English actor Christopher Biggins was BOTD in 1948. Born in Oldham, Lancashire, he was brought up in Salisbury where he performed in local drama groups. He studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and made appearances in TV series Upstairs, Downstairs, Porridge and Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. After appearing in a TV beer commercial as the Emperor Nero, he was subsequently cast in the same role in the celebrated 1976 TV serialisation of Robert Graves‘ novel I, Claudius. He also appeared as an extra in the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show and had a brief role in Derek Jarman‘s film of Shakespeare‘s The Tempest. His subsequent career descended into hosting children’s TV programmes and Christmas pantomimes, with occasional West End appearances in the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The arrival of reality television in the 2000s resuscitated his career, appearing in and winning the 2007 series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! In 2016, he appeared in Celebrity Big Brother, but was removed by producers after describing bisexuals as the “worst type” who were reluctant to admit they were gay and making a tasteless joke about a Jewish contestant. Biggins married actress Beatrice Norbury in 1971, separating three years later, presumably due to his being homosexual. Openly and cheerfully gay since nearly forever, he entered into a civil partnership with his long-term partner Neil Sinclair in 2006.