Share this page:
Follow Choice on Social Media:
Get the most out of life

Features

“I’m a restless person by nature”

From the role in Godspell that made him a star, to Top Of The Pops, Evita and EastEnders, David Essex has never been far from the limelight for more than 40 years. Nicky Household meets him.

David Essex arrives for our rendezvous in the lounge of a Covent Garden hotel, wrapped up against the icy December wind in a cashmere overcoat and peaked leather cap. As we start to talk, it seems almost incredible that this modest, quietly-spoken, 65 year-old is the same David Essex who, back in the Seventies, had to be protected from his adoring fans by policemen wielding dustbin lids.

With his pop idol looks, his string of top ten hits and his phenomenally successful stage debut as Jesus in the 1971 musical Godspell, David remained a teenage heartthrob for more than a
decade. But his career didn’t end there, of course, because his acting, singing and song-writing talents took him on to starring roles in the films That’ll Be The Day (which contained his hit single Rock On) and Silver Dream Racer as well as the role of Che Guevara in the original stage version of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita.

In the Eighties, he co-wrote and starred in the West End musical Mutiny! (based on Mutiny On The Bounty) and played the roguish cockney lock-keeper, Davey, in the BBC’s romantic comedy series The River – for which he also wrote the music.

David has, in fact, never stopped writing music, doing rock tours and appearing in musicals, including Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love and his own successful musical All The Fun Of The Fair. He has even done some straight acting – notably in Sir Peter Hall’s 1993 production of She Stoops to Conquer for a year and a half. “That was interesting,” he says, “but I’m more comfortable with things that involve music.”

Yet he did agree to play the enigmatic Eddie Moon – yet another loveable rogue – in EastEnders for five months in 2011. But five months was enough. “Longer than that would have been too much of a commitment,” he explains. “I’m a fairly restless person by nature and I felt it was time to move on.” Will the character ever return? “I doubt it, but we’ll see. I’ve shut the door but I haven’t locked it!

“I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to work in different mediums with a certain amount of success,” he continues, “and, at the moment, my main focus is filmic music.” The film in question is Traveller (based on John F McDonald’s book Tribe) in which David plays “an elder statesman gypsy” but which stars his 24 year-old son, Billy Cook, as a young half-gypsy caught between two worlds. “There’s quite a buzz around Billy as an actor. He’s got presence and charisma and I’m very proud of him,” says his dad.

» To Continue Reading the Full Article, Click here

What do you think of David? Want more celebrity interviews? 

To keep up to date with all the latest from Choice, or if you have something you want to share with our team, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and YouTube


Other stories in Features

Cropredy – the friendly festival
Cricket Summer of 1964
Heroes in the Mountains
1974, the strangest of years
Motorbike at the National Motor Museum
June's book reviews
Royal robes
Peter Sellers’ Aston under the hammer
National Bingo Day 27th June 2023
Hen Harriers
Air up
Simon Evans reviews the latest CDs
April’s Top DVDs selected by Simon Evans
Here we go, here we go…for the Coronation
Otter
Easter on a budget
‘The Slug’ will race again after 100 years
Bath night for dogs
Classic Motoring Memories
Tios Drinks
Shake up your makeup
New Year, New You
From Italy with love
Mail-order meat comes of age
Christmas recipes
Christmas Crafts Part 2
Back to your roots
In your garden in Winter
Christmas Crafts
Christmas Gift Ideas
Vegan Skincare
Recipes for hope
Beauty Feature - Embrace the grey
Calling all coffee fans!
World Oceans Day 8th June
Beauty Feature - Feet First
Craft Corner - A great Easter basket
Battle of Britain
Claire Foy "I didn't get life until I was 32"
Alexander Armstong: "My family is my priority"
Cosyfeet Community Award 2019
How to Maintain Your Independence in the Kitchen
Ruth Wilson "Audience's don't know who I really am"
1969: The Year The Dream Died
Want to live the (Feel)Good Life? Move to Watford
Pressures of the sandwich generation
Steve Coogan"The most radical thing I can do is talk about love"
Oldie of the Year 2019
Rabble: The Movement keeping you fit and making you money!
Suzi Quatro: "I've always been a rocker at heart"
Giving up plastic
Women in WW1
Do you remember? UFO
Bognor and other Regises
John Lennon & Yoko Ono: 'Imagine'
Bill roache "It's a real privilege to make people happy"
Nana Mouskouri "Music brings me peace, love and hope"
How to Earn Money by Working from Home
How to get the best night's sleep, every night
Ringo Starr "I'm learning to handle life"
Headphones with a built in hearing test
Petula Clark: "I make the most of every moment"
London's other underground
Blue Peter: Here's one they made earlier
Gary Oldman: "Acting is an antidote to self hatred"
Emilia Fox: "I've learnt to find my own voice"
Love Your Gut Week Recipes
Puffin photos help to tackle decline of the 'clowns of the sea'
Craig Revel Horwood: "I don't care what people say about me"
Do you remember? Apple Records
What a Carry On!
Worried about being worried?
"I feel like the unluckiest person in the world."
Death of a Princess
Queen Elizabeth: Happy and Glorious
The Beatles: It was 50 years ago...
Hank Marvin: “Meeting Cliff changed my life”
Nicole Kidman "Children are the joy of my life"
The world of Parry Ray
Monty Python: Something completely different
Staffordshire Day
I always think I'm going to get found out
All shook up...The day that Elvis died
Twiggy: "I thought the world had gone mad"
Peter Capaldi: "I like characters who are strange"
Make eating breakfast a resolution which sticks, with milk&more
"Turning 60 can't be that bad!"Jennifer Saunders
The Enduring Power of the Unknown Soldier
Bradley Walsh "Variety is great for the soul"
Thank you, Brewood
"You never know what's round the corner"
1966 and All That
Remembering the Heroic Olympians
Martina Navratilova: "I Always Question Authority"
Guide for choosing clothes for older relatives
Getting older and disabled drivers behind the wheel
Men in Sheds
Scared to Shop!
Over 40s Named Most Successful Online Daters
Stay at home mum and author re-ignite's her career
Dating in later Life
Great garden getaways
Toton Engineman Review
The Making of Les Mis
"We’re such country bumpkins”
Still time for tearooms
Hallowed hall of fame

Current Issue

What's new

Walks by the sea

Fred Olsen's Cruise lines for 2025

Christmas books reviews

DVD reviews

Doctor Who

Our new website - Enjoy Britain online www.enjoybritainonline.co.uk/

New CD releases

Discover Knightsbridge, London

Birdwatching and more