[2] His father, Albert, was an East End docker and his mother, Olive (née Kemp), was a self-taught pianist and an Irish Traveller.

Essex was two years old when his parents moved out of the overcrowded home the family was sharing with relatives, to Canning Town where he grew up.

He later attended The Warren secondary modern in Whalebone Lane, Chadwell Heath, when his parents moved to Marks Gate Estate.

His first notable acting role, aside from small appearances in the films Assault and All Coppers Are...,[5] was the lead in the stage musical Godspell[7][8] in 1971 at the age of 23.

His biggest hits during this decade included two UK number one singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975).

Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base, and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania.

[14] In the same year, Essex played the character Che in the original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita,[15] and his recording of the show's "Oh What a Circus"[16] reached number 3.

As the best known of the principal performers, Essex actually received top billing, above Elaine Paige whose stardom seemingly arrived overnight with her casting in the show.

Essex, who comes from a family of Irish Travellers, played a kind-hearted nomad in one episode of ITV1's 1960s Yorkshire-based drama Heartbeat in 2000.

He was Patron of Britain's National Gypsy Council, which works for equal rights, education, and services for Romany and Irish Travellers.

Essex was due to join the cast of soap opera EastEnders, in early 2006, as new character Jack Edwards.

He tours regularly and continues to act, appearing in Boogie Nights 2, Footloose and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Aspects of Love.

In January 2011, it was announced that Essex had finally joined the cast of EastEnders as Eddie Moon, five years after he was initially supposed to appear in the show.

He then wrote the music score for the film Traveller (2013), in which he co-starred with his son Billy Cook who played the main role as a half-gypsy trying to find his identity.

[27] On 20 September 2010, Essex married Welsh actress Susan Hallam-Wright (born 1973) his third wife, at St Cross Church, Talybont, near Bangor, North Wales.

She got the part of Sally, then got promoted to the role of Mary, Jack's girlfriend, for the West End version at the Garrick Theatre in London in April 2010.