Eddie was born in Aden in 1962. His association with Bexhill came through his father, grandparents, great grandparents, etc., who all lived in Sidley. He visited Sidley as a baby in 1962 and lived there for a year in 1963/64 until moving to Bangor, Northern Ireland. He spent about six months in Sidley in 1965 when he attended Sidley House Nursery School with his grandmother while his mother was convalescing. Eddie started school in Bangor in 1966 and enjoyed his time in Northern Ireland. The family moved to Skewen, South Wales in late 1967 and his life changed irrevocably in March 1968 when his mother died. After a year at boarding school in Porthcawl the family moved to Bexhill in 1969. Eddie then joined St Bede’s School in Eastbourne and at 13 moved on to Eastbourne College where he obtained good O and A Level results. During his time at Eastbourne he was bitten by the acting bug, an interest that came entirely from his mother who had performed in amateur musicals and choirs.
Although accepting a place at Sheffield University he spent most of his first year organising a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He was excluded from his degree course in 1979 but stayed at Sheffield involved with the Student Union, acting and producing plays etc. and taking regular shows to the Fringe. Moving to London in 1987 he was an outdoor entertainer at Covent Garden and elsewhere and a casual indoor performer for two years. He felt confident enough in 1989 to hire a small theatre in Soho to give his solo performance. Eddie’s big professional break came as a result of a charity performance in Hysteria 3 in 1991. In the same year he received the Time Out Cabaret Award and was in the Pick of the Fringe at South Bank Theatre in October 1991.
He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in 1993. Since 1991 he has completed eight tours of the UK and Ireland, three North American tours and three tours of Europe. In addition he has had three long comedy runs at West End theatres, and has performed twice at the De La Warr Pavilion and once at Sidley House. He regularly performs for charities and the proceeds of his Bexhill performances were given to Sidley Community Association. Eddie has acted in three plays in the West End, playing the lead in Mamet’s Cryptogram (1994) and the title role in Lenny (1999). He has had various minor roles in films and thrives on new challenges. He gained his pilot’s licence in 1999.
In 2006 Eddie became patron of the Society of Bexhill Museums.