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Cuddly Dudley (22 May 1924 – 15 July 2011), born Dudley Heslop, was an English rock & roll singer, and actor, who came to fame on the ''Oh Boy!'' TV series, and is noted for being "Britain's first black rock & roller". ==Early career== Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 22 May 1924 (although Dudley later pretended to be younger, claiming to be 29 in early 1959〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.omnesamici.co.uk/CGS57marty.html )〕 whilst Allmusic said he was born in the 1930s) he started performing when very young with a "native song and dance act" for tourists. In 1947 he went to Britain where he spent a year in the play ''Sauce Tartare'' at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End, before singing in clubs for 6 months. He then played in ''Folies Bergeres'' at the Hippodrome, London and toured Australia in Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, before joining Sid Milward's Comedy orchestra, The Nit Wits, supporting Max Bygraves.〔 By the mid-1950s Dudley was recording for Oriole Records,〔 as part of the Charles Ross Orchestra, and adopted the nickname Cuddly Dudley,〔 playing on his slightly round figure. He toured New Zealand and Switzerland with Charles Ross, then joined Mambo bandleader Pérez Prado to tour Italy, before returning to the West End with ''Plaisirs de Paris'' at the Prince of Wales Theatre.〔 Dudley was influenced by early rock 'n' roll and, being black, with a strong voice, decided to change musical style. His manager, Guy Robinson, promoted him as "Bristol's answer to The Big Bopper" and he adopted a big grin, flashy suits and snazzy ties. He was also a co-founder of The Dominoes, with pianist Iggy Quail and vocalist Boysie Grant. Although he was little known outside Afro-Caribbean circles, within this community he was as popular as any other rock & roll performer, which led to his manager persuading Jack Good to give him a residency on Good's new TV series Oh Boy!.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cuddly Dudley (singer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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