Water Rat 806 • Showbusiness Photographer
Doug McKenzie was one of Britain’s most respected showbusiness photographers, capturing generations of performers, personalities and members of the Royal Family during a remarkable career behind the camera.
For more than six decades, Doug was closely associated with many of the entertainment industry’s most important occasions. He photographed the Royal Variety Performance over many years, recording both performances and the traditional meetings between the artists and members of the Royal Family. Surviving archive records credit Doug with photographs from Royal Variety Performances including Queen Elizabeth II meeting the company in 1979, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother meeting performers in 1980, and Lenny Henry appearing in the 1981 production.
Doug was also the official photographer for Variety, the Children’s Charity, from the establishment of its British organisation in 1949 until 2012. His discreet manner, unfailing courtesy and ability to put people at ease earned him the friendship and trust of royalty and countless stars of stage, screen and music. His subjects included Elizabeth Taylor, Liberace, Morecambe and Wise, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and many other leading figures from the entertainment world.
His contribution to Variety extended far beyond photography. Doug was made a Variety Barker and, in 1997, received the Variety Club International Presidential Citation, recognising him as a devoted ambassador for the charity. Shortly before his death in 2014, he donated the copyright in the thousands of photographs he had taken for Variety, ensuring that this important record of British showbusiness and charitable history would be preserved for future generations. A selection of his work was subsequently featured in Shooting Stars, published to celebrate Variety’s first 65 years.
As Brother Water Rat 806, Doug also recorded many memorable occasions in the history of the Grand Order of Water Rats. His photographs captured Brother Rats, distinguished guests, Annual Balls and charitable gatherings, preserving moments which might otherwise have been lost. One surviving collection from the 2004 Water Rats Ball includes Chris Barber, Rick Wakeman, Brian May, Joe Brown and fellow members of the Order.
Photography remained a family tradition. Doug’s son, John McKenzie, grew up above his father’s photographic shop and darkroom in Lambeth Walk, learning to load, develop and print film from an early age. John later worked alongside his father, continuing his legacy as the official photographer of the Grand Order of Water Rats. He was initiated as Brother Water Rat 887 and named Rat of the Year in 2016.
Doug McKenzie’s importance lay not only in the famous faces he photographed, but in the warmth and humanity with which he recorded them. Through an extraordinary archive spanning more than sixty years, he left an enduring visual history of British showbusiness and of the charitable organisations to which he gave so much.
PHOTO GALLERY
ARCHIVE VAULT
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