- His nickname Acker is Somerset dialect for "mate".
- His recording of "Stranger on the Shore" reached #1 on Billboard magazine's pop music chart in 1962. It was also number 1 in the UK charts and remained in the charts for more than a year.
- He has a daughter, Jenny, and son Pete.
- He had a severe heart attack in 1976.
- Treated successfully for throat cancer in 1999.
- Had eight keyhole surgery operations to treat bladder cancer in the 2000s.
- He worked at the Wills tobacco factory in Bristol. He went off to do his National Service in Egypt, where he learned to play the clarinet and formed a band known as the Original Egyptian Stompers. On his return home, he worked for his uncle as a blacksmith. In 1953, he formed another band, the Chew Valley Jazzmen.
- He was the son of a Methodist lay preacher. His mother played the organ in the local chapel.
- Clarinet player, band leader
- When his original instrumental "Stranger On the Shore" topped the US charts in May 1962, he became the very first British artist of the pop era to have a number one hit in America. Though Vera Lynn was the first foreigner to go to number one on the American charts with "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" in 1952, she preceded the pop era - and ultimate "British Invasion" - by a few years
- He was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to jazz music.
- A publicity agent suggested he adopt an Edwardian costume, complete with bowler hat.
- He got a gold disc for Stranger on the Shore,.
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