Editing Des O'Connor (section)

==Early life==
Desmond Bernard O'Connor was born on 12 January 1932 in [[Stepney]], [[East End of London|East London]], to Maude (''née'' Bassett), a cleaner, and Harry O'Connor, a dustman.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = O'Connor, Desmond Bernard [Des] (1932–2020), comedian, singer, and television host|last = Leigh|first = Spencer|date = 2024|doi = 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381681}}</ref> His father was of Irish Catholic descent and his mother was Jewish, and he joked that he was the first O'Connor to have a [[Bar and bat mitzvah|bar mitzvah]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |date=15 November 2020| title=Des O'Connor obituary |work=The Guardian |location= London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/nov/15/des-o-connor-obituary |access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref>

In his childhood, he had [[rickets]] and was later badly injured in a hit-and-run car accident which meant he had to be in an [[iron lung]] for six months.<ref name=bbc1/> He had a brother and a sister. He was evacuated to [[Northampton]] during the [[Second World War]], where he worked in a shoe factory and was a schoolboy and reserves football player with [[Northampton Town F.C.|Northampton Town]].<ref name=bbc1/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mcleodagency.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ActID=19&CatID=29 |title=Book Des O'Connor – Celebrities from The Mcleod Agency |publisher=The Mcleod Agency |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006125921/http://www.mcleodagency.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ActID=19&CatID=29 |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref>

After completing his [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|national service]] in the [[Royal Air Force]], he worked as a [[Butlins Redcoat|Redcoat]] at [[Butlin's Filey|Butlin's holiday camp in Filey]], where he met his first wife Phyllis, and as a shoe salesman at [[Church's]] in [[Northampton]], and for the bus company [[United Counties]], both on the road and in the office,<ref>{{cite book |first=Caroline |last=Cleaveley |title=Memories of United Counties Part 1: Northampton |year=2010 |publisher= Silver Link Publishing |isbn=978-1-85794-343-6}}</ref> before entering show business. Prior to his break on television, his first fully professional stage appearance in variety was in a Newcastle theatre. Later, while in [[Leeds]], he invited the Welsh singer [[Shirley Bassey]] out on two dates.<ref name=":0" /> In 1958, when [[Buddy Holly]] toured the UK, O'Connor was the show's [[compere (host)|compère]] for which he was paid £100 per week.<ref name="Ultimate entertainer" /><br> 

In 1950 and 1952, he collaborated in songwriting with British singer [[Sam Browne (musician)|Sam Browne]] and Australian pianist and composer [[Ray Hartley (musician)|Ray Hartley]]. The team produced hit songs "Let's Do It Again", "Start Singing A Song", "Yes! Yes! Yes! (I Like Good Old Melody)" and "Why Do I Love You?". O'Connor and Hartley also created the hit song "My Baby Told Me She Loves Me".