Maybe more could have been made of Anthony Newley's great talent within the cinema
Tony's first big film was as The Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist. he also appeared with another big British child star of the period Petula Clark in the film series of 'The Huggetts' which she appeared regulary as the daughter of Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison
Tony made a series of films including The Blue Peter and The Cockleshell Heroes. TCH was an underrated war film where he and Jose Ferrer play the only surviving members of a crack unit on a mission, while others like Trevor Howard were killed.
This acting career might have gone on as it was, but Elvis Presley had indirectly pushed Tony in another direction. capitlaising on his drafting in The U.S army a British film studio made a movie about a Brit pop star Jeep Jackson doing National Service. Tony played the part and sang his on vocals scoring a hit record with the title track Idol On Parade. this briefly led to a successful recording career with hit records like Pop Goes The Weasle, Do You Mind, Why, Personality and Strawberry Fare.
Tony then had a huge international stage hit with Stop The World I Want To Get Off (Tony Tanner did film version). he followed it up with The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Good Old Bad Old Days, all shows he co-wrote. Sammy Davis jnr aslo had hits with some of Tony's songs like What Kind Of Fool Am I, For Once In My Lifetime and The Candyman. Tony like Tommy Steele played Scrooge
Tony did some good movies. in 1960 he did the musical/comedy Jazz Boat with Bernie Winters as his sidekick, James Booth as the nasty villian and Lionel Jeffries as a cop who sorts him out. there was Dr. Dolittle with Rex Harrison and Samatha Edgar and Sweet November with Sandy Dennis. in SN Sandy played a terminally ill young woman who took on a new lover every month. November was Newley's turn. though she fell in love with him, she still dumped him at the begining of December
Tony's last appearence as a con-man in British soap Eastenders
Anthony Newley
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jdb1
I remember seeing those episodes of East Enders and thinking: "Hey, is that Anthony Newly?"
I saw him in Roar of the Greasepaint on Broadway, and although he was rather thin and gaunt looking (the gauntness in part, I think, from his makeup and costume, as a sort of Marcel Marceau/Pierrot figure), he somehow filled up the entire stage, as natural-born entertainers tend to do. He had a very big voice for such a slim man. I loved his version of "Pop Goes the Weasel." Sort of Bobby Darin style -- Cool.
I saw him in Roar of the Greasepaint on Broadway, and although he was rather thin and gaunt looking (the gauntness in part, I think, from his makeup and costume, as a sort of Marcel Marceau/Pierrot figure), he somehow filled up the entire stage, as natural-born entertainers tend to do. He had a very big voice for such a slim man. I loved his version of "Pop Goes the Weasel." Sort of Bobby Darin style -- Cool.
Yes i think the comparison with Tony Newley and Bobby Darin was a good one. as well as great singers, both had great acting potential that probably wasn't realised in full when it came to the movies
having seen Tony and ex-wife Joan Collins work together on tv, it's a pity they didn't make more movies together
having seen Tony and ex-wife Joan Collins work together on tv, it's a pity they didn't make more movies together
Anthony Newley was an under-rated major talent in my opinion. Stuart has detailed his many achievements very cogently. However his 1960s BBC comedy series "Gurney Slade", sadly too short, was totally brilliant in my view. Watching it as a 14 year old I was mesmerised by it and so was my 48 year old dad. The series was too advanced at that stage for British TV audience but looked at in hindsight it anticipated "Monty Python's Flying Circus" by ten years.
Tony Newley was a leading Brtish pop star before he ever left for the states in the early 60s with massive hits like "Why" and "Do You Mind" sung in that inimitable style which has been copied by among others David Bowie.
Tony Newley was a leading Brtish pop star before he ever left for the states in the early 60s with massive hits like "Why" and "Do You Mind" sung in that inimitable style which has been copied by among others David Bowie.
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klondike
Seems like Anthony Newly's resume' is always surprising on some level - just this past year, I connected to the little-known fact that Roar of the Greasepaint gave us that supremely seductive/eerie/catchy/torchy jazz ballad "Feeling Good" 
["Sun up in the sky,/ You know how I feel . . ."], which chanteuse Nina Simone used to practically launch her entire career, and has been covered by everybody from Lira to Michael Buble, and been reinterpreted into everything from rap singles to Six Feet Under's 4th season promo ads!
["Sun up in the sky,/ You know how I feel . . ."], which chanteuse Nina Simone used to practically launch her entire career, and has been covered by everybody from Lira to Michael Buble, and been reinterpreted into everything from rap singles to Six Feet Under's 4th season promo ads!
Last edited by klondike on March 16th, 2008, 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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klondike
