Andrew Sachs
Encyclopedia
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor
. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel
in Fawlty Towers
, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street
.
(his father was Jewish). His family settled in North London, and he still lives in Kilburn.
In 1960, Sachs married Melody Lang, who appeared in one episode of Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat
", as Mrs. Taylor. His stepson is John Sachs
, formerly Capital Radio
DJ and Gladiators commentator.
.
He made his screen debut in 1959 in the film The Night We Dropped a Clanger. He then appeared in numerous TV series throughout the 1960s, including some appearances in ITC
productions such as The Saint
(1962) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
(1969). In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) he appeared in the episode "Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
" during which he portrayed a football commentator.
Sachs is best known for his role as Manuel
, the Spanish waiter in the sitcom Fawlty Towers
(1975 and 1979), and is now frequently heard as a narrator of television and radio documentaries
, as well as audio books, including C. S. Lewis's Narnia series and Alexander McCall Smith
's first online book, Corduroy Mansions.
During the filming of the episode "The Germans
" for Fawlty Towers Sachs was left with second degree acid burns due to a fire stunt.
In 1978, after BBC Radio 4
broadcast The Revenge, a ground-breaking 30-minute play totally without dialogue (an experiment in binaural stereo recording), 'written' and performed by Sachs, playwright Jonathan Raban
dismissed the work as a 'wordless sequence of noises' and 'a well-puffed curiosity'. The play has subsequently been repeated a number of times on BBC Radio 7, most recently in August 2009.
In 1980 Sachs starred in the title role of a four part BBC adaptation of the H.G. Wells story "The History of Mr Polly".
From 1984 to 1986, Sachs starred as Father Brown
in a BBC Radio
series based on the stories of G. K. Chesterton
. Sachs performed all the voices in the English-language version of Jan Švankmajer
's 1994 film Faust
. He also did voices for children's animation, including William's Wish Wellingtons
, Starhill Ponies, The Gingerbread Man
, Little Grey Rabbit
, The Forgotten Toys and Asterix and the Big Fight
. In addition, he has been a narrator on many television documentaries, including ITV
's …from Hell series and the Eyewitness videos.
A popular narrator
thanks to his clear and distinct tones, Sachs narrated all five series of BBC's BAFTA-award-winning business television series Troubleshooter
presented by Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE
, and he also narrated two audiobooks of the popular children's TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
"Thomas and the Tiger" and "Thomas and the Dinosaur".
In 1996, Sachs portrayed Albert Einstein in an episode of the American PBS series "NOVA" entitled "Einstein Revealed".
In 1997, Sachs played opposite Shane Richie
in Chris Barfoot
's Dead Clean
. A tale of mistaken identity, Sachs as airport window cleaner Kostas Malmatakis is hired to assassinate a businessman by his greedy partner (Mark Chapman
). The British short won a Gold Remi at the Houston Worldfest in 2001.
In 1998, Sachs appeared as George Gardener in The Legend of the Lost Keys
from BBC's Look and Read
series, alongside Jonathan Kitchens and Abigail Ansell, who played the twins Mark and Lisa Astor.
In 2000, Sachs narrated the spoof
documentary
series That Peter Kay Thing
.
From 2002 to 2010, he took over the role of Dr. John Watson from Michael Williams in four series of original Sherlock Holmes
stories for BBC Radio 4
, opposite Clive Merrison
as the famous consulting detective. These were transmitted as The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
, and have been released on compact disc and cassette.
On 9 April 2006, Sachs appeared in BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial adaptation of The Code of the Woosters
as Jeeves
with Marcus Brigstocke
as Bertie Wooster
.
From 4 August to 8 September 2010, Sachs starred as "Edmond Dantes" in a 7-part adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo
on BBC Radio 7's "Young Classics" series.
He has also appeared as a featured guest star in at least two "unusual format" stories for long-running BBC series. In a role reversal to his Fawlty Towers work, he was the hotel manager in the 1977
Are You Being Served?
movie. Later, he played "Skagra" in the webcast/audio version of the Doctor Who
story Shada
, completed by Big Finish Productions
. In 2008 he played the elderly version of former companion Adric, in another Doctor Who story for the same company, The Boy That Time Forgot
.
Sachs has released four singles as Manuel; the first was "Manuel's Good Food Guide" in 1977, which came in a picture sleeve with Manuel on the cover. Sachs also had a hand in writing (or adapting) the lyrics. This was followed in 1979 by "O Cheryl" with "Ode to England" on the B side. This was recorded under the name "Manuel and Los Por Favors". Sachs shares the writing credits for the B side with "B. Wade", who also wrote the A side.
In 1981, "Manuel" released a cover version of Joe Dolce
's UK number one "Shaddap You Face
", with "Waiter, there's a Flea in my Soup" on the B side. Sachs also adapted "Shaddap You Face" into Spanish, but was prevented from releasing it before Dolce's version by a court injunction. When finally released it reached 138 in the UK Chart. Dolce remarked that Manuel's cover version of his single was his third favourite cover version behind an Aboriginal version (which he helped write with an Aboriginal elder) and an Italian version which Dolce describes as "out of this world".
On 17 November 2008, it was announced that Sachs had been approached to appear in ITV
soap Coronation Street
. He later confirmed on 14 December that he is taking up the offer, saying, "I'm taking Street challenge". In May 2009 he made his debut on the street as Norris' brother, Ramsay. He appeared in 27 episodes and left in August 2009.
He also appeared in the 2008 Christmas special edition of Casualty
.
In May 2010, Sachs appeared as Tolliver Groat in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
.
apologised to Sachs and his agent following criticism that Russell Brand
and Jonathan Ross
had made several obscene phone calls to him during an episode of The Russell Brand Show
recorded on 16 October and broadcast two days later, on which Sachs had agreed to appear. Both presenters had left explicit messages on Sachs' telephone answering machine stating that Russell Brand had had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie (a member of Burlesque
dance group Satanic Sluts Extreme). Gordon Brown
, the Prime Minister, criticised Ross and Brand's actions, saying that it was "clearly inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour", and the television watchdog, Ofcom
, launched an enquiry into the matter. Afterwards, Brand and Controller of Radio 2 Lesley Douglas
resigned with Ross soon suspended.
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel
Manuel (Fawlty Towers)
Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Played by Andrew Sachs, he is an iconic character in British comedy history...
in Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.
Early life
Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina (née Schrott-Fiecht), a librarian, and Hans Emil Sachs, an insurance broker. His family moved to England when he was eight years old to escape the NazisNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
(his father was Jewish). His family settled in North London, and he still lives in Kilburn.
In 1960, Sachs married Melody Lang, who appeared in one episode of Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat
Basil the Rat
"Basil the Rat" is the sixth and final episode of the second season of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the final episode of the programme as a whole.-Synopsis:Fawlty Towers is in threat of closure by a Health and Safety inspector...
", as Mrs. Taylor. His stepson is John Sachs
John Sachs
John Sachs is a British television presenter, voiceover and commentator known for his narration on the original series of Gladiators and as a long time DJ on London's 95.8 CapitalFM....
, formerly Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
DJ and Gladiators commentator.
Career
In the late 1950s, Sachs worked on radio productions, including Private Dreams and Public Nightmares by Frederick Bradnum, an early experimental programme made by the BBC Radiophonic WorkshopBBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
.
He made his screen debut in 1959 in the film The Night We Dropped a Clanger. He then appeared in numerous TV series throughout the 1960s, including some appearances in ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
productions such as The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
(1962) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
(1969). In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) he appeared in the episode "Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave is the seventeenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 January 1970 on the ITV. Directed by Cyril Frankel.-Synopsis:Marty finds...
" during which he portrayed a football commentator.
Sachs is best known for his role as Manuel
Manuel (Fawlty Towers)
Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Played by Andrew Sachs, he is an iconic character in British comedy history...
, the Spanish waiter in the sitcom Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
(1975 and 1979), and is now frequently heard as a narrator of television and radio documentaries
Radio documentary
A radio documentary or feature is a purely acoustic performance devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. It is broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD...
, as well as audio books, including C. S. Lewis's Narnia series and Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
's first online book, Corduroy Mansions.
During the filming of the episode "The Germans
The Germans
"The Germans" is the sixth episode of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. It is remembered for its line "Don't mention the war" and Cleese's silly walk when he is impersonating Adolf Hitler.-Plot:...
" for Fawlty Towers Sachs was left with second degree acid burns due to a fire stunt.
In 1978, after BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast The Revenge, a ground-breaking 30-minute play totally without dialogue (an experiment in binaural stereo recording), 'written' and performed by Sachs, playwright Jonathan Raban
Jonathan Raban
Jonathan Raban is a British travel writer and novelist. He has received several awards, such as the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award, the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the PEN West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers...
dismissed the work as a 'wordless sequence of noises' and 'a well-puffed curiosity'. The play has subsequently been repeated a number of times on BBC Radio 7, most recently in August 2009.
In 1980 Sachs starred in the title role of a four part BBC adaptation of the H.G. Wells story "The History of Mr Polly".
From 1984 to 1986, Sachs starred as Father Brown
Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional character created by English novelist G. K. Chesterton, who stars in 52 short stories, later compiled in five books. Chesterton based the character on Father John O'Connor , a parish priest in Bradford who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922...
in a BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
series based on the stories of G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
. Sachs performed all the voices in the English-language version of Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay, and many others.- Life and career :Jan...
