Jethro

Jethro

Date of birth: 30-11-1947
Date of death: 14-12-2021
This farmer's son was born in 1948 in the village of St Buryan, West Cornwall. After leaving school he worked as a carpenter and after his apprenticeship went to work in a tin mine.

Jethro started in show business singing traditional songs in Cornish pubs. At the age of 18, he joined a local operatic society. But he discovered he could get laughs, too, and so became a comic.

Although rarely seen on TV, at hispeak he sold more than 250,000 theatre seats a year and does a roaring trade on video.

His few small-screen outings include The Des O'Connor Show, where he appeared a record nine times, and five appearances on Jim Davidson’s Generation Game, twice to make a Cornish Pasty.

In 1993 Jethro released his first video A Portion of Jethro, which sold nearly 150,000 copies, a success which he followed up with another nine titles.

He died on December 14, 2021, from Covid-19.

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Jethro's statue is completed

...now, where to put it?

A statute of late Cornish comedian Jethro has been completed, after fans raised more than £16,000. Now friends and family are looking for a place to erect the life-sized tribute.

One of the most popular suggestions has been Camborne train station, in reference to one of Jethro's best known routine that has the punchline: ‘The train don't stop Camborne Wednesdays.’

However, there is already a plaque there, so campaigners are looking for a different site for the statue, which shows him in stand-up mode, mic in hand and leaning on the stand.

Fundraiser Peter Southwell has previously suggested Land's End, the Eden Project or Hall for Cornwall in Truro, which he called ‘the perfect spot’.

Jethro – real name Jeff Rowe – was born in St Buryan, Cornwall, and died in Plymouth, Devon, in December 2021, aged 73. He had been diagnosed with lymphoma two years earlier, and contracted Covid just before his death.

His daughter-in-law Stacey Rowe told the BBC: ‘If Jeff was here he would be so touched how everyone thought of him to donate all this.’

The statue was made by sculptor Richard Austin, who is. based in Wadebridge, Cornwall, who said he accepted the commission as the finished tribute would remain in the county. The money was raised from a crowdfunding campaign.

Jeff Rowe

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Published: 3 Sep 2023

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Agent

We do not currently hold contact details for Jethro's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.

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