A new exhibition celebrating the life and career of Sir Ken Dodd, titled 'Happiness!' after his theme song, has opened at Blackpool's Showtown Museum. The exhibition features artefacts from his seven-decade career, including tickling sticks, playbills, costumes, and the ventriloquist dummy Dicky Mint.
Lady Anne Dodd Preserves Ken's Legacy
Lady Anne Dodd, Ken's widow, has curated the exhibition alongside the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation. Now in her 80s, she spends much of her time preserving his memory. Speaking in the library of their Liverpool home, she said: 'It’s important to keep his legacy alive. I went into a bank about a year ago and was chatting to a member of staff and I mentioned him. She said: ‘Ken who?’ She’d never heard of him. It upset me, but then I thought ‘why should she know?’ She was in her 30s and he was 90 when he died. He’d been on television, of course, but there are hundreds of channels to watch these days. Talking about Ken is cathartic. I miss his joy and his humanity. He was so creative, so original.'
Ken Dodd's Career Highlights
Ken Dodd, described as the last great music hall entertainer, began his career in the 1950s. He sold more than 100 million records, including 'Happiness' and 'Tears', which was the biggest-selling single of 1965, topping the charts for five weeks. He performed at the Royal Variety Performance in 1965 and was knighted in 2017. Known for his lengthy shows, sometimes exceeding five hours, he called it 'giving people value for money'.
The Exhibition's Contents
The exhibition includes Ken's notebooks, each page containing blue-inked jottings, jokes, and ideas. Lady Anne said: 'I find something new every time I open one. There are about a thousand in all and if Ken didn’t have a notebook, he’d use the space around the edges of a newspaper to write. I never read them when he was alive – I was too busy. It took me a bit to decipher them, too. I worked out GOG was code for ‘good old gag’ – but these books make me smile and I always find out something new about Ken.'
Dicky Mint, Ken's ventriloquist dummy based on one of the famous Diddy Men, is also on display. Lady Anne said: 'Dicky was the prop that meant the most to Ken. He was never left in the car if we were staying in a hotel. He was irreplaceable, you see – like Ken. I was tempted to put Dicky in with him before the funeral; they belong together. I didn’t because I realised Dicky contained so many memories for so many people.'
Ken Dodd's Personal Life and Legacy
Ken met dancer Anne in 1962, and they became a couple in 1978. They married just days before his death in 2018 at the home where he was born. Ken was acquitted of tax evasion in 1989 after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Lady Anne said he was 'disorganised and perhaps naive at times' about money but not dishonest. He left a multi-million pound estate, and the foundation distributes money to good causes.
Lady Anne said: 'He didn’t crave the trappings of wealth, he just loved what he did. I must admit, though, that when it got to 1am and he was still signing autographs, I’d get in the car, put the seat back and have a snooze.' She hopes the exhibition will keep his name alive: 'I want people to see it in decades to come and if they wonder ‘who was that?’ Well, the answer can be summed up in three words. Britain’s greatest comedian.'
*Happiness! The Ken Dodd Exhibition runs at Showtown Blackpool until January.
