Content deleted Content added
GreenC bot (talk | contribs) Move 2 urls. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#bbc.co.uk misc |
|||
(374 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|English comedy actress, producer, presenter and businesswoman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
|
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1962|07|24}}
|
| occupation = {{hlist|Comedy actress|producer|presenter|businesswoman}}
| years active = 1981–present
|
|
}}
'''Cleo Rocos''' (born 24 July 1962,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba25bd8b7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425074214/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba25bd8b7|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 April 2017|title=Cleo Rocos|publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Webber|first=Richard|date=7 October 2013|title=Cleo Rocos: 'I went on Big Brother to pay my tax bill'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/10356326/Cleo-Rocos-I-went-on-Big-Brother-to-pay-my-tax-bill.html|access-date=2020-10-29|website=The Telegraph|language=en-GB|archive-date=12 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512050935/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/10356326/Cleo-Rocos-I-went-on-Big-Brother-to-pay-my-tax-bill.html|url-status=live}}</ref> in [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil)<ref name="hello">{{cite web|url=http://www.helloonline.com/profiles/cleo-rocos/|title=Profile : Cleo Rocos|publisher=[[Hello (magazine)|Hello! Magazine]]|access-date=9 January 2013|archive-date=30 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430063651/https://www.hellomagazine.com/us/|url-status=live}}</ref> is a UK-based<!-- When asked for nationality she said in a 2002 Metro interview: "I’m really confused, although the Brazilian always goes with busty making it nicely alliterative. I think I feel more cartoon than anything else." (https://metro.co.uk/2002/01/03/cleo-rocos-637214/) --> comedy actress, producer, presenter and businesswoman who starred alongside [[Kenny Everett]] on ''[[The Kenny Everett Television Show]]''.<ref name="hello"/>{{sfn|Gorman|2012|p=63}}<ref name=telegraph_2012>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/9609096/How-Cleo-Rocos-replaced-light-entertainment-with-tequila.html|title=How Cleo Rocos replaced light entertainment with tequila|author=Emma Sinclair|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 October 2012|access-date=9 January 2013|quote=Cleo Rocos, best known as Kenny Everett’s glamorous side-kick, is now taking the tequila world by storm|archive-date=28 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128163442/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/9609096/How-Cleo-Rocos-replaced-light-entertainment-with-tequila.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Early life==
Rocos was born in Brazil. Her father was [[Greeks|Greek]] and worked in shipping, and her mother was English.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rocos|first=Cleo|date=2013-05-11|title=What I see in the mirror: Cleo Rocos|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2013/may/11/what-see-mirror-cleo-rocos|access-date=2020-10-29|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=19 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119143316/https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2013/may/11/what-see-mirror-cleo-rocos|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=curtisbrown>{{cite web|url=http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/cleo-rocos/ |title=Cleo Rocos |publisher=Curtisbrown.co.uk |date=2013-04-11 |access-date=2014-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523003359/http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/cleo-rocos/|archive-date=2013-05-23}}</ref> She came to England as a child to attend school, and also took acting classes.
==Television career==
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2013}}
=== Early career and Kenny Everett ===
Rocos had an early non-speaking part as a green-skinned alien in the first episode of the ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' television series (1981), demonstrating the effects of a [[Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster]]. According to Rocos she was later lunching at the BBC with ''The Hitchhiker's...'' director [[Alan J.W. Bell|Alan Bell]] when they were approached by [[James Moir (executive)|Jim Moir]], later Head of Light Entertainment, who asked her to audition for a new show he was developing.<ref name=telegraph_2012 /> This was [[Kenny Everett]]'s [[BBC]] series ''[[The Kenny Everett Television Show]]'', which would run for five series from 1981 to 1988, in which her glamorous curvaceous figure was often used to comic effect. The role would also be echoed in her similar appearances in the 1985 TV sketch series ''[[Assaulted Nuts (TV series)|Assaulted Nuts]]'', and later in reports for the consumer affairs show ''[[That's Life!]]''.<ref name=curtisbrown /> Rocos went on to remark in 2013 that the show would not be made in modern times on account of "professional campaigning women with thick ankles and shrill ovaries who have nothing better to do than to police people’s opinions".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Jacques|first=Adam|date=2013-09-07|title=Credo: Cleo Rocos – 'I have fantastic memories of drinking with Princess Diana'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/credo-cleo-rocos-i-have-fantastic-memories-drinking-princess-diana-8798685.html|access-date=2020-10-29|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625135809/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/credo-cleo-rocos-i-have-fantastic-memories-drinking-princess-diana-8798685.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She also appeared, playing a white-coated lab assistant, alongside Everett in BBC1 science quiz series ''Brainstorm'', which ran for one series in 1988.
