35 Facts About David Essex

David Essex was born on David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947 and is an English singer, songwriter, and actor.

Internationally, Essex had the most success with his 1973 single "Rock On".

David Essex has had an extensive career as an actor.

David Essex was born in Plaistow, David Essex on 23rd July 1947.

David Essex's father, Albert, was an East End docker and his mother, Olive, was a self-taught pianist and an Irish Traveller.

David Essex was two years old when his parents moved out of the overcrowded home the family was sharing with relatives, to Canning Town where he grew up.

David Essex was a member of West Ham United Juniors for a while, and dreamed of one day being a professional player.

David Essex then became interested in music and played drums with a local band, before becoming a singer.

David Essex made his first record, titled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down", for the Fontana label in 1965.

David Essex then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years, and released a further seven singles in the 1960s.

David Essex recorded two songs, "A Rose" and "Leon and John and Billy and Me" which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates.

David Essex appeared in Stardust, a 1974 sequel to That'll Be the Day.

In 1976, David Essex covered the Beatles song "Yesterday" for the musical documentary All This and World War II.

In December 1973, David Essex appeared in the stage version of Tommy at London's Rainbow Theatre.

David Essex's contract required him to remain with the show for just five and half months during which, unusually and as Essex had predicted, his understudy, Nigel Planer, was never required to perform.

David Essex continued to perform in all areas of show business.

David Essex, who comes from a family of Irish Travellers, played a kind-hearted nomad in one episode of ITV1's 1960s Yorkshire-based drama Heartbeat in 2000.

David Essex played a character called Johnny Lee Essex told Jake Bowers of the BBC's Rokker Radio, a programme for Gypsies and Travellers, on 30 July 2006, that he has always been openly proud of his Traveller family history.

David Essex was Patron of Britain's National Gypsy Council, which works for equal rights, education, and services for Romany and Irish Travellers.

David Essex was due to join the cast of soap opera EastEnders, in early 2006, as new character Jack Edwards.

However, the role was expanded beyond the three weeks planned, and David Essex was unable to commit the time.

David Essex spent six years as an ambassador for Voluntary Service Overseas, which earned him an OBE in 1999.

In February 2016, David Essex performed in The War Of The Worlds at London's Dominion Theatre.

David Essex used to record and release records on his own record label, Lamplight.

David Essex has since changed the name of his company to Joseph Webster Ltd, named after his first grandchild.

David Essex followed this in the autumn with a sell-out solo tour of the UK, named the Secret Tour.

David Essex has released a DVD on his website of the last night of the tour, filmed in Bournemouth.

David Essex returned to London's West End with All the Fun of the Fair but with a different ending from that performed in the provinces.

On 20 September 2010, David Essex married Welsh actress Susan Hallam-Wright was born on 1973 and his third wife, at St Cross Church, Talybont, near Bangor, North Wales.

David Essex first met her at the end of 2008 when she was auditioning for a role in All the Fun of the Fair.

David Essex got the part of Sally, then got promoted to the role of Mary, Jack's girlfriend, for the West End version at the Garrick Theatre in London in April 2010.

David Essex had previously been married to Maureen Neal and Carlotta Christy.

David Essex had two children with his first wife, Maureen Neal; twins with his second wife, Carlotta Christy; and a fourth son with his third wife, Susan Hallam-Wright.

In January 2011, it was announced that David Essex had finally joined the cast of EastEnders as Eddie Moon, five years after he was initially supposed to appear in the show.

David Essex then wrote the music score for the film Traveller, in which he co-starred with his son Billy Cook who played the main role as a half-gypsy trying to find his identity.