Leonard Whiting (born 30 June 1950) is a British retired actor and singer widely known for his role as

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

in the 1968 Zeffirelli film version of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', a role which earned him the

Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor The Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actor was an award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at their annual Golden Globe Awards. History The award was first introduced at the 6th Golden Globe Awards in 1948, where it was ...

Early life

Whiting was born on 30 June 1950, in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a m ...

, moving with his two sisters to Holloway, another area of North

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The only son of Peggy Joyce (O'Sullivan) and Arthur Leonard Whiting, he has

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and some

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

ancestry. Whiting's love of performing was encouraged at his local Church and Primary School, St Josephs R.C Highgate, where he and sister Linda acted in the school's nativity plays. Leonard went on to attend St. Richard of Chichester School,

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

, leaving just a week or two before beginning work on ''

'' (1968).

Career

Whiting had some success as a child singer, almost winning a Butlin's Talent Contest (he came second) hosted in the holiday camp's packed out Gaiety Theatre. Whiting was later spotted by a theatrical agent at the

Connaught Rooms The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61-65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 to make way for the ...

Holborn, where he was performing at a Jewish wedding at the age of 12. He only sang one song (" Summertime") which he had rehearsed as a one-off song with the group Teal Lewis and the , who provided the evening entertainment. This was set up by his father to get him noticed. After hearing him sing, the agent suggested he try out for

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...

's ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age Musical theatre, stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre ...

'' which constantly needed replacements for its child performers. Whiting played the

Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminal ...

in the long-running London musical for 15 months, and for 13 months in 1965–1966 appeared at

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

's National Theatre in the production of

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...

's ''

Love for Love ''Love for Love'' is a Restoration comedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered on 30 April 1695 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. Staged by Thomas Betterton's company the original cast included Betterton as Valentin ...

'' opposite Olivier, which toured

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. Director

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

described his discovery, from 300 youngsters who auditioned over a period of more than three months: "He has a magnificent face, gentle melancholy, sweet, the kind of idealistic young man Romeo ought to be." In the mid-1970s, his voice caught the attention of ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

'' and ''

The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...

'' engineer

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...

, who was in the process of recording what was to be the first album by

the Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompan ...

, '' Tales of Mystery and Imagination''. Whiting performed lead vocals on the song "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...

" and he also narrated the introduction of the five part musical rendition of ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' on the original 1976 album, which was then replaced by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

on the 1987 remixed version. Whiting was cast as the Pharaoh in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' in London's Westminster Theatre between 27 November 1978 and 17 January 1979. This was a Ken Hill production with the Pharaoh played by Whiting in the style of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

. In 1990, Whiting provided the voice of the Urpney scientist Urpgor in the children's animated television series ''

The Dreamstone ''The Dreamstone'' is a British animated television series that ran for four series, with 13 episodes per series between 1990 and 1995. The original concept and artwork were created by Michael Jupp, and the series was written by Sue Radley ...

''. After voicing the character for three seasons, he was replaced by Colin Marsh for the fourth and final season. In 2014, he reunited with

Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey (born Olivia Osuna; 17 April 1951) is an English film, stage, and television actress. Her awards include a Golden Globe Award and a David di Donatello Award. The daughter of Argentine opera singer Andrés Osuna, Hussey was born i ...

for the film '' Social Suicide'' (2015), their first work together in the 46 years since ''Romeo and Juliet''.

Personal life

In 1971, Whiting married model Cathee Dahmen. In 1972 they had a daughter, Sarah Beth Whiting, who died in 2014 from cervical cancer. Following his divorce from Dahmen in 1977, Whiting had a relationship with Valerie Tobin, who gave birth to their daughter Charlotte. Charlotte has said publicly that she did not meet her father until she was 12, by which time she had taken her step-father's surname Westenra, whom her mother had married in 1982. Charlotte Westenra became a theatre director. In 1995, Whiting married his assistant, Lynn Presser. Whiting ended his film career, for the most part, in the mid 1970s and subsequently focused on his theatrical career as an actor and writer. He and his wife live in Steele's Village in

Haverstock Haverstock is an area of the London Borough of Camden: specifically the east of Belsize Park, north of Chalk Farm and west of Kentish Town. It is centred on Queens Crescent and Malden Road. Gospel Oak is to the north, Camden Town to the south ...

, north London.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whiting, Leonard 1950 births English male film actors English people of Irish descent English male stage actors Living people People from Wood Green 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners