Chris Kirby

Chris Covington was born in Croydon, England on January 1, 1942 to Peter and Eileen Covington. The family moved to Adelaide, Australia when he was about seven years old. Chris and his younger brother, Andrew were exposed to the theater through their parents participation in local amateur productions, wherever they happened to be living at the time. As a young boy, he witnessed ventriloquism for the first time and was captivated by it and soon began experimenting with it. Because agents and club managers inexplicably couldn't seem to relate to his last name of Covington, he got so exasperated he started working under the name Chris Kirby, liking the alliteration. Eventually he took a grown up job at a bank but quickly decided that life on the stage was for him. In Adelaide, he hosted a daily kids TV program establishing a life-long Australian fan base. During this time on the kid's show, Chris got a call from Eric Sykes, who was a ventriloquist, too and a member of the Brotherhood of Ventriloquism. He said, 'I'm just calling to tell you how much I love your work, and I think you've got a lot of talent. I do have one criticism. I don't like your doll. I'll make you a doll." The name he came up with for his new partner was Terry. At 23 years of age, he first married and moved to Sydney. He continued his TV career and performing night club gigs in Sydney. The scene at New South Wales clubs were thriving at that time. In the early 1970s, he toured in Australia as the opening act for the likes of Tom Jones and Johnny Mathis. When Chris was 30, his agent received a phone call from Donald O' Connor's representatives. "Donald O'Connor was coming to Australia to do some corporate stuff, so I - it was very exciting. So I met with them and we worked it all out... and we did the show together and it was one of the best things I've ever done." It was after performing with Donald O' Connor in Sydney at the Silver Spades Room, that O'Connor convinced Chris to move to America. Chris had written a half hour sitcom that O'Connor was going to invest money into and they would try and sell it in America. The decision to move wasn't too difficult, "In the meantime, my first marriage was crumbling, with Judy. And it had been for a year or so." He made the decision to move to America "So off I went and one thing led to another, and they fixed up my green card, and O'Connor's manager said he'd handle my work." Chris lived in America for the next twelve years where he developed his acting and writing skills. He said there weren't very many ventriloquists in Australia but they were all well-known, adding that in America it was known as a "Big Act." He fondly remembers appearing on Milton Berle's show and discussing comedy as a craft with the American "Mr. Television." "I was living up in Beverly Hills, staying in the best hotels, and being driven around in a Cadillac. It was great, fantastic." While living and working in America, Chris came back to Australia for 3 months every 18 months or so to host his own Saturday Night Show during the mid-70s plus club gigs. In 1984, after touring with Frank Sinatra, Jr. he moved back to Australia on advice from his manager to get some rest. "Then I met Christine... so I lost my green card because you can't keep it if you're not living there." In 1987 he moved to a farm at Bucketty, north of Sydney following the birth of his youngest son, Peter, to kick off his writing and acting career with "The Total Eclipse of Toby Moon" and "Lips". He was writing for Australian television dramas but he became frustrated in his career in Australia and believed there would have been many more opportunities if he stayed in L.A, or London. "One of my trips to London, Mickey Dolan of the Monkeys wanted to meet and talk about doing my play in London. But this was when I was married to Christine, and I had Pete and the whole thing. I was getting a bit of a hard time about my show business. I just felt if I was going to save my marriage, I'd better go back to Australia. But, it was a bit late, I think." A victim of early-onset dementia, he is survived by his former wives, Judy, Debbie and Christine and children, Michael, Shahn and Peter.