Off-screen the two found an immediate affinity,<ref>''The World According to Kenny Everett'', [[ITV Studios]], tx 26 December 2015; from 31:00 (via [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t2Bp4jhTaQ&t=1845s youtube] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104215528/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t2Bp4jhTaQ&t=1845s |date=4 November 2022 }})</ref> which became an enduring friendship "causing mischief wherever we went".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rocos|first=Cleo|date=2012-09-30|title=Forever my friend: Cleo Rocos on her kindred spirit Kenny Everett|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/cleo-rocos-kenny-everetts-battle-1352080|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Daily Mirror|language=en|archive-date=4 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104223117/https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/cleo-rocos-kenny-everetts-battle-1352080|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Marcus Berkmann]] described the pair as "two reticent, rather formal people who loved to play and perform but valued their privacy above all else."<ref name=":2" />
=== Later work ===
From the late 1980s to early 1990s, Rocos starred in a Welsh comedy show on [[S4C]] called ''[[Pobol y Chyff]]''. [[Rhys Ifans]] and [[Meirion Davies]] played the main characters.
An occasional sidekick to 'shock jock' DJ [[James Whale (radio)|James Whale]] on late-night ITV in the early 1990s, she fulfilled a similar role with TV critic [[Garry Bushell]] on ITV nocturnal TV-review series ''Bushell on the Box''. She also made a few appearances in the Ugly Bloke slot, as an incongruously glamorous escort to physically unattractive males, on [[Chris Evans (presenter)|Chris Evans']] Channel 4 series [[TFI Friday]] in about 1996.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Other TV credits include an acting role in US drama series ''[[Highlander: The Series|Highlander]]'',<ref name=":2">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/my-beautiful-loon-1200880.html |title=MY BEAUTIFUL LOON – Arts & Entertainment – The Independent |last=Marcus Berkmann |work=The Independent |date=27 September 1998 |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |___location=London |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |access-date=14 February 2013 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005104600/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/my-beautiful-loon-1200880.html |url-status=live }}</ref> presenting and co-producing a short [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]] series on the dresses of [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Princess Diana]] (whom she knew personally<ref name=":1" />), participating in [[BBC]] game shows such as ''[[Wipeout (1988 game show)|Wipeout]]'', ''[[Blankety Blank]]'' and ''[[Ready Steady Cook|Ready, Steady, Cook]]'', and partaking in Channel 5's [[karaoke]] show ''Night Fever''. She also starred in [[Leigh Francis]]' TV series ''Whatever I Want'' as herself, as did Big Brother host [[Davina McCall]]. Rocos later appeared again with Francis, on Bo'! in the US, the US version of ''[[Bo' Selecta!]]''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}{{When|date=October 2020}}
Although her television work became less frequent after Everett's 1995 death, during the late 1990s she presented quirky reports from exotic locations for the long-running ITV travel show ''[[Wish You Were Here...?]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cleo Rocos |url=https://archive.list.co.uk/the-list/1999-07-22/8/ |publisher=The List |access-date=19 August 2020 |date=22 July 1999}}</ref>
=== 2000s and 2010s ===
In 2002-3 she presented and produced a travel show for [[Channel 5 (UK)|Five]] called ''Cleo Worldwide'', and she spent much of summer 2006 recording a new travel show for television about the [[wonders of the world]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/08/04/dp0401.xml |title=Carry on, Cleo |access-date=27 January 2007 |work=The Daily Telegraph |year=2006 |author=Celia Walden |___location=London }}</ref>
In 2007, Rocos entered the ''[[Celebrity Big Brother (British series 5)|Celebrity Big Brother]]'' house<ref name=":0" /> and remained in the house until the final week. She was voted off the show on 26 January 2007 as part of a surprise joint eviction along with singer [[Jo O'Meara]], a former member of pop group [[S Club 7]].
