- published: 16 Jun 2014
- views: 267014
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE (born Liverpool, 8 November 1927) is a British comedian and singer-songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or "fluff dom" and buck teeth or "denchers", his favourite cleaner, the feather duster (or "tickling stick") and his greeting of "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off "Lots and Lots of Happiness!". He works mainly in the music hall tradition, although, in the past, has occasionally appeared in drama, including as Malvolio in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on stage in Liverpool in 1971; on television in the cameo role of 'The Tollmaster' in the 1987 Doctor Who story Delta and the Bannermen; and as Yorick (in silent flashback) in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1996. In the 1960s his fame was such that he rivalled The Beatles as a household name.
Dodd's stand-up comedy style is fast and relies on the rapid delivery of one-liner jokes. He has claimed that his comic influences include other Liverpool comedians like Arthur Askey, Robb Wilton, Tommy Handley and the "cheeky chappy" from Brighton Max Miller. He intersperses the comedy with occasional songs, both serious and humorous, in an incongruously fine light baritone voice.
Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness
To me this world is a wonderful place
And I'm the luckiest human in the whole human race
I've got no silver and I've got no gold
But I've got happiness in my soul
Happiness to me is an ocean tide
Or a sunset fading on a mountain side
A big old heaven full of stars up above
When I'm in the arms of the one I love
Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord that I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness
Happiness is a field of grain
Turning its face to the falling rain
I can see it in the sunshine, I breathe it in the air
Happiness happiness everywhere
A wise old man told me one time
Happiness is a frame of mind
When you go to measuring my success
Don't count my money count my happiness
Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness
Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness