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Bill Oddie

Born

in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, The United Kingdom

July 07, 1941

Died

July 25, 2026

Website

http://www.billoddie.com/

Genre

Outdoors & Nature, Humor

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William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE was an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies. A birdwatcher since childhood, Oddie had established a reputation for himself as an ornithologist, conservationist and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings.

Oddie studied English Literature at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he appeared in several Cambridge University Footlights Club productions. One of these, a revue called A Clump of Plinths, was so successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and transferred to the West End in London, then New Zealand and Broadway i William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE was an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies. A birdwatcher since childhood, Oddie had established a reputation for himself as an ornithologist, conservationist and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings.

Oddie studied English Literature at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he appeared in several Cambridge University Footlights Club productions. One of these, a revue called A Clump of Plinths, was so successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and transferred to the West End in London, then New Zealand and Broadway in September 1964. Meanwhile, still at Cambridge, Oddie wrote scripts for TV's That Was The Week That Was.

His first television appearance was in Bernard Braden's On The Braden Beat in 1964. Subsequently, he was a key member of the performers in the BBC radio series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (ISIRTA; 1965), where many of his musical compositions were featured. Some were released on the album Distinctly Oddie (Polydor, 1967). He was possibly one of the first performers to parody a rock song, arranging the traditional Yorkshire folk song "On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" in the style of Joe Cocker's hit rendition of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" (released on John Peel's Dandelion Records in 1970 and featured in Peel's special box of most-treasured singles).

On television Oddie was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn. Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, for which Oddie became a cast member for the second series. Oddie, Brooke-Taylor and Garden then co-wrote and appeared in their television comedy series The Goodies. The Goodies also released records, including "Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me"/"The In-Betweenies", "Funky Gibbon", and "Black Pudding Bertha", which were hit singles in 1974-75. They reformed, briefly, in 2005, for a successful 13-date tour of Australia. Oddie, Brooke-Taylor and Garden voiced characters on the 1983 animated children's programme Bananaman. He had occasionally appeared on the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, on which Garden and Brooke-Taylor are regular panellists. ...more

Combine Editions
Bill Oddie’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 1,445 ratings · 201 reviews · 67 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 201 ratings — published 1982 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Flew into the Cuckoo's Egg: My Autobiography 3.50 avg rating — 144 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bill Oddie Unplucked: Columns, Blogs and Musings 3.70 avg rating — 83 ratings — published 2015 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bill Oddie's Gripping Yarns: Tales of Birds & Birding 3.50 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Birding With Bill Oddie: A Practical Guide to Birdwatching by Bill Oddie, Stephen Moss 3.86 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gone Birding 4.29 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 1983 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Follow That Bird!: Around the World With a Passionate Bird-Watcher 3.89 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1996 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bill Oddie's Birds of Britain and Ireland 4.71 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1999 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife 4.17 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tales of a ludicrous Bird Gardener 4.08 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2017	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Bill Oddie (?)

“Another impressive postscript which you can tag on to a description is: ‘Observer familiar with the species’ (this is supposed to denote that you’ve seen one before, either in this country or abroad and so can be reliably expected to recognise it again) but it isn’t infallible – the record may well come back with a reject slip marked: ‘Committee familiar with the observer’!”
― Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book

tags: birding, humor

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“A nice piece of one-upmanship is to festoon your bins with rings – bird rings that is, not diamond rings or earrings (I think that would be considered dude). The rings are supposed to have come from corpses of rare birds found along the tide line, but if necessary, you can nick them from bird observatory ringing rooms – but you really shouldn’t.”
― Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book

tags: birding, humor

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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