Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English writer, actor, director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre."Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1970s for his nine-hour adaptation of the science-fiction trilogy Illuminatus! and his 22-hour staging of Neil Oram's play cycle The Warp. The Guinness Book of Records listed the latter as the longest play in the world.The Independent said that, "In the 1990s, through a series of sprawling monologues packed with arcane information and freakish speculations on the nature of reality, he became something approaching a grand old man of the fringe, though without ever discarding his inner enfant terrible." The Times labelled Campbell a one-man whirlwind of comic and surreal performance.The Guardian, in a posthumous tribute, judged him to be "one of the most original and unclassifiable talents in the British theatre of the past half-century. A genius at producing shows on a shoestring and honing the improvisational capabilities of the actors who were brave enough to work with him." The artistic director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse said, "He was the door through which many hundreds of kindred souls entered a madder, braver, brighter, funnier and more complex universe."
Trained at RADA and first acted as straight man to comedian Dick Emery.
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In the late 1960's, he toured British pubs and clubs with the Ken Campbell Roadshow, which included Bob Hoskins and Sylvester McCoy.
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Famous as a monologist, an eccentric comedian, raconteur, nonconformist and anti-establishmentarian.
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Received an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University's Faculty of Arts, Media & Design shortly before he died.
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Posts: Founder, Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool 1976; Artistic Director, Everyman Theatre, Liverpool 1980; Professor of Ventriloquism, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 1999-2008.
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Associated with the "Madhouse Company of London", which was a comedy troupe that performed in Boston in the 1970's. Other members included Jim Carter ("Shakespeare in Love", "Top Secret!" and "The Madness of King George"), Marcel Steiner, Marc Weil and Tommy Shands.
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Auditioned in 1987 for the role of the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), but was turned down, apparently due to his audition performance being considered too disturbing for television. Ironically, the actor who was cast instead, Sylvester McCoy, was one of his protégés, having been a member of the Ken Campbell Roadshow.
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His first play as a writer was for the 'Armchair Theatre' series, entitled 'One night I danced with Mr Dalton'.
$13 Million