's 1994 film Faust
Faust (1994 film)
Faust is a 1994 Czech film directed by Jan Švankmajer. It merges live-action footage with stop-motion footage and includes imaginative puppetry and claymation. The Faust character is played by Petr Čepek. The film was produced by Jaromír Kallista...
. He also did voices for children's animation, including William's Wish Wellingtons
William's Wish Wellingtons
William's Wish Wellingtons is an animated BBC children's television series made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment that was first aired from 25 October 1994 to 28 November 1997. It was narrated by Andrew Sachs of Fawlty Towers fame. It was also translated into Gaelic and aired as on BBC Two Scotland...
, Starhill Ponies, The Gingerbread Man
The Gingerbread Man
The Gingerbread Man Thegingerbread Runner is the anthropomorphic protagonist in a fairy tale about a cookie's escape from various pursuers and his eventual demise between the jaws of a fox. The Gingerbread Boy makes his first print appearance in the May 1875 issue of St...
, Little Grey Rabbit
Little Grey Rabbit
Little Grey Rabbit is the lead character in an English classic series of children's books, written by Alison Uttley and illustrated by Margaret Tempest.-Characters:* Little Grey Rabbit* Hare* Milkman Hedgehog* Mrs Hedgehog* Fuzzypeg, a hedgehog...
, The Forgotten Toys and Asterix and the Big Fight
Asterix and the Big Fight
Asterix and the Big Fight is a French comic book, the seventh in the Asterix comic book series. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. Its original French title is Le Combat des chefs and it was first published in serial form in Pilote magazines, issues 261-302, in 1964...
. In addition, he has been a narrator on many television documentaries, including ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's …from Hell series and the Eyewitness videos.
A popular narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
thanks to his clear and distinct tones, Sachs narrated all five series of BBC's BAFTA-award-winning business television series Troubleshooter
Troubleshooter (TV series)
Troubleshooter was a British reality television series, produced and shown by the BBC, focusing on experienced business leaders visiting and advising small and often struggling UK businesses....
presented by Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE
John Harvey-Jones
Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE was an English businessman. He was the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1982 to 1987...
, and he also narrated two audiobooks of the popular children's TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Thomas and Friends is a British children's television series, first broadcast on the ITV network in September 1984. Until 2003, it was named Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. This series was shot on 35mm film...
"Thomas and the Tiger" and "Thomas and the Dinosaur".
In 1996, Sachs portrayed Albert Einstein in an episode of the American PBS series "NOVA" entitled "Einstein Revealed".
In 1997, Sachs played opposite Shane Richie
Shane Richie
Shane Richie is an English actor, comedian, singer and media personality, known for his portrayal of the character Alfie Moon in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.-Early life and career beginnings:...
in Chris Barfoot
Chris Barfoot
Chris Barfoot is a British actor, writer/director and producer of film productions.- Biography :...
's Dead Clean
Dead Clean
Dead Clean is a film shot in the December of 1997 in Southampton, England and starring Andrew Sachs and Shane Richie...
. A tale of mistaken identity, Sachs as airport window cleaner Kostas Malmatakis is hired to assassinate a businessman by his greedy partner (Mark Chapman
Mark Lindsay Chapman
Mark Lindsay Chapman is an English film and television actor.His credits include: Max Headroom, Dallas ,...
). The British short won a Gold Remi at the Houston Worldfest in 2001.
In 1998, Sachs appeared as George Gardener in The Legend of the Lost Keys
The Legend of the Lost Keys
The Legend of the lost keys is an educational BBC Look and Read production, which was first aired on BBC Two on 12th January 1998, and has been shown regularly ever since. -Plot:...
from BBC's Look and Read
Look and Read
Look and Read is a BBC television programme for primary schools, aimed at improving children's literacy skills. The programme presents fictional stories in a serial format, the first of which was broadcast in 1967 and the most recent in 2004, making it the longest running nationally broadcast...
series, alongside Jonathan Kitchens and Abigail Ansell, who played the twins Mark and Lisa Astor.
In 2000, Sachs narrated the spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
series That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing was a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in January 2000. Set in and around Bolton, these followed the lives of different characters and starred Peter Kay as the subject of each documentary. All of the episodes displayed Kay's penchant for nostalgic humour and...
.
From 2002 to 2010, he took over the role of Dr. John Watson from Michael Williams in four series of original Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, opposite Clive Merrison
Clive Merrison
Clive Merrison is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College.- Television :...
as the famous consulting detective. These were transmitted as The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
This article is about the BBC Radio 4 series transmitted from 2002 to 2010. There is also a U.S. produced series, which began in 1998, that transmits under the same title....
, and have been released on compact disc and cassette.
On 9 April 2006, Sachs appeared in BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial adaptation of The Code of the Woosters
The Code of the Woosters
The Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
as Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
with Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Alexander Brigstocke is an English comedian, actor and satirist who has worked extensively in stand-up comedy, television, radio and in 2010-2011 musical theatre. He is particularly associated with the 6.30pm comedy slot on BBC Radio 4, having frequently appeared on several of its shows...
as Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
.
