Roger Whittaker

Roger Whittaker

Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability as well as his guitar skills. He is widely known for his version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" (1982), as well as his own compositions "Durham Town (The Leavin')" (1969) and "I Don't Believe in If Anymore" (1970). American audiences are most familiar with his 1970 hit "New World in the Morning" and his 1975 hit "The Last Farewell", which is his only single to hit the Billboard Hot 100 (it made the Top 20) and also hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. He is also known for his renditions of "Ding! Dong! Merrily on High" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas". His final top-charting hit was "Albany", which scored No. 3 in West Germany in 1982. Whittaker's parents, Edward and Vi Whittaker, were from Staffordshire, England, where they owned and operated a grocery shop. His father was injured in a motorcycle accident and the family moved to a farm near Thika, Kenya, because of its warmer climate. His grandfather sang in various clubs and his father played the violin. Roger learned to play the guitar. Upon completing his primary education, Whittaker was admitted to Prince of Wales School (now Nairobi School). Upon completing his high school education, he was called up for national service and spent two years in the Kenya Regiment fighting the Mau Mau in the Aberdare Forest. In 1956 he was demobilised and decided on a career in medicine. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. However, he left after 18 months and joined the civil service education department as a teacher, following in his mother's footsteps. To further his teaching career, Whittaker moved to Britain in September 1959. For the next three years, he studied zoology, biochemistry and marine biology at University College of North Wales and earned a Bachelor of Science degree while singing in local clubs, and released songs on Flexi discs included with the campus newspaper, the Bangor University Rag. Shortly afterwards, he was signed to Fontana Records, which released his first professional single, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", in 1962. (On the labels of the Fontana singles, he is billed as "Rog Whittaker".) In the summer of 1962, Whittaker performed in Portrush, Northern Ireland. He achieved a breakthrough when he was signed to appear on an Ulster Television show called This and That. His second single was a cover version of "Steel Men", released in June 1962. ... Source: Article "Roger Whittaker" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known For: Acting

Born: Nairobi, Kenya, 1936-03-22

Died: 2023-09-13

No.	Year	Title	Role
1	1991	Desperately Seeking Roger
2	2004	Legends in Concert - Roger Whittaker: New World in the Morning	Self
3		Roger Whittaker: The Last Farewell	Self
4	1976	Roger Whittaker: Prime Concerts: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra	Self
5	1989	Roger Whittaker – Live At The Tivoli	Self

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1955	What Am I?	Self	65
2	1957	Zum blauen Bock	Self	60
3	1959	Discorama	Self	0
4	1961	Musik aus Studio B	Self	0
5	1964	Einer wird gewinnen	Self	70
6	1964	Die Drehscheibe	Self	60
7	1966	4-3-2-1 Hot and Sweet	Self	0
8	1968	Starparade	Self	0
9	1969	Die ZDF-Hitparade	Self	0
10	1971	Mary’s Music	Self	0
11	1972	Don-Lurio-Show	Self	0
12	1972	Musikladen	Self	0
13	1974	Die Montagsmaler	Self	0
14	1975	Musik ist Trumpf	Self	60
15	1975	Système 2	Self	0
16	1977	Auf los geht's los	Self	0
17	1977	Please Turn the Page	Self	60
18	1977	Telespiele	Self	0
19	1980	Verstehen Sie Spaß?	Self	38
20	1980	Show-Express	Self	0
21	1981	Tag des deutschen Schlagers	Self	0
22	1981	Musikantenstadl	Self	0
23	1984	Show & Co. mit Carlo	Self	0
24	1985	Melodien für Millionen	Self	0
25	1986	ZDF-Fernsehgarten	Self	15
26	1988	Flitterabend	Self - Singer	0
27	1991	Musik liegt in der Luft	Self	0
28	1991	Musik liegt in der Luft	Self - Singer	0
29	1994	Höchstpersönlich	self	0
30	1994	Die Feste mit Florian Silbereisen	Self	0
31	1995	Immer wieder sonntags	self	0
32	1995	Musik für Sie	self	0
33	2000	Starnacht am Wörthersee	Self	0
34	2004	Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel	Self	40
35	2004	Servus, Hansi Hinterseer	Self	0
36	2005	Herzlichen Glückwunsch - Die Michael Schanze Jubiläumsgala	Self	0
37	2010	Musikalische Reise	Self	0

Roger Whittaker

Film

Television