British theater manager and film producer Bill Kenwright, who had a 34-year association with Everton Football Club, including nearly 20 years as chairman, has died. He is 78 years old.
Everton announce Ken Wright’s death Tuesday. The club said he died peacefully on Monday surrounded by family and loved ones after a battle with cancer.
Everton said in a statement: “The club has lost a chairman, a leader, a friend and an inspiration.”
Kenwright, a lifelong Everton fan who regularly attends the team’s games at Goodison Park, first joined the North West club’s board in 1989, buying 68% of the shares in 1999 and becoming a director in 2004 long. Everton have had a turbulent past few years under owner Farhad Moshiri, who has been looking to sell the club and recently overhauled the board.
In August, Kenwright had a cancerous tumor removed from his liver. Everton said this month that the operation was successful but complications meant Kenwright would need to spend a long time in intensive care before continuing his recovery at home.
Wayne Rooney, the England and Manchester United great who came to prominence at Everton as a 16-year-old, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Kenwright “has had an impact on me both personally and professionally” great influence”.
“Great man and great inspiration,” Rooney wrote.
Liverpool-born Kenwright began his acting career as an actor and starred in the soap opera Coronation Street in the late 1960s, returning sporadically in the years after turning to producer.
He became one of Britain’s biggest stage performers, producing shows in London’s West End and on Broadway, some flops but also many hits, including Blood Brothers, which ran in London for 24 years, and the hit touring show Joseph and magic”. Colorful dream coat. ” One of his most recent shows as a producer is Heathers: The Musical, which is currently touring the UK
He has also produced films including “Cheri,” “Broken” and the thriller “The Fanatic,” starring John Travolta.
In 2001, he was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to theater and film.
Actor Ian McKellen wrote on X: “Like many grateful actors, I owe Bill Kenwright my job.”
McKellen said Kenwright “seems to know everyone in the industry and cares about them. Yet every chat revolves around his same passion – Everton football.
“The city that gave us the Beatles and two major rugby teams also gave birth to a unique manager. Whether or not the lights on the West End go out in his memory, now that he’s gone, our business certainly will Even bleaker.”
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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
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