WE WERE ROARING
Showbiz pal Tarby recalls day a fire alarm forced entertainer onto streets of Glasgow in a lion suit
BY LAURA HARDING JIMMY Tarbuck has told of the last time he saw his late pal Kenny Lynch – when they roared with laughter as the singer ended up on the streets of Glasgow in a lion costume.
Lynch, who died on Wednesday aged 81, and the comic frequently performed together over the years.
Tarbuck said: “I went down to the house to see him in the last month. It was very strange, he was ready to die.
“He said, ‘I’ve had enough, I want to go’, and then we reminisced and we were roaring laughing, just at things that have happened.
“We all had to get out on the pavement in Glasgow and he said, ‘I can’t go out like this, in a lion skin’. I said, ‘Well, it’s either that or you’re on fire’. So we went out in the street and there were people doing doubletakes of him in this lion skin and me on the floor with laughter.
“He accused me of setting the fire alarms off so everyone would see him.”
Tarbuck said he toasted Lynch with Sir Tom Jones this week, adding: “It was the 50th year of Tramp and I went with Tom and he was saying the same thing – he was such a good singer and such a good talent – and that came from the best 80-year-old singer in the world.”
A statement from Lynch’s family said: “Sadly our dad passed away in the early hours. He will be remembered and missed by many. Bye Dad, we will love you always.”
Singer Boy George tweeted: “God bless Kenny Lynch. RIP. My love and condolences to his family and friends. Absolutely huge part of my 70s life and on.”
Of Caribbean and Irish heritage, Lynch was one of the few black singers in British pop at the time.
In 1963 he toured with The Beatles. On the big screen he appeared in Carry On Loving in 1970, as well as The Plank, and on TV he starred in shortlived sitcom Curry And Chips with Spike Milligan.