaph"/"When Times Were Good" Fontana H1065 (Oct 1969)

[edit] Personal life

He was married to hotelier Anouska Hempel from 1978 to 1980 and has a daughter and two grandchildren from his relationship with the actress Virginia Stride. He is currently in a long-term relationship with actress and political activist Jenny Seagrove. He lives in London.

[edit] Honours

• In the year 2000 he was awarded the CBE for his services to film and theatre.

• In November 2008, Bill Kenwright was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of letters, from Nottingham Trent University.

[edit] References

1. ^ Rogers, Ken (1999-02-15). "Blues takeover: Kenwright's message to fans". Liverpool Echo. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk. Retrieved on 1999-02-15. 
2. ^ McNulty, Phil (2002-03-12). "Smith's Everton years". BBC.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/1870232.stm. Retrieved on 2002-03-12. 
3. ^ Burt, Jason (2004-07-25). "Kenwright on the brink". Independent.co.uk. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/kenwright-on-the-brink-as-rival-turns-up-heat-554387.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-31. 
4. ^ "Bill Kenwright". Nsno.co.uk. 2004-09-27. http://www.nsno.co.uk/comment.php?comment.news.262. Retrieved on 2009-05-31. 
5. ^ "EGM Date Confirmed". evertonfc.com. 7 August 2008. http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/egm-date-confirmed.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-31. 
6. ^ "Fab Forty". radiolondon.co.uk. http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/aug67/fab060867.html. 

[edit] External links

• 9 video of Kenwright on "great" new "musical star" Lee Mead, whom BBC One viewers had chosen by phone vote minutes earlier to play the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

v • d • e BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical revival search Series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (2006) • Any Dream Will Do (2007) • I'd Do Anything (2008)  • The Wizard of Oz (Working Title) (2010) Musicals The Sound of Music • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat • Oliver!  • Wizard of Oz Winners Connie Fisher • Lee Mead • Jodie Prenger • Gwion Jones • Harry Stott • Laurence Jeffcoate Host and judges Graham Norton (2006–) • Andrew Lloyd Webber (2006–) • John Barrowman (2006–) • Zoe Tyler (2006–2007) • David Ian (2006) • Bill Kenwright (2007) • Denise van Outen (2007–) • Barry Humphries (2008) • Cameron Mackintosh (2008)

v • d • e Everton F.C. – Chairpersons Houlding (1884–92) · ? Jackson (1892–92) · Mahon (1892–95) · Baxter (1895–?) · Cuff (1921–38) · Green (1938–?) · Searle (?–60) · J. Moores (1960–65) · P. Moores (1965–68) · J. Moores (1968–73) · Carter (1977–91) · Marsh (1991–94) · Johnson (1994–99) · Carter (1999–04) · Kenwright (2004–)