From 4 August to 8 September 2010, Sachs starred as "Edmond Dantes" in a 7-part adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
on BBC Radio 7's "Young Classics" series.
He has also appeared as a featured guest star in at least two "unusual format" stories for long-running BBC series. In a role reversal to his Fawlty Towers work, he was the hotel manager in the 1977
1977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? (film)
Are You Being Served?: The Movie, is a 1977 motion picture based on the British sitcom Are You Being Served?, which follows the staff of Grace Brothers' Men's and Women's Department as they take a holiday in the fictional Costa Plonka while their department is renovated.The story is an adaptation...
movie. Later, he played "Skagra" in the webcast/audio version of the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
, completed by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
. In 2008 he played the elderly version of former companion Adric, in another Doctor Who story for the same company, The Boy That Time Forgot
The Boy That Time Forgot
The Boy That Time Forgot is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:...
.
Sachs has released four singles as Manuel; the first was "Manuel's Good Food Guide" in 1977, which came in a picture sleeve with Manuel on the cover. Sachs also had a hand in writing (or adapting) the lyrics. This was followed in 1979 by "O Cheryl" with "Ode to England" on the B side. This was recorded under the name "Manuel and Los Por Favors". Sachs shares the writing credits for the B side with "B. Wade", who also wrote the A side.
In 1981, "Manuel" released a cover version of Joe Dolce
Joe Dolce
Joseph "Joe" Dolce is an American-born, Australian singer/songwriter who achieved fame with his multi-million-selling song, "Shaddap You Face", released under the name of his one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, in 1980...
's UK number one "Shaddap You Face
Shaddap You Face
"Shaddap You Face" is an Australian novelty song written and performed by Joe Dolce in 1980. It has set a number of sales and longevity records. The song was full of broad Italian humour and included a recognizable chorus.-Sales and chart positions:It went to Number 1 on the Australian pop charts...
", with "Waiter, there's a Flea in my Soup" on the B side. Sachs also adapted "Shaddap You Face" into Spanish, but was prevented from releasing it before Dolce's version by a court injunction. When finally released it reached 138 in the UK Chart. Dolce remarked that Manuel's cover version of his single was his third favourite cover version behind an Aboriginal version (which he helped write with an Aboriginal elder) and an Italian version which Dolce describes as "out of this world".
On 17 November 2008, it was announced that Sachs had been approached to appear in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. He later confirmed on 14 December that he is taking up the offer, saying, "I'm taking Street challenge". In May 2009 he made his debut on the street as Norris' brother, Ramsay. He appeared in 27 episodes and left in August 2009.
He also appeared in the 2008 Christmas special edition of Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
.
In May 2010, Sachs appeared as Tolliver Groat in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal is a two-part television adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob, which was first broadcast on Sky1, and in high definition on Sky1 HD, at the end of May 2010.It is the third in a...
.
Prank phone call controversy
On 25 October 2008, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
apologised to Sachs and his agent following criticism that Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
and Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
had made several obscene phone calls to him during an episode of The Russell Brand Show
The Russell Brand Show (radio show)
The Russell Brand Show is a radio show first broadcast in 2006 on BBC 6 Music. The show's host is English comedian Russell Brand, who is usually joined his by co-host and long-term friend, Matt Morgan, as well as the show's poet laureate, Greg "Mr Gee" Sekweyama...
recorded on 16 October and broadcast two days later, on which Sachs had agreed to appear. Both presenters had left explicit messages on Sachs' telephone answering machine stating that Russell Brand had had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie (a member of Burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
dance group Satanic Sluts Extreme). Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, the Prime Minister, criticised Ross and Brand's actions, saying that it was "clearly inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour", and the television watchdog, Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
, launched an enquiry into the matter. Afterwards, Brand and Controller of Radio 2 Lesley Douglas
Lesley Douglas
Lesley Douglas is a former British radio executive. She was the Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music from early 2004 until her resignation in October 2008 over the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row.-Early life:...
resigned with Ross soon suspended.
Selected filmography
- The Night We Dropped a ClangerThe Night We Dropped a ClangerThe Night We Dropped a Clanger is a 1959 British comedy thriller film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Brian Rix, Cecil Parker, William Hartnell and Leslie Phillips. A British secret agent takes part in a secret operation in occupied France during the Second World War...
(1959) - Nothing BarredNothing BarredNothing Barred is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Brian Rix, Leo Franklyn and Naunton Wayne.-Main cast:* Brian Rix - Wilfred Sapling* Leo Franklyn - Barger* Naunton Wayne - Lord Whitebait* Charles Heslop - Spankworth...
(1961) - The History of Mr Polly (BBC series in five parts) (1980)