[1] Well known for his friendship with comedians Morecambe and Wise, his singing ability was often light-heartedly mocked on their show, with O'Connor taking part in the sketches.

[4] In his childhood, he had rickets and was later badly injured in a hit-and-run car accident which meant he had to be in an iron lung for six months.

[5][6] After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, he worked as a Redcoat at Butlin's holiday camp in Filey, where he met his first wife Phyllis, and as a shoe salesman at Church's in Northampton, and for the bus company United Counties, both on the road and in the office,[7] before entering show business.

[2] In 1950 and 1952, he collaborated in songwriting with British singer Sam Browne and Australian pianist and composer Ray Hartley.

[8] In October 2015, O'Connor and Jimmy Tarbuck starred in their own one-off show at the London Palladium to raise money for the new Royal Variety Charity.

[15] He worked with many pop stars, including Adam Faith, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand and Cilla Black.

His singing ability was often parodied on The Morecambe & Wise Show, with O'Connor taking part in the sketches.

[19] A month after his death, ITV aired a tribute, titled Des O'Connor: The Ultimate Entertainer, on 13 December 2020.

[3][2] In a January 2021 interview, his widow Jodie revealed that in 2017, he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, although he thought that he had suffered from effects of it for a few years previously.