Robert Christopher Nankeville, known professionally as Bobby Davro (born 13 September 1958), is an English actor, comedian and impressionist.

He made his television breakthrough on Live from Her Majesty's in 1983, after which he joined the cast of sketch comedy show Copy Cats then starred in his own sketch comedy shows from the mid 1980s to early 1990s: Bobby Davro on the Box (1985), Bobby Davro's TV Annual (1986), Bobby Davro's TV Weekly (1987), Bobby In Wonderland (1988), Davro's Sketch Pad (1989), and Davro (1990). He hosted 65 episodes of Winner Takes All in 1997.

He played Vinnie Monks in 68 episodes of EastEnders (2007–2008). He participated in Come Dine with Me (2009), Dancing on Ice (2010), Your Face Sounds Familiar (2013), and Celebrity Big Brother (2015).

Career

Davro appeared on a variety of television shows, mostly with ITV, throughout the 1980s. He made his television breakthrough on Live from Her Majesty's in 1983. as well as his own Saturday night shows, Bobby Davro on the Box (1985), Bobby Davro's TV Annual (1986),

In 2015 Davro appeared at the King's Head Theatre, Islington as ping-pong-playing London cab driver Eric in a revival of Simon Block's comedy Not a Game for Boys. The play was directed by Jason Lawson. The production was well-received, with Danny Coleman-Cooke of the British Theatre website with much praise for his performance.

In December 2015, Davro announced a 20-date UK tour for the following year, starting at the Epsom Playhouse on 17 May 2016. On 6 February 2015, he was a guest of Graham Norton on his weekly BBC Radio 2 show.

Live performances

  • In 2005 and 2006, he performed on stage in Aladdin with Melinda Messenger and John Rhys Davies in Woking, Surrey.
  • In 2017, he appeared at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion as Silly Billy in Jack and the Beanstalk.
  • In 2018, he starred in Dick Whittington at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.

EastEnders

In August 2007, Davro joined the cast of the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, playing Vinnie Monks, a love interest for Shirley Carter. The character first appeared on screen in October. He left in autumn 2008, later stating his character "wasn't very good and they didn't give me proper storylines".

Guest appearances

In 1987, Bobby Davro appeared in an episode of Rainbow titled "Guess Who I Am", in which he did impressions of Bungle, Zippy, George and Geoffrey.

Dancing on Ice

Davro took part in the ITV skating show Dancing on Ice in January 2010, and was paired with newcomer Molly Moenkhoff.

Your Face Sounds Familiar

In 2013, Davro along with other celebrities took part in the ITV entertainment series Your Face Sounds Familiar. He was eliminated in the fifth week. His chosen charity for the series was Kids 'n' Cancer.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"

|- style="text-align:Center; background:#ccc;"

| rowspan="2"|Week

| rowspan="2"|Portraying

| rowspan="2"|Song

| colspan="5"|Judges' scores

| rowspan="2"|Result

|- style="text-align:center; background:#ccc;"

| style="width:10%; "|Julian Clary

| style="width:10%; "|Emma Bunton

| style="width:10%; "|Guest Judge

| style="width:10%; "|Bonus points

| style="width:10%; "|Total

|-

||1

||Sir Tom Jones

||"Sex Bomb"

||8

||7

||9

||0

||24

||Not in Top 3

|- style="background:silver;"

||2

||Sir Mick Jagger

||"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

||9

||10

||10

||10

||39

||Runner-up

|-

|| 3

|| Ozzy Osbourne

|| "Paranoid"

|| 9

|| 9

|| 9

|| 0

|| 27

|| Not in Top 3

|-

|| 4

|| Tammy Wynette

|| "Stand by Your Man"

|| 7

|| 6

|| 7

|| 5

|| 25

|| Not in Top 3

|- style="background:pink;"

||5

|| Sir Paul McCartney

|| "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

|| 8

|| 8

|| 7

|| 5

|| 28

|| Eliminated

|}

Celebrity Big Brother

After dismissing reality shows including Big Brother, Britain's Got Talent and I'm a Celebrity and saying he would never appear on such series, in 2015 Davro entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to take part in the sixteenth series. On 24 September, he reached the final and was placed 4th.

Personal life

Family and relationships

Davro was born, on 13 September 1958, in Ashford, Middlesex, England. His father, Bill Nankeville, was a runner; a British national mile and 1500m champion, world-record holder, and represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games. His brother was a professional golfer.

Trudi Jameson, the mother of Davro's three children, is from Sutton Coldfield. The couple parted in 2003.

Between 2007 and 2011 Davro dated Vicky Wright, daughter of Wolverhampton Wanderers and England footballer Billy Wright. They later reunited and were engaged to be married until Wright's death in May 2023.

Davro is a keen angler. Reflecting on the incident, Davro said, "the doctors were amazed I hadn’t suffered more badly. I didn’t break my nose or any teeth, which was a minor miracle". This incident was not televised but was used in a BBC safety video, and Inside No.9s Halloween special of 2018, "Dead Line".

Charity

Davro has been a supporter of the UK charity Kids 'n' Cancer.

References

  • Richard Herring meets Bobby Davro
  • TheDozen Podcast