Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately successful career in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known for singles released in the 1970s and 1980s as Alvin Stardust, a character he began in the
glam rock era, with hits including the
UK Singles Chart-topper "
Jealous Mind", as well as later hits such as "Pretend" and "
I Feel Like Buddy Holly".
Early life and career
Bernard William Jewry was born 27 September 1942 in
Muswell Hill, then in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
(now in the
London Borough of Haringey). Having moved at a young age to
Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, where his mother ran a
boarding house
A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...
frequented by musicians and entertainers appearing locally, Jewry attended the Southwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School (now
Southwell Minster School) in
Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Southwell ( , ) is a minster (church), minster and market town, and a civil parish, in the district of Newark and Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, England. It is home to the Listed building, grade-I listed Southwell Minster, the cathedral of the An ...
, near
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
, as a boarder. He made his stage debut in
pantomime at the age of four.
Personae
Shane Fenton
In the early 1960s,
Shane Fenton and the Fentones were an unknown teenage band who recorded a demo tape and mailed it in to a BBC programme with the hope of being picked to appear on television. While awaiting a reply from the BBC, the band's 17-year-old singer Shane Fenton (whose real name was
Johnny Theakston) died as a result of the
rheumatic fever he had suffered in childhood.
The rest of the band (guitarists Jerry Wilcock and Mick Eyre, bassist Graham George Squires and drummer Tony Hinchcliffe) decided to break up, but then unexpectedly received a letter from the BBC inviting them to come to London to audition in person for the programme. Theakston's mother asked the band to stay together, and to keep its name, in honour of her son's memory. Jewry, who was a
roadie with them at the time, was asked to join the band and to use Shane Fenton as a pseudonym.
The combo had a few hits in the
UK Singles Chart:
"I'm A Moody Guy", "Walk Away", "It's All Over Now" and their biggest hit, "Cindy's Birthday". These and their subsequent misses were all on
Parlophone Records.
Jewry later also appeared in
Billy Fury's movie ''
Play It Cool'' (1962) and the
Tommy Steele film ''
It's All Happening'' (1963). He was managed by
Larry Parnes.
Alvin Stardust
Jewry disappeared from the spotlight for a decade after the break-up of the Fentones, working in music management and performing at small venues with his first wife Iris Caldwell, the sister of
Rory Storm. During the early 1970s, however, he acquired a new persona, Alvin Stardust, cashing in on the
glam rock bandwagon. Alvin Stardust was clearly a reference to
Ziggy Stardust, a
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
character based on the rocker
Vince Taylor. His new name was given to him by
Peter Shelley, the co-founder (with
Michael Levy) of
Magnet Records. Shelley originated the persona of Alvin Stardust, writing, recording and singing the first Stardust single, "
My Coo Ca Choo", in 1973.
Shelley had originally appeared on ''
Lift Off with Ayshea'' in 1973 as Alvin Stardust, dressed up in a clown costume. Shelley, however, had no interest in performing live or making public appearances, so even as "My Coo Ca Choo" was climbing the charts, he was on the lookout for someone to take over the role of Alvin Stardust. Hal Carter, Jewry's manager, suggested his client as a substitute.
Jewry took over as Stardust in time to lip-synch "My Coo Ca Choo" on its first ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' appearance. The new Alvin Stardust character look had sideburns and a black leather outfit.
All further Alvin Stardust records were sung by Jewry. Stardust had further chart successes with the hits "
Jealous Mind" (UK No. 1),
"You, You, You", "Red Dress" and "Good Love Can Never Die". In total, he amassed seven
Top Ten entries, in a chart span lasting almost 25 years.
Stardust was part of the
Green Cross Code road safety campaign ''Children's Heroes'' (1976), which saw him instructing children to look both ways before they crossed the road.
"
Pretend" was a
hit in the United Kingdom in 1981, reaching number four in the UK Singles Chart. It reached number one in the Dutch Top 40 in November 1981. The song was also successful in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in 1983.
Alvin Stardust was a guest act on the ''
Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show'' in 1981.
The singles "
I Feel Like Buddy Holly" (written and produced by
Mike Batt) and "I Won't Run Away" reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart in 1984. "So Near To Christmas" was a minor hit, No. 29, in the same year.
