Famous People with Name Acke

Acker Bilk            Origin/Culture/Country: British

Acker Bilk: is a clarinetist. He is known for his trademark goatee, bowler hat, striped waistcoat and his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register clarinet style. He was born in Pensford, Somerset, England.Bilk earned the nickname Acker from the Somerset slang for friend or 'mate'. His parents tried to have him learn the piano, but Bilk as a boy found it restricting upon his love of outdoor activities including football (soccer). He also lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which Bilk has claimed impacted his eventual clarinet style. He learned the clarinet while serving in the Royal Engineers in the Suez Canal Zone, and by the mid-1950s he was playing professionally.