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In actual fact, the school’s headmaster
had a lot to do with the progress of Tom’s career in comedy. When his
pupils showed very little interest in the academic side of mathematics,
the headmaster told him “Never mind the algebra and logarithms - just
remember you are saving souls”.
It had a great effect, for Tom found a
distinctive way of teaching his subject and communicating with his
charges. “The only way I could think of getting through to them was to
encourage them to tell jokes” says Tom. “It worked a treat ...... and
that’s really how the comedy all started. I actually started my
showbusiness career as a singer and would have been quite happy doing
that but I soon found out that comedians got paid more money than
singers, so I gradually introduced the comedy into my act and
concentrated on talking to the audience about people, and observing
life. Real life can be very funny. It really took off from there”.
For several years Tom O’Connor lived a
double life - teaching his pupils by day and entertaining club audiences
at night. As his reputation spread throughout showbusiness, it soon
became obvious that he had to make a decision about his future career.
“I was working very late at night,
sometimes getting home at three or four in the morning”, says Tom. “I
had to be up at seven to go to school. So I had to decide whether to
give up teaching and concentrate on a full-time showbusiness career
..... or forget the entertainment industry in favour of school.
Actually, it wasn’t much of a gamble to take, for when I had twelve
months work in my engagement book, I took the plunge”.
In 1974, Tom hung up his cap and gown for
good to become a professional entertainer. He hasn’t looked back since.
Success rapidly followed success. He made
such an impact on television - winning three separate shows on
“Opportunity Knocks” - that within a year of his TV debut, he was
hosting the Thames series “Wednesday At Eight”, followed by his own
series, “The Tom O’Connor Show”. A year later, he received the highest
accolade in the theatrical profession, when he was invited to appear in
the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium. In 1977, Tom was the
subject of Thames Television’s “This is Your Life”.
Tom’s success, however, has not only been
confined to television. In cabaret, he starred at every major
night-spot in the country and headlined his own successful summer season
shows in the country’s top resorts. His work has taken him to most
English speaking countries including America, where he featured at the
prestigious Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.
Tom is in constant demand for corporate
functions both in this country and abroad and, as a result of his two
best selling humorous golf books “From the Wood to the Trees” and “One
Flew over the Clubhouse”, he receives countless invitations to appear as
guest celebrity speaker at golf society functions. Tom has also
published his autobiography “Take A Funny Turn”.
He lives in Berkshire with his wife, Pat.
They have four children, Ann, Stephen, Frances and Helen. |
