Victor Spinetti
Encyclopedia
Victor Spinetti is a Welsh
comic actor.
, Wales
of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy
to Wales
to work as a coal miner. His parents, Giuseppe and Lily (née Watson), owned the chip shop in Cwm, over which premises the family lived and where Spinetti was born. He was educated at Monmouth School
and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, of which he is now a Fellow. Early on he was a waiter and a factory worker.
films in the 1960s, A Hard Day's Night
, Help!
and Magical Mystery Tour
. He also appeared on one of The Beatles' Christmas recordings. The best explanation for this long-running collaboration and friendship might have been provided by George Harrison
, who said, "You've got to be in all our films ... if you're not in them me Mum won't come and see them—because she fancies you." But Harrison would also say, "You've got a lovely karma, Vic." Sir Paul McCartney described Spinetti as "the man who makes clouds disappear". Spinetti would later make a small appearance in the promotional video for Paul's song, 'London Town', off the 1978 album of the same name. In July 2010 his performance of the song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
", at The Festival Theatre, Malvern
, would be later made available on "The Beatles Complete on Ukulele" podcast.
Spinetti has appeared in more than 31 films, including Zeffirelli's
The Taming of the Shrew
, Under Milk Wood
with Elizabeth Taylor
and Richard Burton
, Becket, Start the Revolution Without Me
, Voyage of the Damned
, The Return of the Pink Panther
and Under the Cherry Moon
and The Krays
.
Theatre Workshop
produced many memorable performances including Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
(1959, by Frank Norman
, with music by Lionel Bart
), and Oh! What a Lovely War
(1963), which transferred to New York City
and for which he won a Tony Award
for his main role as an obnoxious Drill Sergeant. He has appeared in the West End
in The Odd Couple
(as Felix); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
in the West End; as Albert Einstein
in a critically lauded performance in 2005 in a new play, Albert's Boy at the Finborough Theatre
in 2005 and in his own one-man show, A Very Private Diary.
One of Spinetti's most challenging theatre roles was as the principal male character in Jane Arden
's radical feminist play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven, which played to packed houses for six weeks at the Arts Lab
on Drury Lane
in 1969. In 1980 he directed The Biograph Girl
, a musical about the silent film
era, at the Phoenix Theatre
. He has also appeared on Broadway in The Hostage
and The Philanthropist
. He has also acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company
, in such roles as Lord Foppington in The Relapse
and the Archbishop in Richard III
.
Spinetti co-authored In His Own Write
, the play with John Lennon
which he also directed at the National Theatre
, premiering on 18 June 1968, at the Old Vic
. Spinetti and Lennon appeared together in June 1968 on BBC2's Release
. During the interview, Spinetti said of the play,
He also directed Jesus Christ Superstar
and Hair
, including productions staged in Europe. His many television appearances on British
TV
, include Take My Wife in which he played a London-based booking agent and schemer who was forever promising his comedian client that fame was just around the corner, and the sitcom An Actor's Life For Me
. In September 2008 Spinetti reprised his one-man show, A Very Private Diary, touring the UK, as A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!, telling his life story.
, alongside Sid James
, as one half of Two In Clover
over two series. A sitcom about two office workers who jack it all in to become farmers, he starred in all but one of the 13 episodes. His absence in episode #3 of the second series was covered by fellow Welsh actor Richard Davies
, playing Spinetti's character's brother.
In the 1970s Spinetti appeared in a series of television advertisements for McVities' (now United Biscuits
) Jaffa Cakes, as "The Mad Jaffa Cake Eater", a Mexican bandit style character who surreptitiously stole and ate other people's Jaffa Cakes, prompting the catchphrase "There's Orangey!" He hosted Victor's Party for Granada
. More recently he voiced arch villain Texas Pete in the popular S4C
animated TV series SuperTed
and has narrated several Fireman Sam
audiobooks. In 1992, He voiced The King of the Rats in the British children's programme, Tales Of The Tooth Fairies-The Stolen Present on BBC
. In 1995 he appeared in an episode of Bottom with Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as Audrey the Maitre d'. Spinetti also starred in Boobs in the Wood with Jim Davidson
, filmed for DVD in 1999.
From 1999 to 2002 Victor played Max, the 'man of a thousand faces', in the popular Children's TV programme Harry and the Wrinklies
, which also starred Nick Robinson
(Goodnight Mister Tom) in the title role.
, on his show broadcast on 7 September 2008, Spinetti revealed that Princess Margaret had been instrumental in securing the necessary censor permission for the first run of Oh! What A Lovely War
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
comic actor.
Early life
Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw ValeEbbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
to work as a coal miner. His parents, Giuseppe and Lily (née Watson), owned the chip shop in Cwm, over which premises the family lived and where Spinetti was born. He was educated at Monmouth School
Monmouth School
Monmouth School is an HMC boys' boarding and day school in Monmouth, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. It was founded in 1614 by William Jones. It is run as a trust, the William Jones's Schools Foundation, by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Livery Companies...
and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, of which he is now a Fellow. Early on he was a waiter and a factory worker.
