Last Updated : 31 Aug 2009

Ken Dodd was born in Knotty Ash in 1927. He attended Holt High School in Childwall and started his showbusiness career as a ventrilaquist when in his teens.

He got his big break and became professional in 1954 when he performed at Nottingham. By 1958, he was topping the bill at Blackpool.

Ken has had a long and sucessful career both on stage and on TV. He once earned a place in the Guiness Book of Records for the world's longest joke-telling session - 1500 jokes in three and a half hours or over 7 jokes per minute.