SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019Home news in brief
The singer’s career spanned five decades (PA)
Entertainer Joe Longthorne dies at 64
Singer and impressionist Joe Longthorne has died at the age of 64. Longthorne, who was born in Hull, died
in the arms of his husband Jamie at their home in Blackpool, according to his website. The entertainer made
regular appearances on the ITV series Junior Showtime in 1969 until he turned 16, receiving his big break
on the broadcaster’s series Search for a Star in 1981 after a stint on the club circuit.
However, when Longthorne was at the height of his fame in 1989, he was diagnosed with the blood cancer,
lymphoma. “Cancer is not a word you expect to hear when things are going so well,” he later said. “I felt
invincible and suddenly out of the blue, I felt helpless. I had two choices – to give in or fight. I chose the
latter. I got up, dusted myself off and got on with life.” Longthorne released several albums in the Nineties,
and continued to perform to live audiences despite a later diagnosis of leukaemia – and even after further
complications in 2005, following a bone marrow transplant.