Film career
Spinetti sprang to international prominence in three Beatles'The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
films in the 1960s, A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
, Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
and Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour (film)
Magical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...
. He also appeared on one of The Beatles' Christmas recordings. The best explanation for this long-running collaboration and friendship might have been provided by George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, who said, "You've got to be in all our films ... if you're not in them me Mum won't come and see them—because she fancies you." But Harrison would also say, "You've got a lovely karma, Vic." Sir Paul McCartney described Spinetti as "the man who makes clouds disappear". Spinetti would later make a small appearance in the promotional video for Paul's song, 'London Town', off the 1978 album of the same name. In July 2010 his performance of the song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney, but written by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles...
", at The Festival Theatre, Malvern
Malvern
-England:* Malvern, Worcestershire* Malvern Hills, a ridge of hills on the boundary of Herefordshire and Worcestershire* Malvern Hills , a local government district in WorcestershirePlaces in or near Malvern, Worcestershire...
, would be later made available on "The Beatles Complete on Ukulele" podcast.
Spinetti has appeared in more than 31 films, including Zeffirelli's
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)
The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare about a courtship between two strong-willed people...
, Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood (film)
Under Milk Wood is a 1972 British film directed by Andrew Sinclair and based on the radio play Under Milk Wood by the Welsh writer Dylan Thomas. It starred Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole. Like the book it portrays the inhabitants of a small Welsh village Llareggub....
with Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
and Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, Becket, Start the Revolution Without Me
Start the Revolution Without Me
Start the Revolution Without Me is a 1970 film directed by Bud Yorkin, starring Gene Wilder, Donald Sutherland, Hugh Griffith, Jack MacGowran, Billie Whitelaw, Orson Welles and Victor Spinetti. The comedy is set in revolutionary France where two peasants are mistaken for the famous swordsmen, the...
, Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned is the title of a 1974 book written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, which was the basis of a 1976 drama film with the same title.The story was inspired by true events concerning the fate of the MS St...
, The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark.Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief...
and Under the Cherry Moon
Under the Cherry Moon
Under the Cherry Moon is a 1986 film directed by and starring Prince as a gigolo named Christopher Tracy and Time member Jerome Benton as his partner, Tricky. Together, the pair swindle wealthy French women...
and The Krays
The Krays (film)
The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays...
.
Theatre
Spinetti's work in Joan Littlewood'sJoan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group noted for their director, Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company...
produced many memorable performances including Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be is a play with music, rather than a musical. The play, by Frank Norman, himself a Cockney, has music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, who also grew up in London's East End.-Production background:...
(1959, by Frank Norman
Frank Norman
Frank Norman was a British novelist and playwright.His reputation rests on his first memoir Bang to Rights and his musical play Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be , but much of the remainder of his work remains fresh and readable...
, with music by Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
), and Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
(1963), which transferred to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and for which he won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his main role as an obnoxious Drill Sergeant. He has appeared in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
(as Felix); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...
in the West End; as Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
in a critically lauded performance in 2005 in a new play, Albert's Boy at the Finborough Theatre
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
in 2005 and in his own one-man show, A Very Private Diary.
One of Spinetti's most challenging theatre roles was as the principal male character in Jane Arden
Jane Arden
Jane Arden was an internationally syndicated daily newspaper comic strip which ran from 1927 to 1968. The title character was the original "spunky girl reporter," actively seeking to infiltrate and expose criminal activity rather than just report on its consequences and served as a prototype for...
's radical feminist play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven, which played to packed houses for six weeks at the Arts Lab
Arts Lab
The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK and continental Europe, including the expanded I.C.A...
on Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
in 1969. In 1980 he directed The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl is a musical with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, directors D.W...
, a musical about the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era, at the Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre (London)
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....
. He has also appeared on Broadway in The Hostage
The Hostage (play)
The Hostage is a loose 1958 English version, with songs, adapted in a much longer text from a one-act Irish language play An Giall, by its author, Brendan Behan.-Plot:...
and The Philanthropist
The Philanthropist
The Philanthropist is a quarterly academic journal devoted to the legal, management and accounting issues facing charitable and not-for-profit organizations in Canada. It was founded as an occasional publication of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Canadian Bar Association - Ontario in...
. He has also acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, in such roles as Lord Foppington in The Relapse
The Relapse
The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's Love's Last Shift, or, Virtue Rewarded....
and the Archbishop in Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
.
Spinetti co-authored In His Own Write
In His Own Write
In His Own Write is a book from 1964 by John Lennon. The book consists of short stories and line drawings, often surreal and always nonsensical. It is notable in that it was the first solo Beatle project in any form...
