Jon English dead aged 66
AUSSIE singer and actor Jon English has died after suffering an aortic aneurysm following a small operation, just days after a friend described him as “itching” to get back on stage.
A statement from his talent representatives said at the time of his death the 66-year-old was surrounded by his four children, Jessamin, Josephine, Jonnie and Julian, his wife Carmen, his sister Janet, his brother Jeremy, his nephews Jay and Jasper Collie, his grandson Jzawo and other close family members.
According to his former manager of 20 years Peter Rix, English was in hospital in Newcastle suffering from broken ribs, but during surgery doctors discovered another issue with his aortic valve.
“A lot of bleeding was involved and unfortunately they were unable to stem the flow, that was the morning report I received,” Rix told ABC Radio.
The exact cause of death has been reported as an aortic aneurysm — a swelling in the wall of the large blood vessel that carries oxygen to the heart.
Actor Rebecca Gibney, who starred with English in the Aussie sitcom All Together Now, led the tributes.
“Just heard the news about Jon English,” Gibney tweeted. “So incredibly sad. All Together Now was one of the joys of my career. My love to his family.”
Today host Steve Jacobs, who also appeared in the series, described English as a “gentleman” and a talented performer who was “larger than life”.
Actor and friend Simon Gallaher, who starred with English in The Pirates of Penzance, told ABC Radio of his sadness after receiving text message early this morning saying English had died.
LISTEN TO KATHY MCCABE DISCUSS JON ENGLISH’S LIFE
Gallaher said just hours before English’s death he was thought to be doing well.
“They happened just to stumble across this,” Gallaher told AAP.
“He was in Adelaide and I think he just fell over and hurt himself that way.
“I was chatting to him in the hospital and he was just there under observation, he was perfectly well in himself although this problem was there.”
Gallaher and English had plans to renew their 30-year onstage partnership later this year in a production of Monty Python’s Spamalot.
“He was going to be King Arthur,” Gallaher said.
“We did it last year in Brisbane and it was very successful. So we were going to go on tour with that later this year.”
Gallaher heard about English’s death from the star’s present partner Coralea Cameron.
“Jon’s partner Coralea sent me a text in the middle of the night, which I ignored. So it wasn’t until I woke up that suddenly the world had gone mad,” he said.
British-born singer-songwriter English — who shot to fame in the early 70s as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar — was due to tour Australia from May starting in Perth, but was forced to cancel several shows earlier in the week due to “unexpected ill health”.
“Jon is currently hospitalised and waiting to undergo a small operation, but is expected to make a full recovery over the coming weeks,” said a post on his official Facebook page last week. “We are very hopeful of working with the venues to reschedule both shows as soon as practical for all concerned and thank everyone for their understanding.”
Just over a week later, the singer cancelled yet another headline performance at the Beaumont St Carnivale event in Newcastle.
“He apologies to all of his fans who were looking forward to the day, but assures everyone he will be back to full health and rocking out on stage with you all again very soon (he is in fact itching to do so!)”
English had a successful music career throughout the 1970s and 1980s, recording ten albums.
He was also an award-winning actor in both TV and theatre, playing to sellout crowds in the Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and HMS Pinafore.
He wrote the score and theme song for the TV mini-series Against the Wind, in which he also starred.
For his work on the series, English became one of the rare performers to win an acting Logie and a TV Week/Countdown award (for best male vocalist) in the same year.
He took on the lead role of Bobby Rivers in 1991 in the television sitcom All Together Now, co-starring Rebecca Gibney.
In early 2009 English also teamed up with a troupe of multi-instrumentalists in a tribute to the 60’s and 70’s rock generation called The Rock Show.
At the time of his passing, he was still performing regularly in a variety of music shows.
English was born in London and came to Australia when he was 12. He has three siblings.
Celebrities and fans have taken to Twitter to express sadness at his passing.
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