Executive Administrator, Roger Kitter

A very big welcome to our official online home. As Executive Administrator of this very special Fund, my role centres around the day-to-day running and administration of our physical home, Brinsworth House; the EABF’s dedicated nursing home in Twickenham, Middlesex. Brinsworth stands as a place of safety, peace, happiness and tranquillity. Appropriately named 'The Old Pro's Paradise', it now accommodates 36 residents who are cared for by a dedicated team of 66 staff, including highly trained nurses and care assistants. I would like to acknowledge and thank each one of my staff who work tirelessly day after day for the needs of others; each and every one is an inspiration to us all!

Roger Kitter has enjoyed a career in show business which this year has spanned forty years. It is very rare for any performer to be able to pursue a career which combines stand-up comedy and acting, but he has managed to do this very successfully, in addition to performing as a radio presenter, game show host and voice-over artist. Roger has appeared numerous times at the famous London Palladium, 'opening' for many international stars including Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Vic Damone, Josephine Baker, Petula Clark, and the legendary Perry Como. He has also starred in West End 'farces' such as Run For Your Wife, Pyjama Tops and What No Pyjamas? and toured nationally in the farce Women Of A Certain Age and appeared as Oberon in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Roger received rave reviews when he starred as Howard Cunningham in the musical version of the hit ITV series Happy Days.

Television and radio have played a major part in Roger's career, constantly appearing in shows such as Birds of a Feather, Get Back, Goodnight Sweetheart, and the New Statesman. He has presented sketches in The Frost Report, Generation Game, Jim Davidson Presents and It's Lulu and was a regular panellist in Punchlines. He is probably best known for playing the cowardly Italian officer, Captain Alberto Bertorelli, in the hugely successful BBC TV series, 'Allo 'Allo, which ran for ten years. As a regular broadcaster, Roger starred for eight years in BBC Radio 2's The Impressionists, before devising his own BBC Radio 2 quiz show, The Names the Game, which ran for nine years.

He made quite an impact on the music scene in July 1982 with his top twenty hit record, a send up of tennis ace John McEnroe called Chalk Dust - The Umpire Strikes Back was released under the name of 'The Brat'. Not only was it successful in the UK, it reached No.2 in Holland, No.4 in Belgium, and No.8 in South Africa.

Roger continues to tour the UK performing stand-up, and is constantly in demand for pantomime, being acknowledged as one of the UK's top panto 'Dames'.

Although he still does stand up, nowadays Roger prefers the acting side of the business. In March 2004  he starred in the feature film, Susie Gold, alongside Summer Phoenix, sister of the late River Phoenix, where he played Tony, the promiscuous father-in-law of Susie's sister. In 2007 he co produced a play with Karl Howman called " The Ho-Ho Club" which ran very successfully for 6 weeks at The Kings Head Theatre in Islington. Roger also starred as the club owner/compere.

This year, 2009, he has a new film to be released in which he stars alongside Ray Winstone. It is  called "Father of Girls" and is about a father searching for the man who sold the drugs that killed his daughter. Roger plays the neighbour from next door. It was directed by his good friend, Karl Howman.

Roger has been happily married to former actress Karan David for 35 years and they have a 19 year old daughter, Chloe, and a Yorkshire terrier called Bertie Buttons!

Roger Kitter became a member of the Executive Committee of the EABF in 1999 and has been a key member of its fund raising team ever since.

Roger was instrumental in securing the partnership that the EABF has with the annual ITV1 show, Britain’s Got Talent; a show that generously donates a large proportion of the money raised from viewer's telephone votes, to the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund each year.