Victor Spinetti

Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti (2 September 1929 – 19 June 2012) was a Welsh actor, author, poet and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his fifty-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films '' A Hard Day's Night'', ''Help!'' and '' Magical Mystery Tour''.

Born in Cwm, Spinetti was educated at Monmouth School and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, of which he became a Fellow. After various menial jobs, Spinetti pursued a stage career and was closely associated with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. Among the productions were ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be'' and '' Oh, What a Lovely War!'' (1963), which transferred to Broadway and for which he won a Tony Award. Spinetti's film career developed simultaneously; his dozens of film appearances included Zeffirelli's ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''Under Milk Wood'', '' The Return of the Pink Panther'' and '' Under the Cherry Moon''.

During his later career, Spinetti acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company in such roles as Lord Foppington in '' The Relapse'' and the Archbishop in ''Richard III'' at Stratford-upon-Avon; and, in 1990, he appeared in '' The Krays''. At age 70+, Victor remained active under the theatre lights playing Baron Bomburst in the musical version of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 2003 and Baron Zeta in the operetta "The Merry Widow" in 2004. In 2008 he appeared in a one-man show, ''A Very Private Diary'', which toured the UK as ''A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!'', recounting his life story. Spinetti was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and died of the disease in June 2012.

Early life

Vittorio Giorgio Andre Spinetti was born on 2 September 1929 in Cwm, Monmouthshire of Welsh and Italian descent from a grandfather who was said to have 'walked' from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner, just to earn enough money to buy a plough. His parents, Giuseppe and Lily (''née'' Watson), owned the chip shop in Cwm, over which premises the family lived and where Spinetti was born. Spinetti was the eldest of six, and his younger brother, Henry (born 1951), is a session drummer. Spinetti was educated at Monmouth School and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, of which he later became a Fellow. It was at the college that Spinetti met actor Graham Curnow, who became his life partner.

Career

Before finding roles in acting, Spinetti worked as a waiter and factory worker. He recalled singing in London pubs in the 50s, and working as a paint sprayer to afford his rent.

Spinetti started at Dhurjati Chaudhury's Irving Theatre Club on Irving Street, off Leicester Square, London.

Film

Spinetti gained international fame during the 1960s due to his association with the Beatles. He appeared in the first three Beatles films: '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964), ''Help!'' (1965), and '' Magical Mystery Tour'' (1967). He also appeared on the Beatles' 1967 Christmas recording, released to members of their fan club. The best explanation for this long-running collaboration and friendship might have been provided by George Harrison, who told Spinetti, "You've got to be in all our films ... if you're not in them me Mum won't come and see them – because she fancies you.""Victor Spinetti, actor and star of Beatles films, dies"
BBC News, 19 June 2012 But Harrison also later told him, "You've got a lovely karma, Vic." Paul McCartney once described Spinetti as "the man who makes clouds disappear". Spinetti made a small appearance in the promotional video for McCartney's song "London Town" from the 1978 album of the same name. Spinetti's July 2010 performance of the song " Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", at the Festival Theatre, Malvern in Worcestershire, was available on "The Beatles Complete on Ukulele" podcast.

Spinetti appeared in around 30 films, including '' The Gentle Terror'' (1961), '' Sparrows Can't Sing'' (1963), '' The Wild Affair'' (1964), '' Becket'' (1964), Zeffirelli's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1967), ''The Biggest Bundle of Them All'' (1968), '' Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?'' (1969), '' This, That and the Other'' (1969), '' Start the Revolution Without Me'' (1970), ''Under Milk Wood'' (1972), '' Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World'' (1973), '' The Great McGonagall'' (1974), '' The Little Prince'' (1974), '' The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), '' Emily'' (1976), '' Hardcore'' (1977), '' Casanova & Co.'' (1977), '' Under the Cherry Moon'' (1986) and '' The Krays'' (1990).

Spinetti's last on-screen appearance was in the DVD release of the independent film '' Beatles Stories'' by American musician Seth Swirsky, issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first recording sessions at Abbey Road.

Theatre

Spinetti's work in Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop produced many memorable performances including ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be'' (1959, by Frank Norman, with music by Lionel Bart), and '' Oh, What a Lovely War!'' (1963), which transferred to New York City and for which he won a Tony Award for his main role as an obnoxious Drill Sergeant. He appeared in the West End in '' The Odd Couple'' (as Felix); in ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' in the West End; and as Albert Einstein in a critically lauded performance in 2005 in a new play, ''Albert's Boy'' at the Finborough Theatre. He launched his own one-man show of witty reminiscences, ''A Very Private Diary'', at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

One of Spinetti's most challenging theatre roles was as the principal male character in Jane Arden's radical feminist play ''Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven'', which played to packed houses for six weeks at the Arts Lab on Drury Lane in 1969. In 1980, he directed '' The Biograph Girl'', a musical about the silent film era, at the Phoenix Theatre. In 1986, he appeared as Fagin in the musical '' Oliver!'', which was the last professional production to use Sean Kenny's original stage design. He appeared on Broadway in '' The Hostage'' and '' The Philanthropist'', and also acted in 1995 with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in such roles as Lord Foppington in '' The Relapse'' and the Archbishop in ''Richard III'', at Stratford-upon-Avon, although this was not a happy experience for him.

Spinetti co-authored ''In His Own Write'', the play adapted from a book by John Lennon with the Beatle which he also directed at the National Theatre, premiering on 18 June 1968, at the Old Vic. Spinetti and Lennon appeared together in June 1968 on BBC2's ''Release''. During the interview, Spinetti said of the play, that "it's not really John's childhood, it's all of ours really, isn't it John?" to which Lennon replied, assuming a camp voice, "It is, we're all one Victor, we're all one aren't we. I mean 'what's going on?'" Spinetti described the play as being "about the growing up of any of us; the things that helped us to be more aware".

He also directed ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ''Hair'', including productions staged in Europe. His many television appearances on British TV, include ''Take My Wife'' in which he played a London-based booking agent and schemer who was forever promising his comedian client that fame was just around the corner, and the sitcom '' An Actor's Life For Me''.

In 1999, Victor Spinetti played in a Jim Davidson Adult Pantomime of Babes in the Wood (Boobs in the Wood) plays as Friar Tuck who had been taking weed. He had been told by The Sheriff of Nottingham (Jim Davidson) to kill his niece and nephew, who were escaped convicts (one of them played by Kenny Baker).

In September 2008, Spinetti reprised his one-man show, ''A Very Private Diary'', touring the UK, as ''A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!'', telling his life story.

Television

From 1968 to 1969, Spinetti was a cast member of the Marty Feldman sketch show ''It's Marty'', which was written by Barry Took, with contributions by John Cleese, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, members of Monty Python as well as John Junkin, who appeared with Spinetti in ''A Hard Day's Night''. In 1969 and 1970, Spinetti appeared on Thames Television, alongside Sid James, as one half of '' Two in Clover'' over two series. A sitcom about two office workers who jack it all in to become farmers, he starred in all but one of the 13 episodes. His absence in episode No. 3 of the second series was covered by fellow Welsh actor Richard Davies, playing Spinetti's character's brother.

In the 1970s, Spinetti appeared in a series of television advertisements for McVities' (now United Biscuits) Jaffa Cakes, as "The Mad Jaffa Cake Eater", a turbaned, Middle-Eastern style character who rode a bicycle and surreptitiously stole and ate other people's Jaffa Cakes, prompting the catchphrase "There's Orangey!" He hosted ''Victor's Party'' for Granada. In 1979, he voiced Mr. Tumnus in the USA dubbed version of the 1979 animated adaptation of ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' as well as voice directing for the film. (Spinetti was also the voice of Shift the ape in the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre adaptation of ''The Last Battle''.) Later he voiced arch villain Texas Pete in the popular S4C animated TV series ''SuperTed'' (1982–84) and narrated several ''Fireman Sam'' audiobooks. In 1988 he appeared alongside Paul Scofield and Mary Steenburgen in '' The Attic'', a World War Two drama about Anne Frank. In 1992, he voiced the King of the Rats in the British children's animated programme '' Tales of the Tooth Fairies'' (in the episode The Stolen Present) on BBC, produced by Welsh animation company Calon, formerly Siriol Productions. In 1995, he appeared in the "Finger" episode of the comedy series '' Bottom'', with Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, as Audrey the Maître d'hôtel. He also starred in the 1999 DVD film ''Boobs in the Wood'' with Jim Davidson.

From 2000 to 2002, Spinetti played Max, the 'man of a thousand faces', in the children's TV programme '' Harry and the Wrinklies'', which also starred Nick Robinson in the title role.

Appearances

* Spinetti appears in '' This Is Your Life''.
* 1978: The " London Town" music video by Wings as a mime.
* 1985: The " All I Need Is a Miracle" music video by Mike and the Mechanics as the club owner.

Writing

Spinetti's poetry, notably ''Watchers Along the Mall'' (1963), and prose appeared in various publications. His memoir, ''Victor Spinetti Up Front...: His Strictly Confidential Autobiography'', published in September 2006, is filled with anecdotes and personal insights into life with the Beatles as well as previously unpublished photos of the Fab Four. In conversation with BBC Radio 2's Michael Ball, on his show broadcast on 7 September 2008, Spinetti revealed that Princess Margaret had been instrumental in securing the necessary censor permission for the first run of '' Oh, What A Lovely War!''.

Personal life

Spinetti lived in Brighton with his partner of 44 years, Graham Curnow. They were openly non-monogamous, and Spinetti openly talked about other sexual encounters in his memoir. Curnow appeared in the 1959 British horror film '' Horrors of the Black Museum''. Curnow became seriously ill towards the end of his life, and Spinetti sold most of his Beatles memorabilia to ensure Curnow was comfortable. Curnow died in 1997.

Death

Spinetti had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in February 2011, after he collapsed onstage on Valentine's Day. He suffered a spinal fracture and discovered only by chance that he had a tumour. He was at first treated in London, but after being cared for by his sister and brother-in-law, he moved to the Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch for radiotherapy treatment. He died from the disease at Monnow Vale Integrated Health and Social Care Facility in Monmouth on the morning of 19 June 2012. His funeral was conducted by Ajahn Khemadhammo.

Tributes

Spinetti was visited shortly before his death by Barbara Windsor, who had co-starred with him in the West End production of ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' Windsor said, "We were very close. He was another of my great friends from that era. He was such a great man. He was such a good actor because he took notice of people and used their characters. He portrayed them wonderfully, whatever he did." Comedian Rob Brydon tweeted, "So sad Victor Spinetti has died. The funniest story teller I've ever met and a lovely warm man." Spinetti also received warm tributes from actor and singer Britt Ekland and fellow Welsh actor Siân Phillips, who told BBC Wales that she was shocked and saddened. Phillips added, "He was such a force of joy and vitality. When one saw him across a crowded room, one couldn't wait to get together with him and have a chat and a catch-up."

Paul McCartney paid tribute to Spinetti on his website: "Victor was a fine man, a great pal and a fantastic actor and someone I am proud to have known for many years. His irreverent wit and exuberant personality will remain in my memory forever. I will miss his loyal friendship as will all the others who were lucky enough to know and love the wonderful Mr Spinetti." At a memorial service for Spinetti, attended by McCartney, the Beatles song "In My Life" was sung by Michael Ball. Preston FM scheduled a tribute broadcast, for 22 June, of a previously unaired in-depth interview with Spinetti, recorded when he visited Blackpool in July 2010, in Paul and Lucy Breeze's ''Best Kept Secrets in Conversation''.In Conversation: Victor Spinetti Special – Friday 7pm
. Bestkeptsecrets.biz (21 June 2012). Retrieved 3 September 2013.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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* ttp://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/spinetti-victor.html doollee.com listing of Spinetti's works written for the stage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinetti, Victor
1929 births
2012 deaths
20th-century Welsh LGBTQ people
21st-century Welsh LGBTQ people
Actors from Ebbw Vale
Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Deaths from cancer in Wales
Deaths from prostate cancer in the United Kingdom
Male actors from Blaenau Gwent
People educated at Monmouth School for Boys
Theatre World Award winners
Tony Award winners
Welsh gay actors
Welsh gay entertainers
Welsh gay writers
Welsh male film actors
Welsh male stage actors
Welsh male television actors
Welsh male voice actors
Welsh people of Italian descent
Welsh voice directors