Pam Ayres

A legendary English humorist, poet, performer, and presenter, Pam Ayres was born in Stanford-in-the-Vale in the winter of 1947. A gifted student in English and Art, Ayres instead went the safer route career-wise, and chose to be a clerical assistant in the civil service. It comes as no surprise that someone as creative as Ayres would soon tire of the life of a bureaucrat, and it was not long after that Ayres joined the Women's Royal Air Force. It was there that she allowed herself to explore her more creative side, and in 1974 — after some pub performances in Oxford — made her first appearance on air, reading one of her poems on BBC Radio Oxford. The broadcast was a hit, and eventually was one of the BBC's Picks of the Year. The following year marked Ayres' next big step, as well as her first big success. A 1975 appearance on the ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks was immensely well-received, and Ayres' career as a performer was in high gear. Eventually voted one of Britain's Funniest Women, her cornerstone poem, "I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth," was considered one of the best comic poems in the country. As an author, Ayres sold more than two million books, and she added to that in 2006 with the title Surgically Enhanced. She has performed her work in a number of different countries, including Ireland, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. She has had many television appearances, as well as a handful of appearances in front of Queen Elizabeth II. In 2004, Ayres was even awarded the MBE for her work. But it was on the radio where Ayres got the most exposure, hosting a number of shows for both BBC Radio and Radio 4. In 2007 she was in development for a new radio situation comedy called Potting On, and the third season of her show for Radio 4, Ayres on the Air, was slated for broadcast in 2008. She also continued to release videos and albums, and in 2006 her DVD In Her Own Words hit shelves, as did the CD Ancient & Modern.