The first complete biography of the last of the great generation of British comedians. This book is published to coincide with Dodd's fiftieth year in showbiz. A new generation of fans and comedians, including Johnny Vegas, Victoria Wood and Vic Reeves, are now rediscovering Dodd's unique talents. Dodd has a huge and loyal fan base, and yet there has been astonishingly little published about him previously Unbelievably, even in his late seventies, Ken Dodd still tours the country, performing in packed venues three or four nights a week with his legendary four-hour sets. 'I do it because that is what I do. I do it because that is what I am,' he said when asked why he continues with this punishing schedule. To many, he is the last great music-hall-inspired variety comic. Yet to those who've never seen him live he is still merely the purveyor of Diddymen and sugary ballads. But what drives this man, who still lives in the house in which he was born in Knotty Ash? Why has he never married, despite having two long-term 'fiancees'? What about his famously strange relationship to money, culminating in his infamous 1989 trial for tax evasion? What was the story behind his stalker? And how did this feather-duster salesman from Liverpool become one of the greatest, though least-lauded, comic geniuses of his generation? In this major new biography, Stephen Griffin has interviewed friends, colleagues and fellow comedians to get inside the mind of the Diddyman.