Keith Chegwin Biography

Keith Chegwin (born 17 January 1957) is an English television presenter and actor.

Early career

Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double (1967) and Egghead's Robot (1970). Chegwin's most prestigious acting role was that of Fleance in Roman Polanski's film Macbeth (1971). In 1973 he also appeared in the pilot episode of Open All Hours. He then had smaller parts in The Liver Birds, The Adventures of Black Beauty, My Old Man, ITV's The Wackers, Village Hall, Z-Cars and The Tomorrow People in 1975. His last major acting role was in the film Robin Hood Junior (1975), although he had two small roles with Tom Courtenay in the Chester Mystery Cycle (1976) and some years later in the film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999). He appeared in TV ads for products such as Pepsi, Barley Water, Tizer, and Cadbury Creme Eggs.

He performed in West End stage shows such as Tom Brown's School Days with Russell Grant and Simon LeBon, and The Good Old Bad Old Days with Anthony Newley and Captain Pugwash, written by Bill Kenwright.

In the 1970s, he had a career as a singer releasing singles on the Pye Records label and hitting the charts as a member of the pop group Kenny. He also worked as a disc jockey for 194 Radio City, and four years at BBC Radio 1 alongside Tony Blackburn's weekend morning show.

Career as a TV presenter

In the mid 1970s, he moved away from acting and became a household name presenting programmes such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Cheggers Plays Pop and, in the 80s, Saturday Superstore. As Brown Sauce, he and Swap Shop co-presenters Noel Edmonds and Maggie Philbin released the pop single "I Wanna Be a Winner", which reached number 15 in January 1982, and a follow-up single as The Saucers called "Spring Has Sprung". On Swap Shop and Superstore he was featured in outside broadcasts; on Swap Shop they were called Swaparama, appearing at outdoor venues around the UK, where he helped children swap their toys. On Superstore he had a similar role only the toys were called Bargains and the concept was that he worked on the Store's delivery van.

Chegwin's career waned in the late 1980s and 1990s because of his alcoholism, as detailed in his autobiography, Shaken But Not Stirred. He hosted the live nightly Sky talent programme Sky Star Search in 1990. He stopped drinking after his appearance on the Richard and Judy show This Morning on 5 November 1992. Chegwin's career regained speed in 1993 when he presented the "Down Your Doorstep" outside broadcast segment on The Big Breakfast, in which he cried, "Wake up you beggars, it's Cheggers!". He subsequently hosted the show itself, and went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout in 1999 on Channel 5.

In 2000, Chegwin presented the Channel 5 and Yorkshire Television's Naked Jungle. He identifies makig the show as "the worst career move" in his entire life.

He worked for 7 years on GMTV. He appeared as himself in an episode of the Ricky Gervais sitcom Extras in 2006 where he sent himself up and gained plaudits for doing so. He also has his own recording studio and video edit suite and does his voice over work from home. He frequently sent in jingles to the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1. Chegwin has hosted the BAFTA Television & Film Industry Awards in London.

The Kill Keith movie was released in November 2011 and Chegwin also made an appearance in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant comedy series Life's Too Short, alongside Shaun Williamson and Les Dennis. The three also had major parts in a Life's Too Short special in 2013. In August 2012 he was presented with a Life Time Achievement Award at the National Reality TV Awards.

Dancing on Ice

See Dancing on Ice for more information Chegwin was originally set to take part in the sixth series of Dancing on Ice, however, he was forced to withdraw after breaking three ribs and fracturing his shoulder on the first day of training with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. Chegwin joined the eighth series of Dancing on Ice partnered with Olga Sharutenko. Chegwin was eliminated on the 17 February 2013 in 6th place.

==Personal life== He is married to Maria Anne Chegwin (née Fielden), they have a son Ted. He also has a daughter from his previous marriage to co-presenter Maggie Philbin called Rose Chegwin is the younger brother of DJ Janice Long.