Lee Kemp, centre, with the Crippendales.
One columnist declared them obscene
The actor, stripper and disabled rights campaigner Lee Kemp, who has died of cancer aged 39, would tell people proudly that he was born and bred on the Bransholme estate, in Hull, east Yorkshire, a close and forceful community. Lee would say that growing up with such firm local ties gave him the strength to overcome the partial paralysis he suffered in a motorbike accident in 1990.
After a year in hospital, Lee was able to live independently enough to go home to his partner, Vicky, and son, Stephen. He had appeared in various drama productions as a child and, determined to continue acting after his accident, he joined Hull College and completed a drama degree. After becoming runner-up in the 2005 Sexiest Man in Yorkshire competition, he decided to form the Crippendales, the world's first disabled strip troupe.
The group of five men with varying disabilities took their name from a joke told by the actor and comedian Mat Fraser. People had no idea how to react to the joke, let alone the strippers. I met Lee when I started to film them for a Channel 4 documentary. I remember furious people ringing a Radio 5 call-in show in the run up to the film's broadcast in 2007. One newspaper columnist declared the Crippendales obscene. Lee responded with grace, charm and humour. The critics usually changed their tune as he explained why he and the lads had the right to perform and why the sexuality was needed to make such a show worthwhile.
The troupe worked hard, often through great pain and always with the threat that someone would not get either the joke or the seriousness of their mission. Everyone was aware that in the wrong hands, their act could be a humiliation. With the help of the Adonis Cabaret and the London stripper Jo King, Lee's leadership and light touch got them through. The audiences loved it.
The film was part of the 2007 New York independent film festival, which Lee was invited to attend. It was the first time he had travelled so far and he was determined to have a ball. The reality of American life in a wheelchair became clear to us the night we arrived. His hotel room – advertised as accessible – was not. Access meant a doorman carrying him upstairs and a lavatory that had to be crawled to. We quickly learned that trying to hail a cab from a wheelchair in Manhattan was downright lethal. Lee left New York more appreciative of how far the UK had come and determined to keep it that way.
In 2003 Lee joined the Hull City FC supporters liaison committee. He pioneered the idea that disabled supporters should not be stuck in a special area, but should be able to be with friends and family across the stadium. If a disabled supporter had to attend with a carer, the price should not be prohibitive, he argued. Hull was one of the first clubs to make sure carers went in free or at concessionary rates.
In 2008 Lee fronted a campaign by the disability charity Scope aimed at strengthening disabled people's rights. He appeared on billboards and postcards and presented a petition to parliament. After the Crips, he had joined the modelling and actors agency VisABLE and a series of parts in adverts and TV shows followed.
There is a scene in the Crippendales documentary when Lee and his fellow performer James ("the Blind Man Buff") get nervous giggles before their first performance. Their laughter soon becomes hysterical. It is one of the most radical moments of the film. Disabled people are rarely seen on television laughing and enjoying themselves. But that was Lee's gift. He would change society one laugh at a time.
When he was told he had a few weeks left to live, Lee took a part in the Emmerdale TV soap opera, arranged his funeral and held a pre-death wake.
He is survived by Stephen; his parents, Sandra and Mally; and his siblings, Angie, Sonya, Joanne and Malcolm.
• Lee Kemp, actor, stripper and disabled rights campaigner, born 11 August 1972; died 13 April 2011
After a year in hospital, Lee was able to live independently enough to go home to his partner, Vicky, and son, Stephen. He had appeared in various drama productions as a child and, determined to continue acting after his accident, he joined Hull College and completed a drama degree. After becoming runner-up in the 2005 Sexiest Man in Yorkshire competition, he decided to form the Crippendales, the world's first disabled strip troupe.
The group of five men with varying disabilities took their name from a joke told by the actor and comedian Mat Fraser. People had no idea how to react to the joke, let alone the strippers. I met Lee when I started to film them for a Channel 4 documentary. I remember furious people ringing a Radio 5 call-in show in the run up to the film's broadcast in 2007. One newspaper columnist declared the Crippendales obscene. Lee responded with grace, charm and humour. The critics usually changed their tune as he explained why he and the lads had the right to perform and why the sexuality was needed to make such a show worthwhile.
The troupe worked hard, often through great pain and always with the threat that someone would not get either the joke or the seriousness of their mission. Everyone was aware that in the wrong hands, their act could be a humiliation. With the help of the Adonis Cabaret and the London stripper Jo King, Lee's leadership and light touch got them through. The audiences loved it.
The film was part of the 2007 New York independent film festival, which Lee was invited to attend. It was the first time he had travelled so far and he was determined to have a ball. The reality of American life in a wheelchair became clear to us the night we arrived. His hotel room – advertised as accessible – was not. Access meant a doorman carrying him upstairs and a lavatory that had to be crawled to. We quickly learned that trying to hail a cab from a wheelchair in Manhattan was downright lethal. Lee left New York more appreciative of how far the UK had come and determined to keep it that way.
In 2003 Lee joined the Hull City FC supporters liaison committee. He pioneered the idea that disabled supporters should not be stuck in a special area, but should be able to be with friends and family across the stadium. If a disabled supporter had to attend with a carer, the price should not be prohibitive, he argued. Hull was one of the first clubs to make sure carers went in free or at concessionary rates.
In 2008 Lee fronted a campaign by the disability charity Scope aimed at strengthening disabled people's rights. He appeared on billboards and postcards and presented a petition to parliament. After the Crips, he had joined the modelling and actors agency VisABLE and a series of parts in adverts and TV shows followed.
There is a scene in the Crippendales documentary when Lee and his fellow performer James ("the Blind Man Buff") get nervous giggles before their first performance. Their laughter soon becomes hysterical. It is one of the most radical moments of the film. Disabled people are rarely seen on television laughing and enjoying themselves. But that was Lee's gift. He would change society one laugh at a time.
When he was told he had a few weeks left to live, Lee took a part in the Emmerdale TV soap opera, arranged his funeral and held a pre-death wake.
He is survived by Stephen; his parents, Sandra and Mally; and his siblings, Angie, Sonya, Joanne and Malcolm.
• Lee Kemp, actor, stripper and disabled rights campaigner, born 11 August 1972; died 13 April 2011
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