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Privacy NoticeTV viewers have had their minds blown after realising Charley the cat from public info ads was voiced by none other than Kenny Everett. The English radio DJ and TV entertainer was a household voice, becoming one of the first DJs to join BBC Radio’s newly created BBC Radio 1 in 1967. For those too young to remember, Charley Says was a series of six public information films telling the tale of Tony (voiced by the seven-year-old son of one of the neighbours of producer Richard Taylor) and his cat Charley (voiced by Kenny) as they got themselves into various life-threatening situations.
Kenny Everett voiced the famous cat
(Image: TV Times via Getty Images)
They were produced by the British government’s Central Office of Information and broadcast across the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s In one memorable ad, Charley the cat saved Tony when he warned him against going off with a dodgy-looking man in the park. In another, he stopped Tony from going to a picnic without telling his mother about his whereabouts first. “Charley says, ‘Always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere so she knows who you are with,” Tony concluded in the video. The famous episode, titled “Mummy Should Know” was famously sampled by electronic dance group The Prodigy for their UK 1991 hit single Charly which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
Fans were mind blown with the revelation
(Image: Radio Times via Getty Images)
Despite the ‘fame’ of the series, many fans were shocked to find out it was actually Kenny who voiced the ‘meows’ of cat Charley, as they took to a forum to express their surprise: “Just discovered this, sort of wacky thing you would have expected of him I suppose,” wrote one forum poster, while another questioned: “I thought this was common knowledge…?” This prompted one to reply: “It is surprisingly common knowledge, but then again you can’t expect everyone to know everything. Plus fun facts are what they are, harmless fun.” Another laughed: “Did anyone ever tell him that noise ‘Charlie’ made sounded nothing like any noise a real cat would make unless it was being drowned, possibly?” While another exclaimed: “These public information ads totally traumatised me when I was little!!” A fifth curious fan questioned: “Wonder if Kenny got any royalties?” Kenny was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1989 and he made his condition known to the public four years later in 1993. He sadly passed away from an AIDS-related illness on 4 April 1995, at the age of 50.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitter
