Gary Holton
Gary Frederick Holton (22 September 1952 – 25 October 1985) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids, for whom he played lead vocals, guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards and harmonica, and played the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Holton died from an overdose of morphine combined with alcohol in 1985.
Acting Career
Playing the part of Wayne Winston Norris in the smash hit comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Holton became a household name. People came to have great affection for all the characters in the show. Holton played a Cockney carpenter who liked his women, music and drink, which was actually very similar to his off-screen personality.
He landed the part (the first of the seven to be cast), after he was introduced to Ian La Frenais at a party. La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement had been drafting storylines and working on an idea given to them by Franc Roddam, ex-foreign worker and director of Quadrophenia.
The first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ran between 1983 and 1984 with viewing figures steadily rising and topping the 14 million mark, Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement and their supporting writers had a huge hit on their hands. The true-to-life storylines were believable, capturing the reality of honest working men screwed by the system. The first series ended with the lads returning to Britain unemployed, which was a reflection of British society in the early 1980s.
The British public wanted more. In February 1985 filming began on Auf Wiedersehen Pet 2. The cast were no longer unknowns. Auf Wiedersehen Pet had turned Gary Holton and his colleagues all into stars in their own right and the pressure to come up with high quality material to match or even surpass the original was great.
Gary became very close to his acting colleagues. The remaining members did not want to continue making the show, which was planned for a third series set in the Russian Embassy without him. The final episode of the second series, broadcast after Holton's death, was dedicated to his memory.
The show was successfully revived in 2002 with the original writers and all of the surviving cast members. Gary, despite being dead for seventeen years, was not forgotten, and Wayne was still essential to the plot. The gap in the line-up left by Holton was filled by Wyman, Wayne's illegitimate son, played by Noel Clarke.
He landed the part (the first of the seven to be cast), after he was introduced to Ian La Frenais at a party. La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement had been drafting storylines and working on an idea given to them by Franc Roddam, ex-foreign worker and director of Quadrophenia.
The first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ran between 1983 and 1984 with viewing figures steadily rising and topping the 14 million mark, Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement and their supporting writers had a huge hit on their hands. The true-to-life storylines were believable, capturing the reality of honest working men screwed by the system. The first series ended with the lads returning to Britain unemployed, which was a reflection of British society in the early 1980s.
The British public wanted more. In February 1985 filming began on Auf Wiedersehen Pet 2. The cast were no longer unknowns. Auf Wiedersehen Pet had turned Gary Holton and his colleagues all into stars in their own right and the pressure to come up with high quality material to match or even surpass the original was great.
Gary became very close to his acting colleagues. The remaining members did not want to continue making the show, which was planned for a third series set in the Russian Embassy without him. The final episode of the second series, broadcast after Holton's death, was dedicated to his memory.
The show was successfully revived in 2002 with the original writers and all of the surviving cast members. Gary, despite being dead for seventeen years, was not forgotten, and Wayne was still essential to the plot. The gap in the line-up left by Holton was filled by Wyman, Wayne's illegitimate son, played by Noel Clarke.