On 30 December 2007, Rocos was interviewed on [[Sky News]] as a "friend of [[Benazir Bhutto]]", the recently assassinated Pakistan politician.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/2148685533/|title=Cleo Rocas on Sky News|access-date=30 December 2007|year=2007|archive-date=5 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005232156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/2148685533/|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 2 January 2010, she appeared on the BBC celebrity special of ''[[Total Wipeout]]'' and on 2 May 2010, she appeared on the [[Watch (TV channel)|Watch]] game show, ''Scream If You Know the Answer''. In October 2011, she was a participant in Channel 4 show ''[[Come Dine with Me]]'' and was joint winner with the pop singer [[Pete Burns]].
In 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 4's [[The Museum of Curiosity]] with [[Robert Llewellyn]] and [[Kevin Warwick]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03f92qc|title=Llewellyn, Rocos, Warwick, Series 6, The Museum of Curiosity – BBC Radio 4|publisher=BBC|access-date=29 January 2017|archive-date=2 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102192234/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03f92qc|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2014 (a few weeks before the World Cup association football tournament in Rio de Janeiro in June), she narrated the three-part observational series, 'Welcome to Rio', which aimed to reveal the truth about the city's famous [[Shanty town|shanty-towns]], the [[favela]]s, through the lives of people who live there. Rocos narrated the programmes saying 'we', indicating her connection with Rio.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045h9nn/episodes/guide|title=Welcome to Rio – Episode guide – BBC Two|publisher=BBC|access-date=12 June 2014|archive-date=5 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605085007/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045h9nn/episodes/guide|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wollaston|first=Sam|date=2014-05-28|title=Welcome to Rio; The Complainers – TV review|url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/28/welcome-to-rio-complainers-tv-review|access-date=2020-10-29|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124235814/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/28/welcome-to-rio-complainers-tv-review|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2017 she appeared in a Channel 5 reality show, Celebrity 5 Go Motorhoming.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Celebrity 5 Go Motorhoming – S1 – Episode 1|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fvsgnc/celebrity-5-go-motorhoming--s1-e1-celebrity-5-go-motorhoming/|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Radio Times|language=en|archive-date=20 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120124001/http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fvsgnc/celebrity-5-go-motorhoming--s1-e1-celebrity-5-go-motorhoming/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Radio, music, producer and film==
{{BLP sources section|date=April 2013}}
Rocos is an occasional presenter for [[BBC Radio London]]. She has collaborated on some pop music singles, such as ''Love Dilemma'' in the 1980s – a traditionally-crooned number with the Enrico Valdez Orchestra – and 1993 dance track ''Back to Love'' with the band Vertigo (which disbanded when they learnt that their music was the last thing a woman murdered in [[Manchester]] had listened to<ref>{{Cite web|date=2002-01-03|title=Cleo Rocos|url=https://metro.co.uk/2002/01/03/cleo-rocos-637214/|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Metro|language=en|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324084159/https://metro.co.uk/2002/01/03/cleo-rocos-637214/|url-status=live}}</ref>). She is not named on the latter's sleeve, beyond a small co-writing credit.
