| John Leyton |
|
| Birth name |
John Dudley Leyton |
| Born |
17 February 1939 (1939-02-17) (age 68)
 Frinton-on-Sea,
England |
| Years active |
ca. 1959 —present |
| Official site |
johnleyton.com |
John Leyton (born John Dudley Leyton, 17
February 1939,
in Frinton-on-Sea,
Essex) is
an English
actor and singer.
Career
As a singer he is best known for his hit song "Johnny
Remember Me", (written by Geoff
Goddard and produced by Joe
Meek) which reached Number 1 in the UK
Singles Chart in August 1961.
John went to Highgate School and after completing
his National Service, he studied drama, paying his
way through drama school with bit-part roles in films and on television.
His first major acting role was his portrayal of Ginger in a 1960 Granada TV
adaptation of Biggles, which
earned him a large following of young female fans,
and led to the formation of a John Leyton fan club.
Following the success of Biggles, Leyton
was persuaded by his manager, Robert Stigwood to audition as a
singer for record producer Joe Meek, and subsequently recorded a cover
version of "Tell Laura I Love Her", which
was released on the Top Rank record
label. At that time, however, Top Rank was undergoing a takeover by EMI, but in 1961 the Top Rank label went bust and John's
LPs and singles were then issued by EMI on the HMV label. EMI had
already released Ricky Valance's version of the same
song. Leyton's recording was withdrawn from sale, whilst the Valance
version reached Number 1 in the UK chart.
A second single - "The Girl On The Floor
Above" - was released on the HMV label, but was not a success. His first big
hit, "Johnny Remember Me", coincided with his appearance as an actor in
the popular ATV television
series Harpers West One, in which he played a
singer named Johnny Saint Cyr. Leyton performed "Johnny Remember Me"
during the show (backed by The Outlaws), and
the single subsequently charted at Number 1. His next single, "Wild
Wind", reached number 2 in the chart, and later singles also achieved
lower chart positions.
Leyton appeared in the acclaimed Guns
at Batasi in 1964; and also starred in the
popular film The Great Escape,
and in Von Ryan's Express
starring Frank Sinatra. By the mid 1960s, he was no
longer a huge success as a singer, but had begun to make a name for
himself as a movie
actor in the U.S., taking starring roles in several
major films in the mid to late 1960s.
He returned to the UK in the early 1970s and
unsuccessfully attempted to re-launch his singing career, signing to
the York record label in 1973. A year later John's cover of the Kevin
Johnson hit, "Rock 'n' Roll {I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life}" was
issued in the UK but without success. Acting roles became fewer and
farther between during the 1970s, and by the early 1980s, he was no
longer active in showbusiness.
In the 1990s,
however, he began performing in the Solid Gold Rock 'n' Roll
Show, appearing with artists such as Marty
Wilde and Joe Brown. The Autumn 2004 tour featured
Leyton, Showaddywaddy, Freddy
Cannon and Craig Douglas. Leyton has
also returned to acting, with a cameo appearance in the 2005 film Colour
Me Kubrick starring John
Malkovich.
In May 2006, Leyton released "Hi Ho, Come On England", a
re-working of Jeff Beck's "Hi
Ho Silver Lining", to coincide with the World
Cup in Germany.
External links
