- Had a car accident as a child and his parents were told he'd never walk. His father caught him standing without his calipers and proclaimed 'that if he can stand, he can walk.'
- O'Connor opened for Buddy Holly in his sole appearance in England. Holly, in a letter to his wife said "Show was great but the comedian wasn't very good".
- O'Connor replaced Russell Grant in the West End musical The Wizard of Oz as Professor Marvel, Doorman at the Emerald City, Tour Guide and the Wizard.
- O'Connor has had a successful career as a singer, recording 36 albums, five of which reached the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart.
- Before his break in television, his first theatre appearances were in variety, where he appeared in venues throughout the country.
- O'Connor has starred in a mainstream television show in almost every year since 1963, a feat that only one other television personality has achieved worldwide (US game show host Bob Barker, who hosted mainstream television shows from 1956 until 2007, with 1966-1972 being in syndication).
- After completing his National Service in the Royal Air Force, he worked as a shoe salesman at Church's in Northampton, and for United Counties, both on the road and in the office, before entering show business.
- O'Connor has always taken criticism in good humour, even appearing with Morecambe and Wise on their 1975 Christmas Show in a sketch that mocked him. He got his own back on the 1976 Christmas Show when he was in the firing squad at the end of the main sketch.
- From 8 May 1968 he spent 36 consecutive weeks on the U.K. singles charts with "I Pretend" (Columbia DB 8397), including a week at number 1 (24 July 1968).
- He moved to Northampton in the Second World War, from his birthplace - Stepney, East London
- He played a few games for Northampton Town FC.
- Popular British singer/comedian who, despite several tries in the early 1970s, never really managed to catch on with American audiences.
- He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honors List for his services to entertainment.
- In 1969 Des went international. 13 of his TV shows was pre-sold to America (NBC), Canada and Australia for a combined gross of £625,000. NBC never asked for any more, but the show went on to be sold to 40 other countries during the early 1970s.
- O'Connor has sold more than 16 million records around the world and appeared more than a thousand times at the London Palladium.
- In 1996 and 1997, O'Connor compèred the Royal Variety Performance. On 20 January 2001, ITV aired An Audience with Des O'Connor.
- His father was of half Irish (from Limerick) and half Ashkenazi Jewish descent (with Dutch Jewish roots in the Netherlands), and his mother was of English ancestry. Des had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
- Des pretended to faint at the Glasgow Empire theatre to get off the stage early as the audience was less than impressed by his act.
- Children: Karen, with former Butlins worker Phyllis Gill, Tracy and Samantha, with dancer Gillian Vaughan, Kristina, with model Jay Rufer, and Adam Harrison Campbell, with singer Jodie Brooke Wilson.
- Jodie Brooke Wilson (aka "Jodie Brooke Wilson") gave birth to their son, Adam Harrison Campbell, at a London hospital. The baby weighed 8 lbs (22nd September 2004).
- Des O'Connor has worked with many famous people, from rock and pop stars, actors and TV performers, to politicians, princes, to luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Adam Faith, Sean Connery, Liberace, the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Cilla Black, Tony Blair and members of the Royal Family.
- He was the son of Maude (Bassett) and Harry O'Connor.
- Had a daughter Christina by his marriage to 3rd wife Jay Ruffler.
- Toured New Zealand in 1961 with Lonnie Donnegan.
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