She co-produced a revival of ''[[The Seven Year Itch (play)|The Seven-Year Itch]]'' for the London stage, starring [[Daryl Hannah]], in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Petty|first=Moira|date=16 October 2000|title=From bimbo to big business|language=en|work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/from-bimbo-to-big-business-8glhg92nllm|access-date=2020-10-29|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922154635/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-bimbo-to-big-business-8glhg92nllm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2005, Rocos produced ''...Sex Actually'', a special episode of ''[[The Comic Strip Presents]]'' in which a murder occurs amongst a group of [[Swinging (sexual practice)|swingers]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Her film credits include [[Mel Brooks]]'s 1981 comedy ''[[History of the World, Part I]]'', the 1983 comedy horror spoof ''[[Bloodbath at the House of Death]]'' (with Kenny Everett), [[Lindsay Shonteff]]'s ''[[Number One Gun (film)|Number One Gun]]'' (1990), and ''[[Baby Juice Express]]'' (2004).{{Clarify|reason=what was her specific role in these films?|date=October 2020}}
==Writer==
Rocos' autobiographical book ''Bananas Forever: Kenny Everett and Me'' (co-authored by [[Richard Topping]]), detailing her relationship with Everett, was published in 1998 but later reissued under the title ''Kenny and Me''. She has contributed travel articles to publications such as ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.
Rocos's book ''The Power of Positive Drinking'', published by Random House, covers how to drink well and avoid the pitfalls.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bruce-Gardyne|first=Tom|date=27 April 2013|title=Drinking advice from an unlikely source|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/13101970.drinking-advice-from-an-unlikely-source/|access-date=2020-10-29|website=HeraldScotland|language=en|archive-date=30 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430063728/https://widgets.outbrain.com/widgetMonitor/monitor.html?name=obm-PixelLoadingError&message={%22url%22:%22https%3A%2F%2Famplify-imp.outbrain.com%2Fpixel%3Fp%3DOPn7uJhI1fv3lWuRZ9h1kbF0Yfj3x7fYHvGTK9MaNq4skYwfLFJh3C8ClTl9RnCpJsFJQ11QkGplIazCEU1kBrf9KYEbAG3jgQM0vD2M0daeYvXIeS3ozNHScLfEfCmHu-Na2nXyXbXVhpDjOvJFehKCyS0bweswYe-QH5w1pFUpfiJSGe_EzdwFzNzrDFjWV1nz73MxGUBTQoz9oyAsWcxEWgmqXywLJNBV6pkHU-OtSE-KnGsebLQAPeSr1aszaiANLV1wbyWs1740mM13jSjhOHas2sUxMqSFSHcaQnT8JnhK1xfPX74KvlBBq1hKzaBeRFKu4Ek3DqLfuIR5SAI0RkvlCKeK6T9pIS62waBIZVPZJ7nMtoFWu7aHdMqPuFtdgd-Gg3pCAULATucGhtOYDJeorHUg9kT246UQlYBteoa6uYaFQR2LPS0F-TOtsx8SYe98I0A7bsjWfchYC_DZQ0om54UY-UU38v1IWrkp1iwvca-hEkC1yAa4A0s6ZusPBy9K8hF-2wfIx4FUzxF0p-ljP6pn_EGXRBieVbbf5XWs_RuUL-wRJCBktI5aBV8V6B8sNzH1HVTW2KgjXDY1PG6GFssNrBetxTEIaRG4HnNuMb_ghD2iECmENtsPvm868sLo7evZevE7uxujX1WacEX9lHZiY6TW9S2ifVHLlEc0LF2eqMZlne4ugFQZqoEDyb5y8VqJ9GXCkHsoH9msBViGfG_9Fvy3JJtF6cuvJTDfSeFwBYbBoAY7ZIAHzRhlVNUiIUIunLe127hNgXDooy2vCzc3JRup2IeoRwsPNE7aKjOsvEYgMPaEJDqpxHQnypE4MNpsvWHqxjdFTF8tzuDDod2UcyKh1N5xqYydp-P_-0VDaf24OWL_MU1J9oTww8JHEUdrCuXbRKAPRX4N0EYCl1dC4lbpkkuCkj0J_QOS51epNtEoiRkH8LbsXv6Bq1d5Cil9JcFesvH3yuZoJWHxUab2Quvc_3yEZRBUkvIpKV5tQOMcvNkzhAgP5h-qnTGMB0G9qTCEOq49ma32JYvJu2IVOEKJLyyRzu81ByM9O6MjSyjhNu8VMDW9TsZiz__wx6VqbuRBOkziqWPPEgqSLh-7BDUGi7G6vF8OZPlXfXEVBBzAynWHlM0ly4Sq2fhidCvFQxtS6hrebTynHIwxNbzakdgtSBlD5025VMgybr1ha94ixjhFoae58747gmYLMwBdCRVgy_PUV77BAaT4cBvfl6kyOQWG16Y_c8L7BObuk4n5Vv9Owrdc0RWZfqWpPqLTNS_UmbNFCN8CV9pX7gwv_hgnhbKC2C9lQGZ_GmfFtenPnCS3CI9ud3_F_hokl8wydlsPtakplGOtUoCxuIpxdGnTRiubx1mxsSX-AZbLho_eFYji_-e0w4My6vQkPd4YbpK_VYc4RoUmHAeqPZ5HWKhtxDG2DaBy8OZbrlZDFcoHsEv8scvxciKK-UzhV1ydbqZcr7wDMpze3rX6FMkaj5QaOgTB0XajdevmnN0hhM7fljKhkIf2RwoQrPCWsSJWrVzc04AC1cZpsh_Aj_i_9_PZg3_4LGawcTkYxUhyQHMisvMAD8jbqEmtbVjXsBD38KXipvPJQD7Gu-36rF3wmiRq9U16FAprTwzspiu2CCSFAUFMkYYQ3sobAPCrW1MP4Wky76xb6aZ8zMk1CM462a9pJv3pjQhy8wvpMJsAnsTOP7qXrKiX13-olt_zre0_WLcPFzMz1jdNEoT4c3F6DD6rBlmjoiUDFRD16BOUemk1iQ3C3wGGc0Qjv4fQtDNjcksw0OSyL2VYTRT0CXk-GPV73YeakdDpHWjxDGEk505ha2U7tL_H9_lTLUYsbs6fYWPHkVyd0bOZsgxmeliSnGi8uDeKF9A4udO17NVz8OqKNUEOgp9G4pxT6KV6oUVv1mAlCKPYy2oBR5PvQlMMs81vv3GSU6r1mvVJyfsxZ1xP4W1dSqFX15WT7JyVX1YNe-u8yuYpOp0oG5JiZJ_gUPP3kiEG2Qx8y0_paGCcLrL1U8b30ZJKLo6eH-Ryku3oNQO9yQIFfQ%26c%3D9be30a6a%26v%3D3%22,%22advId%22:%22%22,%22numberOfPixels%22:%22%22}&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldscotland.com%2F|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Business career==
In 2012 Rocos launched a premium brand of tequila called AquaRiva, made from 100% [[Agave tequilana|'Weber Azul']] agave.<ref>{{cite web |author=Richard Godwin |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-spirits-tequila-makes-you-happy-not-drunk-8216200.html |title=The Spirits: tequila makes you happy, not drunk |work=Evening Standard|___location=London |date=2012-10-18 |access-date=2014-07-26 |archive-date=23 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223102358/https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-spirits-tequila-makes-you-happy-not-drunk-8216200.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=telegraph_2012 />
==References and sources==
;References
{{Reflist}}
;Sources
{{Refbegin|colwidth=}}
* {{cite book|last=Gorman|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Gorman|title=Dave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zohyfbRiUeEC&dq=%22cleo+rocos%22+%22kenny+everett%22&pg=PA63|year=2012|publisher=Ebury Press|isbn=978-0-09-192848-3|access-date=28 November 2021|archive-date=30 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430063656/https://books.google.com/books?id=zohyfbRiUeEC&dq=%22cleo+rocos%22+%22kenny+everett%22&pg=PA63|url-status=live}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0734372}}
*[http://www.aquariva.co.uk/ Official website] of her tequila brand AquaRiva
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:English television
[[Category:
[[Category:Brazilian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:Brazilian people of English descent]]
[[Category:Brazilian people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:Entertainers from Rio de Janeiro (city)]]
|