bill bailey bbc documentary alfred russel wallace

In 1984, he formed a double act, the Rubber Bishops, with Toby Longworth (a fellow former pupil at King Edward's, Bath). Acting roles included a part in a Workers' Revolutionary Party stage production called The Printers, which also featured Vanessa Redgrave and Frances de la Tour.īailey began touring the country with comedians such as Mark Lamarr. He performed with a boy band 'The Famous Five'. He was also made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. He received an Associate Diploma from the London College of Music. He started studies for an English degree at Westfield College of the University of London but left after a year. It was here that he was given his nickname Bill by his music teacher, Lynda Phipps, for being able to play the song 'Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey' so well on the guitar.

He would often combine music and sport by leading the singing on the long coach trip back from away rugby fixtures. He also states he was good at sport (captain of KES 2nd XI cricket team 1982), which often surprised his teachers. He is a classically trained musician and was the only pupil at his school to study A-level music, which he passed with an A grade. At about the age of 15, he started to become distracted from school work when he realised the thrill of performance as a member of a school band called Behind Closed Doors, which played mostly original work. Two rooms at the front of the family house were for his father's surgery.īailey was educated at King Edward's School, an independent school in Bath, where he was initially a highly academic pupil winning most of the prizes. His maternal grandparents lived in an annexe, built on the side of the house by his maternal grandfather who was a stonemason and builder. His father was a medical practitioner and his mother a hospital ward sister. He spent most of his childhood in Keynsham, a town situated between Bath and Bristol in the West of England.

Until 2018, when he revealed the correct date, Bailey's birthday was wrongly recorded by the media as 24 February.

Bill bailey bbc documentary alfred russel wallace