Bill Kenwrights unknown generous act of kindness to try and save cancer patient

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright dies aged 78

Theatre legend Bill Kenwright, whose death following a battle with liver cancer was announced earlier today, quietly donated £50,000 to help a young woman undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Laura Nuttall lost her battle with the disease in May this year and following the news of the Everton chairman and theatre impresarios death her mother Nicola, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the kind gesture with her followers.

“We kept this quiet at the time, but when Laura was first having treatment in Germany for #BrainCancer Bill Kenwright donated £50k to make it possible,” she revealed.

“No fuss, no publicity, just genuine kindness from a real gentleman & a true blue. Rest in peace Bill & thank you. #Everton.” (sic)

Laura from Barrowford, Lancashire, died aged just 23 after years of campaigning for and raising awareness about her rare and aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.

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She was diagnosed in autumn 2018 following a routine eye test and initially told by medics she would have 12 months to live.

Following the diagnosis she dropped out of university in London and underwent an operation to remove the largest of her eight tumours.

But by September 2019 she resumed her studies closer to home at the University of Manchester and completed a number of items on her bucket list before she died, including completing her degree, meeting Michelle Obama, piloting a Royal Navy patrol boat, driving “anything she could possibly get” her hands on – including a tank, a bus and a train – after she was forced to surrender her driving licence, and presenting a television weather bulletin.

Bill, who played Gordon Clegg in Coronation Street from 1968 to 1969, and then intermittently until 1995, revealed in 2015 that he had been diagnosed with a “chronic illness” that would likely get worse over time.

He had been released from hospital earlier this month to recover from a prolonged stay in intensive care, having had a cancerous liver tumour removed in August.

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Born and brought up in Liverpool, he was one of the UK’s most successful theatre producers, best known for the long-running West End hits Blood Brothers and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

As well as producing theatre shows, Bill helped start the careers of many of the current crop of West End producers and in 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Theatrical Management Association.

In 1999, he staged a successful takeover of Everton Football Club and became the chairman in 2004.

His partner of 29 years, actress Jenny Seagrove, paid tribute to him on X, simply writing “I lost my darling Bill last night,” alongside a picture of Bill looking thoughtful as he rested his chin on his hand.

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