, the play with John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
which he also directed at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, premiering on 18 June 1968, at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
. Spinetti and Lennon appeared together in June 1968 on BBC2's Release
Release
- Media :* Film release, the public distribution of a film* Legal release, a legal instrument* News release, a communication directed at the news media* Software release life cycle, the public distribution of software code and support materials...
. During the interview, Spinetti said of the play,
"it's not really John’s childhood, it's all of ours really, isn’t it John?" John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, assuming a camp voice answered "It is, we're all one Victor, we're all one aren't we. I mean 'what's going on?'" Spinetti said the play "is about the growing up of any of us; the things that helped us to be more aware".
He also directed Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
and Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
, including productions staged in Europe. His many television appearances on British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, include Take My Wife in which he played a London-based booking agent and schemer who was forever promising his comedian client that fame was just around the corner, and the sitcom An Actor's Life For Me
An Actor's Life For Me
An Actor's Life For Me is a sitcom that aired on BBC Radio 2 from 1989 to 1993 and on BBC television in 1991. Starring John Gordon-Sinclair and Gina McKee, it was written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who later co-wrote The Vicar of Dibley.-Radio:...
. In September 2008 Spinetti reprised his one-man show, A Very Private Diary, touring the UK, as A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!, telling his life story.
Television
Between 1969 and 1970 Spinetti appeared on Thames TelevisionThames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, alongside Sid James
Sid James
Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
, as one half of Two In Clover
Two In Clover
Two in Clover is a British sitcom that ran for two series from 1969 to 1970. It starred Sid James and Victor Spinetti and was written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver, and produced and directed by Alan Tarrant...
over two series. A sitcom about two office workers who jack it all in to become farmers, he starred in all but one of the 13 episodes. His absence in episode #3 of the second series was covered by fellow Welsh actor Richard Davies
Richard Davies (actor)
Richard Davies is a Welsh actor, from Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales whose film and TV work covers many years but is probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr Price in the LWT popular situation comedy Please Sir!.Davies uses a broad Welsh accent for much of his...
, playing Spinetti's character's brother.
In the 1970s Spinetti appeared in a series of television advertisements for McVities' (now United Biscuits
United Biscuits
__FORCETOC__United Biscuits is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of the BN biscuits, McVitie's biscuits, KP Nuts, Hula Hoops, The Real McCoy's crisps, Phileas Fogg snacks, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets...
) Jaffa Cakes, as "The Mad Jaffa Cake Eater", a Mexican bandit style character who surreptitiously stole and ate other people's Jaffa Cakes, prompting the catchphrase "There's Orangey!" He hosted Victor's Party for Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. More recently he voiced arch villain Texas Pete in the popular S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
animated TV series SuperTed
SuperTed
SuperTed is a Welsh teddy bear who has magical super powers. He along with his friend Spotty try to do good. SuperTed was a series of stories created by Mike Young who eventually created a television series based on those stories.-Creation:...
and has narrated several Fireman Sam
Fireman Sam
Fireman Sam is a Welsh animated children's television series about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the Welsh town of Pontypandy . The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from Kent...
audiobooks. In 1992, He voiced The King of the Rats in the British children's programme, Tales Of The Tooth Fairies-The Stolen Present on BBC
BBC
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...
. In 1995 he appeared in an episode of Bottom with Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as Audrey the Maitre d'. Spinetti also starred in Boobs in the Wood with Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson may refer to:* Jim Davidson , American actor* Jim Davidson , American football player, played for Ohio State Buckeyes and drafted by the Buffalo Bills* Jim Davidson , Australia author, see Meanjin...
, filmed for DVD in 1999.
From 1999 to 2002 Victor played Max, the 'man of a thousand faces', in the popular Children's TV programme Harry and the Wrinklies
Harry and the Wrinklies
Harry and the Wrinklies was a children's television series which produced three series between 1999 and 2002. The show was produced by Scottish TV and SMG TV Productions that aired on CITV. It was based on a novel of the same name by Alan Temperley. It starred Nick Robinson as the title role...
, which also starred Nick Robinson
Nick Robinson (actor)
Nick Robinson is a British actor who has appears regularly on British television, most famously as Willie Beech in Goodnight Mister Tom, starring the late John Thaw. He also played the lead in a three-part series based upon Harry and the Wrinklies, a novel by Alan Temperley, produced by Scottish...
(Goodnight Mister Tom) in the title role.
Writing
Spinetti's poetry, notably Watchers Along the Mall (1963), and prose, have appeared in various publications. His memoir, Victor Spinetti Up Front...: His Strictly Confidential Autobiography, published in September 2006, is filled with anecdotes. In conversation with BBC Radio 2's Michael BallMichael Ball (singer)
Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
, on his show broadcast on 7 September 2008, Spinetti revealed that Princess Margaret had been instrumental in securing the necessary censor permission for the first run of Oh! What A Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
.