English comedian and broadcaster Kenny Everett was BOTD in 1944. Born Maurice Cole in Lancashire, he attended a junior seminary with the intention of becoming a Catholic priest, leaving in his teens and taking odd jobs in bakeries and local newspapers. His big break came in 1962 when he sent an audition tape to BBC2 Radio, and was offered a job as a radio presenter. He declined the role and became a DJ for Radio London, where his offbeat humour often caused conflict with the station’s evangelical Christian sponsors. Everett later befriended pop supergroup The Beatles, accompanying them on their 1966 US tour and producing two of their Christmas records. He moved to BBC1 Radio in 1967, hosting an anarchic show in which he played multiple characters and scripted his own jingles and trailers. Dismissed for offending an MP’s wife, he moved to Capital Radio, where he played a pivotal role in the 1975 release of Queen’s hit single Bohemian Rhapsody, written by his long-term friend Freddie Mercury. After sporadic appearances in television, he became a global celebrity with the sketch seriesThe Kenny Everett Video Show, featuring a series of bizarre characters including Sid Snot, Captain Kremmen and Marcel Wave. After disputes with his broadcaster, he moved to the BBC with The Kenny Everett Television Show, inventing a new cast including Cupid Stunt, a voluptuous B-movie actress who described her porn film ouevre as “all in the best possible taste!” Everett married the singer and psychic Audrey “Lady Lee” Middleton in 1969, living in an open relationship while he pursued affairs with men. He came out publicly in 1985, revealing his regular lovers Nikolai Grishanovich and Pepe Flores, whom he referred to as his “two husbands”. He angered many of his liberal fans by expressing public support for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher‘s scorched-earth campaign against miners’ unions, though clarified he wasn’t “a full Tory”. Everett was diagnosed HIV positive in 1989, which he disclosed publicly in 1993. He died in 1995 of an AIDS-related illness, aged 50. He was played by Oliver Lansley in the 2012 TV film Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story, and by Dickie Beau in the 2018 Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.