Mark Wynter (born Terence Sidney Lewis; 29 January 1943) is an English singer and actor, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "

Venus in Blue Jeans "Venus in Blue Jeans" is a 1962 song written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller. It was recorded that year by Jimmy Clanton and reached on the Billboard charts, and on the CHUM Chart in Canada. The song was also recorded that year by Ma ...

" and " Go Away Little Girl". He enjoyed a lengthy career from 1960 to 1968 as a pop singer and

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers themselves. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia Ea ...

, and developed later into an actor in film, musicals and plays.

Career

With his early musical career on a proper footing, Terry Lewis decided to change his name to lessen the confusion with the American comedian,

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

. He was entered as one of the contenders for the UK's place in 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 1961, with "Dream Girl", but finished fourth behind The Allisons. His

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the American hit by Jimmy Clanton, "Venus in Blue Jeans" (1962), was his biggest success. Although he recorded a number of singles for the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

and Pye

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affixed to ...

in the UK, he made few albums. Some recorded material came to light in 2004 when Wynter discovered old tapes. On 8 April 1968 Wynter escaped from a burning

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

aircraft, BOAC Flight 712, upon which he had been a passenger, and which had exploded shortly after landing back at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

following a fire in its number 2 engine, killing five people, including stewardess Barbara Jane Harrison, who was posthumously awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

. Wynter played the leading role in '' Conduct Unbecoming'' for more than a year at the Queen's Theatre in London, and for six months in Australia. He appeared with Julia McKenzie in '' On the Twentieth Century'', and in '' Charley's Aunt''. He also starred in '' Side By Side By Sondheim'' in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

, and on the UK tour. In the 1982 Chichester Festival season he acted in several plays including ''On The Rocks'' and ''Henry V'', and also sang in '' Valmouth''. His other work in musicals during the 1980s included the role of the King in a revival of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

'', the title roles in ''Hans Andersen'' and '' Barnum'', the 1986 revival of '' Charlie Girl'' with

Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American dancer and actress. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...

and

Paul Nicholas Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer best known for starring as Vince Pinner in the BBC television sitcom '' Just Good Friends'' (1983—86). The show won a BAFTA and Nicholas was nominated ...

in London, and the part of Robert Browning in '' Robert and Elizabeth''. During the 1990s Wynter spent two years in ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', and was also seen as the Phantom and M. Andre in ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'', and starred as Vittorio opposite

Bonnie Langford Bonita Melody Lysette Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series '' Just William''. In the 1980s, she played companio ...

in the 1998 West End revival of ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film '' Nights of Cabiria''. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse sta ...

''. He has appeared frequently in the rest of the UK and portrayed Emile de Becque in a UK national tour of '' South Pacific''. In 1994 he created the role of Van Helsing in the studio recording of the opera/musical "

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

" by Bernard J. Taylor. In 1981 he succeeded

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...

as the presenter of the children's television series ''Once Upon a Time''. During the early 1990s he presented daytime shows on BBC Radio 2, as well as documentaries such as "Happy Times", a programme about the American entertainer Danny Kaye, which was nominated for a New York radio award. Wynter was still working actively and successfully in theatre throughout the English speaking world well into the 1990s. Although his Decca singles output is scattered in the CD catalogue, in 2000

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's producti ...

released ''Go Away Little Girl: The Pye Anthology'', a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

compiling his complete output for the label. In 2007, Wynter toured the UK in a number of plays and musicals. Wynter toured in plays for producer

Bill Kenwright William Kenwright (4 September 1945 – 23 October 2023) was an English theatre and film producer. He was also the chairman of Everton Football Club for nearly two decades, from 2004 until his death in 2023. Early life Kenwright was born in ...

, and pop tours for The Flying Music Company. A triple CD of Wynter's back catalogue was issued in 2017. In 2017, Wynter went on a UK tour with The Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll Show, which also featured Eden Kane,

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s and 1960s hit singles including " E ...

and Mike Berry. A 2021 tour was also scheduled.

Personal life

Wynter now lives in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. He is married to Emma, and has three children.

Singles

*1960: " Image of a Girl" / "Glory of Love" ( UK number 11) *1960: "Kickin' Up the Leaves" (

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

) / "That's What I Thought" (UK number 24) *1961: "Dream Girl" / "Two Little Girls" (UK number 27) *1961: "Exclusively Yours" / "Warm and Willing" (UK number 32) *1961: "Girl for Ev'ry Day" / "The Best Time for Love" *1962: "Heaven's Plan" / "In Your Heart" *1962: "Angel Talk" / "I Love Her Still" *1962: "

" ( Greenfield/ Keller) / "Please Come Back to Me" (UK number 4) *1962: " Go Away Little Girl" / "That Kinda Talk" (UK number 6) *1963: "Aladdin's Lamp" / "It Can Happen Any Day" *1963: "Shy Girl" / " Because of You" (UK number 28) *1963: "Running to You" / "Don't Cry" *1963: " It's Almost Tomorrow" / "Music to Midnight" (UK number 12) *1964: "The Boy You're Kissin'" / "I Learned a Lot from You" *1964: "

Only You (And You Alone) "Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a doo wop song composed by Buck Ram, the manager of the Platters, the group that made the song famous in the US, the UK and Belgium. The Platters's lead vocals are by Tony Williams. ...

" / "It's Love You Want" (Wynter) (UK number 38) *1964: " Answer Me" / "I Wish You Everything" *1964: " Love Hurts" / "Can't Help Forgiving You" ( DeShannon/ Sheeley) *1964: "Forever and a Day" / " And I Love Her" *1965: "Can I Get to Know You Better" / "Am I Living a Dream" (Wynter) *1965: " Someday You'll Want Me to Want You" / "Here Comes"

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
*

Mark Wynter biography Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a curren ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...