It was with sadness that we heard that actor; writer; director and comedian Ken Campbell had died.
Not only was he involved with an incredibly wide range of diverse projects, but he was a man that loved the Island.
He often stayed here, even contemplating moving to the Island. He loved Ventnor, where he holidayed with his family a couple of times.
The sad news was made all the more poignant by the fact that two years ago yesterday, we’d put out a piece about a film that local talent-meister Jack Phoenix had made with Ken called The Meaning of Life.
Prolific
Ken’s career was extensive, starting at RADA and spreading in its diversity from there. The number of things that he was involved with may well surprise you, but Wikipedia tells us that he played Alf Garnett’s neighbour in In Sickness and in Health; was in Faulty Towers; translated Macbeth into Bislama and staged Illuminatus!, an 8-and-a-half hour cycle of 5 plays, to mention but a few.
We had very little personal experience of Ken, but enjoyed his performance at the Quay Arts two years ago immensely.
Jack Phoenix tells us that other performances on the Island were Recollections of a Furtive Nudist (at Medina Theatre); Jamais Vu; and Ken Campbell’s History of Comedy, Part One: Ventriloquism
The very first trial performance of Campbell’s History of Comedy took place in prolific Island musician Max Brennan’s house in Cowes, where the soundtrack for a run of performances at the National Theatre was recorded.
Change
Ken struck us as someone who was never content with accepting things how they were – constantly challenging not only himself, but the previously-unquestioned status quo. These are the people that shift the world just a little, through their actions.
A sad loss.
