British actor
Gary Wilmot
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Born
| Harold Owen Wilmot
(
1954-05-08
)
8 May 1954
(age 70)
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Occupation(s)
| Singer, presenter, actor, comedian, writer, director
|
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Years active
| 1978-present
|
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Children
| 2
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Website
| garywilmot
.co
.uk
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Harold Owen
"
Gary
"
Wilmot
,
MBE
(born 8 May 1954) is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on
New Faces
.
[1]
As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of
You and Me
,
So You Want To Be Top
and
Showstoppers
. His West End credits include
Me and My Girl
,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
,
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
,
The Prince of Egypt
, and
Wicked
.
Wilmot was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) in the
2018 Birthday Honours
for services to drama and charity.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Wilmot was born in
Lambeth, London
, into a
mixed-race
household; his mother was
English
, and his father, Harry, was
Jamaican
and arrived in Britain on the
Empire Windrush
in 1948. Harry was a member of vocal harmony group
The Southlanders
,
[3]
but died of a brain tumour in 1961, when his sons were still young.
[3]
[4]
Despite these show business roots, Wilmot's upbringing was outside of the limelight. He worked on building sites and in factories, but soon realised manual labour was not a career he wished to pursue.
[5]
Television
[
edit
]
Wilmot started his career in entertainment after a friend informed an agent of his talent, and soon began to perform as part of the variety circuit. However, his big break came in 1978, when he featured as part of a comedy double act with Judy McPhee on
New Faces
; the pair were later finalists. This would lead to numerous television appearances on
Copy Cats
,
Knees Ups
,
Cue Gary!
, and
The Keith Harris Show
. One of his most notable television roles was with the
BBC
children's quiz show
So You Want To Be Top
, which he co-presented with
Leni Harper
.
[6]
In 1994, Wilmot hosted
Showstoppers
, a programme which featured him performing songs from musicals alongside special guests.
[7]
Originally commissioned as a one-off series in which celebrities were given ten days to learn and perform a song, Wilmot was asked to record a further series of six spectaculars due to popular demand. He also starred in and directed a tour of
Showstoppers
which proved so popular that its original sixty dates were increased to one hundred and sixty.
[8]
Theatre
[
edit
]
In 1989, Wilmot made a move into musical theatre debuting in the
West End
production of
Me and My Girl
, playing the role of Bill Snibson at the
Adelphi Theatre
.
[4]
He played the role to critical acclaim for two years, with
Jack Tinker
describing him as a "Musical Talent of the Highest Order". Wilmot was subsequently nominated in the "Best Actor" category at the
Olivier Awards
, and theatre tour of a new comedy,
Teething Troubles
followed. He was also cast as Joe in
Carmen Jones
at the
Old Vic
before starring in the world premiere of the
Barry Manilow
musical
Copacabana
at London's
Prince of Wales Theatre
.
In 2001, Wilmot joined The New Shakespeare Company to play
Bottom
in
A Midsummer Night's Dream
at the
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
, and the Pirate King in
The Pirates of Penzance
national tour with Sue Pollard as Ruth, in 2001?2002. The national tour of
Giles Havergal
's adaptation of the
Graham Greene
novel
Travels with My Aunt
followed. In 2003, he was
Caractacus Potts
in
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
at the
London Palladium
, taking over from
Michael Ball
,
[9]
and returning in 2006 and 2007 on the UK tour. Wilmot also played Billy Flynn in the national touring company of
Chicago
.
[10]
Other stage productions Wilmot has appeared in include
H.M.S. Pinafore
,
Santa Claus the Musical
,
[11]
Oliver!
,
[12]
Half a Sixpence
,
The Wizard of Oz
,
[
citation needed
]
The Goodbye Girl
,
One for the Road
,
Confusions
,
Lord Arthur Saville's Crime
, and a national tour of the successful Watermill Newbury Theatre production of
Radio Times
.
[13]
Wilmot has recently appeared in
Flowers for Mrs Harris
at
Chichester Festival Theatre
,
Little Miss Sunshine
at the
Arcola Theatre
,
Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear - the Musical!
at the
National Theatre, London
, Jethro in
The Prince of Egypt
at the
Dominion Theatre
, The Wizard in
Wicked
at the
Apollo Victoria Theatre
and Elisha J. Whitney in
Anything Goes
at the
Barbican Centre
in the
West End
.
Wilmot has also appeared in many pantomimes since 1986. Most recently he has appeared as the dame in the
London Palladium
pantomimes for
Qdos Entertainment
such as
Dick Whittington
(2017),
Snow White
(2018) and
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
(2019) co-starring
Julian Clary
,
Paul Zerdin
and
Nigel Havers
.
[14]
Music
[
edit
]
Wilmot's solo albums include
Love Situation
,
The Album
, and
Double Standards
.
[15]
In 1991, Wilmot teamed up with record producer Nigel Wright to record a medley featuring songs from Walt Disney film
The Jungle Book
. "
The Bare Necessities Megamix
"
[16]
was a medley of "
I Wanna Be Like You
" and "
The Bare Necessities
", released under Wright's UK Mixmasters name. The record, executive produced by Simon Cowell, reached the top 20, ultimately peaking at number 14. This chart success gave the record a slot on BBC One's Top Of The Pops, with Wilmot featuring in the clip used for the video breakers on the programme originally broadcast on 12 December 1991
[17]
but Gary Martin appearing as the vocalist instead of Wilmot, in the studio a week later. In 2004, Wilmot embarked on his own national concert tour
My Kind of Music
taking him to many major concert venues throughout the country.
[18]
Stage credits
[
edit
]
Theatre
[
edit
]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1985
|
Lollipop Dragon: The Great Christmas Race
|
Lollipop Dragon / Hairy Troll (Voice)
|
Television film
[55]
|
1986
|
Lollipop Dragon: The Magic Lollipop Adventure
|
Lollipop Dragon (Voice)
|
Television film
[56]
|
1994?95
|
Lazarus
|
|
[57]
|
1997
|
The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon
|
Himself
|
Television film
|
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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