Peter Noone (born Peter Blair Denis Bernard
Noone, 5
November 1947,
at Park Hospital, Davyhulme, near Manchester)
is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as
"Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's
Hermits. He is of mostly Irish and Scottish ancestry, with some Welsh
roots.
Career
As a child he attended St. Monica's RC Primary School in Flixton, and had a
number of acting
roles on television,
including that of Stanley Fairclough in the soap
opera, Coronation Street.
He studied voice and drama at St Bede's College,
Manchester and Manchester School of Music, where he won the Outstanding
Young Musician Award.
Early in his career, he used the stage name Peter Novak. At
age fifteen, he became the lead singer, spokesperson,
and frontman
of Herman's Hermits. As "Herman", the photogenic Noone graced the cover
of nearly every international publication, including Time
Magazine.
During the 1970s,
Noone also starred in various stage, TV and film productions including ABC's musical version
of The Canterville Ghost, the lead in Hallmark Hall of Fame's
presentation of Pinocchio, and three films for MGM: Mrs.
Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter, Hold On!
and When The Boys Meet The Girls. More recently, he
received favourable reviews in the lead role of Frederic in several Broadway
theatre productions of The Pirates of Penzance
during the 1980s. Also in that decade, Noone fronted a new-wave
band
called the Tremblers, and released his solo album, One
of the Glory Boys.
He was the host of VH1's My Generation
from 1989 to
1993, and in
2001 he was voted "VH1's
Sexiest Artist. The Viewers Choice award". Noone now lives in Santa Barbara, California.
As of 2005, he was still touring in a group called Herman's
Hermits starring Peter Noone, delivering on stage and capturing the
charm of the original band despite a revolving door of musicians.
Hermits drummer Barry Whitwam tours in another version of Herman's
Hermits which is just called Herman's Hermits. Noone appeared on the
televised singing competition American Idol on March 20, 2007 as a
mentor for the male contestants on the show. He performed "There's a
Kind of Hush" on American Idol on March 21, 2007.
External links
References
-
Nown, Graham ed.(1985). Coronation Street 1960-1985: 25 years, CBC
Enterprises, 1986. ISBN
0-88794-231-8 photo with brief description of 1961 cameo role p209.
