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	==External links==		==External links==
	* [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp101939/peter-cavanagh Peter Cavanagh] at the National Portrait Gallery		* [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp101939/peter-cavanagh Peter Cavanagh] at the National Portrait Gallery

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Cavanagh
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| other names =
| birth_name = Peter Cedric Coates
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|10|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1981|2|18|1914|10|31|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Chipping Norton]], [[Oxfordshire]], England
| nationality = British
| occupation = Impressionist
| years_active = 1940s–1970s
}}
'''Peter Cavanagh''' (born '''Peter Cedric Coates'''; 31 October 1914 – 18 February 1981) was an English comic [[impressionist]], popular on [[BBC radio]] in the 1940s and 1950s when he was known as "The Voice of Them All".

==Biography==
Born in [[Croydon]], Cavanagh started work in the motor trade and then for an electrical manufacturer, before training at the [[Guildhall School of Music]] with the aim of becoming a concert singer. During the [[Second World War]], he was attached to the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]], and sometimes acted as compere at shows. He started mimicking radio personalities, such as the imaginary children impersonated by [[Harry Hemsley]], and developed a special talent for impersonating [[Field Marshal Montgomery]] - whom he resembled physically - and [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name=baker>Richard Anthony Baker, ''Old Time Variety: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-78340-066-9}}, pp.164-165</ref>

He started making regular radio appearances on ''[[Variety Bandbox]]'' in 1945, and became widely known for his ability to make rapid changes between the voices of those he was impersonating, such as the entire cast of ''[[ITMA]]''. Particularly impressive was his impersonation of [[Tommy Handley]], and Cavanagh later performed as Handley in the radio biography ''The Tommy Handley Story''. In 1948 he starred with [[ventriloquist]] [[Peter Brough]] in ''Two's a Crowd'', a radio show set on board an imaginary cruise ship in which he and Brough would impersonate film and theatre stars.<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Peter+Cavanagh#search Search: Peter Cavanagh, ''Radio Times'', BBC Genome]. Retrieved 9 March 2021</ref><ref name=walmsley>[http://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-voice-of-them-all.html Andy Walmsley, "The Voice of Them All", ''Random Radio Jottings'', 8 June 2020]. Retrieved 10 March 2021</ref>

He appeared in the 1949 [[Royal Variety Performance]]. He continued to make regular radio appearances through the 1950s, and performed impressions of many personalities of the period, including [[Gilbert Harding]], [[Robb Wilton]], the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]], and [[Eamonn Andrews]]. One of his specialities was to perform alternate lines of a sketch with the person he was imitating – such as [[Arthur Askey]] – and challenge the audience to guess which was the impersonator and which was the person being mimicked.<ref name=baker/> He would end his shows by quickly reprising, one after another, impressions of all those he had impersonated, ending with "...and this is the voice of them all, Peter Cavanagh..".<ref name=hudd>Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, {{ISBN|1-86105-206-5}}, pp.26-27</ref>

Cavanagh also made theatre appearances, accompanied by his wife on piano.<ref name=kilgarriff>Michael Kilgarriff, ''Grace, Beauty and Banjos: Peculiar Lives and Strange Times of Music Hall and Variety Artistes'', Oberon Books, 1998, {{isbn|1-84002-116-0}}, pp.66-67</ref> He made few television appearances, but had a short BBC series in 1955 in which he demonstrated the art of mimicry. By the 1960s, he had effectively been superseded as a performer by younger impressionists such as [[Mike Yarwood]] and [[Peter Goodwright]], but occasionally appeared on [[children's television]] programmes. In the 1970s he was a panellist on the radio show ''The Impressionists'', and appeared in nostalgic programmes such as ''Sounds Familiar''.<ref name=walmsley/>

He died in [[Chipping Norton]], [[Oxfordshire]], in 1981, aged 66.<ref name=baker/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp101939/peter-cavanagh Peter Cavanagh] at the National Portrait Gallery

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Peter}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:English impressionists (entertainers)]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers]]

Peter Cavanagh (impressionist) - Revision history

Kurt at 19:31, 23 January 2023

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Kurt at 21:45, 26 September 2022

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