He participated in ''
A Song for Europe
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...
'', the UK qualifying heat of the ''
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
'', in 1985, with the song "The Clock on the Wall". He finished in third place behind
Vikki and Kerri Wells.
He was the subject of ''
This Is Your Life'' in 1985 when he was surprised by
Eamonn Andrews.
In 1986, Stardust performed the duet "I Hope and I Pray" with
Sheila Walsh on her album ''Shadowlands'', which was released as a single. That year he also performed at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
as a lead in the Lloyd Webber–Rice musical ''
Cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
''.
Stardust also starred in the UK tour of ''
Godspell'' and played
Uriah Heep in ''David Copperfield – The Musical'' and Sir
Billy Butlin in ''The Butlin Story'' at the
London Palladium. In 2005 he starred as the
Child Catcher in ''
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...
'', also at the London Palladium.
[
Stardust made numerous television appearances, and continued to tour as a performer and singer. In 1989, he also hosted his own Sunday morning children's TV series on ITV called ''It's Stardust''. It featured stories, songs, poems, jokes and also cartoons and shows for younger children, including '' The Adventures of Parsley'', ''Little Miss'' and ''Satellite City''.
In 1995, he joined the cast of the ]soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
, ''Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...
'', playing the character Greg Andersen from October 1995 to July 1996.
On 2 October 2011, Stardust was initiated into the Grand Order of Water Rats, an entertainment fraternity.
In 2011, Stardust made a return to the stage as a singer rather than an actor, and played the Arts Guild Theatre in Greenock on 28 October 2011.
Personal life
Stardust was married three times. In Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in 1964 as Bernard W. Jewry he married Iris Caldwell, sister of Rory Storm and an ex-girlfriend of both George Harrison and Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
, having grown up with them in Liverpool. In 1981, Stardust married the actress Liza Goddard, again under the name of Bernard W. Jewry. Their daughter, Sophie Jewry, was critically injured at the age of two months after she fell down a set of stairs and suffered a severe fracture of the skull; she later recovered from her injuries.[ Stardust was married to the actress and choreographer Julie Paton at the time of his death.
He had two sons and two daughters, the youngest of whom had ]Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
as one of her godparents.
His eldest son, Shaun Fenton, was born in 1969. His birth was registered in December 1969 under the name of Fenton. The other son is the drum and bass
Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
producer Adam F. Shaun Fenton was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School and Keble College in Oxford, where he obtained an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He was headteacher for Sir John Lawes School and Pate's Grammar School, and has been headteacher for Reigate Grammar School since September 2012. He was appointed OBE in 2020 for his services to Education.
Stardust converted to Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in the late 1980s after meeting a group of American Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
missionaries on a train.
Death
Stardust died at home after a brief illness; this was confirmed by his manager on 23 October 2014. He was 72 years old. His funeral was held in St Thomas Church, Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
, where he had married Julie Paton. His death came weeks before he was due to release his first album in 30 years, and six days after what became his last show at the Regal Cinema, Evesham. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
18 months earlier, which later metastasis
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...
ed.[ He was cremated in Morriston Crematorium and his ashes scattered in the grounds.
]
Discography
*''The Untouchable'' (1973)
*'' Alvin Stardust'' (1974)
*''Rock with Alvin'' (1975)
*''A Picture of You'' (1983)
*''I Feel Like... Alvin Stardust'' (1984)
*''Alvin'' (2014, posthumous release)
*''Behind the Wheel'' (2021, posthumous release)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stardust, Alvin
20th-century English singers
English male singers
English male soap opera actors
English male stage actors
English pop singers
English rock singers
Glam rock musicians
Musicians from Nottinghamshire
People educated at Southwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School
Actors from the London Borough of Haringey
Actors from Mansfield
Deaths from prostate cancer in England
1942 births
2014 deaths
British rock and roll musicians
Magnet Records artists
Parlophone artists
Stiff Records artists
20th-century English male singers
Male actors from Nottinghamshire
British Christians
English Christians
People from Muswell Hill
Singers from the London Borough of Haringey