Comedian Jimmy Cricket, known for 'And there's more!' catchphrase, dies at 80
Northern Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket, a familiar face on British television in the 1980s, has died at the age of 80. He was renowned for his catchphrase "And there's more!" and his extensive charity work.
Jimmy Cricket, the Northern Irish comedian who became a household name in Britain during the 1980s, has passed away aged 80. His family announced on the Jimmy Cricket Facebook page that he died that morning after a short illness, spending his final days surrounded by loved ones, laughter and songs.
Born James Joseph Mulgrew in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, Cricket left school at 16 and began working as a Butlin's Redcoat a couple of years later. After settling in Stockport and later Rochdale, he honed his act on the northern English comedy circuit in the 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1980 when he reached the semi-finals of the TV talent show Search for a Star.
With his distinctive look of a tailcoat, short trousers and wellington boots marked "L" and "R" on the wrong feet, Cricket fronted his own ITV series titled after his catchphrase. He also performed at the 1984 Royal Variety Performance and appeared on the BBC's The Good Old Days. During the 1980s he was a regular on The Krankies Klub and was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1987.
In the mid-1990s, he shifted to radio, starring in four series of the acclaimed BBC Radio 2 show Jimmy's Cricket Team. His family remembered him as a devoted husband to May Tweedie, whom he married in 1972, and a loving father to their four children. They noted he was also a "very silly grandad" to four grandchildren, cracking jokes to NHS staff until the end.
Cricket's charitable efforts included appearing with Peter Kay and Matt Lucas in the 2007 Comic Relief video for I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and organising benefit tours for Francis House Children's Hospice in Manchester. In 2015, Pope Francis awarded him a papal knighthood, the highest honour in the Catholic Church. Reflecting on the honour, Cricket joked that the parish priest presented him with a certificate in Latin and he thought there had been a mistake. He added that receiving an award for doing something you love is a blessing.
