Biography
Born on 1 April 1962 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, Schofield harboured an early fixation on the world of broadcasting. He joined the BBC in 1979 as a bookings clerk, yet later the same year relocated with his family to New Zealand, where his screen career began on the pop programme Shazam!. After three and a half years he returned to Britain and secured a late-night slot on London’s Capital Radio. Throughout the 1980s his profile rose sharply as a favourite children’s-television host, notably fronting the Saturday-morning staple Going Live! along with Schofield’s Europe and Television’s Greatest Hits; he also presented record shows on BBC Radio One.
While compering the Smash Hits Pollwinners Party live on television in October 1991, he was playfully accosted by Fruitbat, guitarist with Carter USM. Once order was restored he announced that Jason Donovan had been voted Best Male Singer. Less than three months afterwards, on 13 January 1992, Schofield assumed the title role in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium during Donovan’s holiday—an engagement widely regarded as one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s shrewdest commercial moves. Queue lengths outside the theatre grew dramatically, and Schofield remained in the part for lengthy stretches until Donovan reappeared for the final weeks before the production closed in January 1994. Young female audiences, often arriving en masse by coach, responded with particular enthusiasm; many purchased his single “Close Every Door,” which reached the UK Top 30.
Thereafter Schofield continued to host television series including the investigative strand Schofield’s Quest, Now We’re Talking and Talking Telephone Numbers. He was named BBC/SOS Top Man on TV for three consecutive years, collected TV Times Awards across four seasons and, in 1993, received the Variety Club’s Show Business Personality Of The Year Award. Following his acclaimed West End run he joined the touring company of Joseph, returning to the capital in 1996 at the Labatt’s Apollo Theatre, Hammersmith. On 14 July 1998 he again appeared at the same venue, heading the cast in the world première of Leslie Bricusse’s musical Doctor Dolittle and earning strong critical notices.
While compering the Smash Hits Pollwinners Party live on television in October 1991, he was playfully accosted by Fruitbat, guitarist with Carter USM. Once order was restored he announced that Jason Donovan had been voted Best Male Singer. Less than three months afterwards, on 13 January 1992, Schofield assumed the title role in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium during Donovan’s holiday—an engagement widely regarded as one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s shrewdest commercial moves. Queue lengths outside the theatre grew dramatically, and Schofield remained in the part for lengthy stretches until Donovan reappeared for the final weeks before the production closed in January 1994. Young female audiences, often arriving en masse by coach, responded with particular enthusiasm; many purchased his single “Close Every Door,” which reached the UK Top 30.
Thereafter Schofield continued to host television series including the investigative strand Schofield’s Quest, Now We’re Talking and Talking Telephone Numbers. He was named BBC/SOS Top Man on TV for three consecutive years, collected TV Times Awards across four seasons and, in 1993, received the Variety Club’s Show Business Personality Of The Year Award. Following his acclaimed West End run he joined the touring company of Joseph, returning to the capital in 1996 at the Labatt’s Apollo Theatre, Hammersmith. On 14 July 1998 he again appeared at the same venue, heading the cast in the world première of Leslie Bricusse’s musical Doctor Dolittle and earning strong critical notices.