Jimmy Nail | |
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![]() Nail at the Sunday for Sammy concert in Newcastle, February 2020 | |
Born | James Michael Patrick Aloysius Bradford 16 March 1954 Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
Occupation(s) | Actor, author, vocalist, songwriter, screenwriter, producer |
Years active | 1982–2005, 2008-2009, 2012, 2013-2016, 2020, 2024-present |
Musical career | |
Genres | Pop, rock, soul, country |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
Labels | Virgin, East West, Papillon |
James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and the title role in Spender . He also recorded a 1992 number one single, "Ain't No Doubt". His role as Agustín Magaldi, the oily crooner in the 1996 film Evita , gave him international recognition.
James Michael Aloysius Bradford was born in Newcastle upon Tyne to father Jimmy and mother Laura. His father was an Irish Catholic shipyard worker, amateur boxer, and professional footballer. Nail describes himself as an angry child who was expelled from secondary school for setting fire to curtains. When he was 13, his sister, Shelagh, died at the age of 20. [1] He later spent time drinking, fighting, and generally rebelling against authority. He was involved in a fight after a Newcastle United F.C. match during the 1970s and served a short prison sentence for grievous bodily harm. [2] [3]
After being released, he worked in a glass factory. While opening a crate of glass he stood on a six-inch spike that went through his foot and thereafter was called "Nail", [1] a name he later adopted professionally. Also at that time he sang in a rock band called the King Crabs. [4] His sister Val McLane is an actress who co-founded the Live Theatre Company in Newcastle in 1973 and later became Head of Drama at Sunderland University. [1]
Nail has enjoyed a wide and varied career since his big break in 1983, not only has he appeared in multiple television shows, he has appeared in several movies, released a number of albums and also acted on stage in various theatre productions.
In 1982 Nail's partner, Miriam, encouraged him to audition for a television show, and although he had no experience as an actor, [4] he won the role of "Oz" Osborne in the BAFTA-nominated Auf Wiedersehen, Pet , an ITV comedy drama about UK construction workers working abroad. [5] After a slow beginning in 1983, ratings reached 17 million. He also appeared in the second series, which aired for 13 weeks in 1986.
In 1989 Nail and Ian la Frenais began work on an idea which became the BBC television drama series Spender . It was the first British television series shot entirely in the North-East of England. Spender ran for three series, totalling 22 hours, airing from 1990-92, and included a 2-hour Christmas special in 1993. Ratings stayed around 14 million throughout the series' run.
In 1994 Nail created, executive produced, wrote and starred in the BBC television drama series Crocodile Shoes . Originally conceived as a single film for BBC2, the series ran on BBC1 for two series over 13 hours. Crocodile Shoes was the first UK television drama series to successfully integrate bespoke compositions, commissioned, written and recorded solely for the production, throughout its storylines. The series averaged around 9 million viewers per episode. The show's eponymous album went on to sell over one million copies.
In 2000, he began work on reviving the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series, this time for the BBC. It was filmed in Middlesbrough and Arizona in 2001 and aired in 2002, with audience figures of 12.9 million. The series was BAFTA-nominated. Another series saw the brickies holed up in Havana, and the final two-hour instalment, set in Laos, broadcast over Christmas 2004 attracting over seven million viewers. [6]
In 2008, Nail created and starred as Phil Parker in Parents of the Band , a six-episode series on BBC1, broadcast between November 2008 and January 2009. The series revolved around a group of teenagers who formed a band just for their own enjoyment, and their parents, who fully expected them to be the next Led Zeppelin. [7] Ratings were disappointing, around three million viewers. [8]
Before becoming an actor, Nail had been a musician for many years on the local scene in Newcastle and was most notably the lead singer in the King Crabs, known locally as The Crabs. He was renowned for performing in his girlfriend's dress and a pair of Doc Marten boots.
Following his success in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, record companies became interested in Nail releasing a record. In 1985, he recorded the album, Take It Or Leave It, which included the single, "Love Don't Live Here Anymore", a cover of the Rose Royce hit. It was a hit for Nail, peaking at No. 3 in the charts and leading to his first appearance on Top of the Pops . After that success, his music career took a back seat.
After seven years away, Nail re-emerged in 1992 with the pop hit Ain't No Doubt , co-written by Nail, Danny Schogger, Guy Pratt and Charlie Dore. It peaked at No. 1 and spent three weeks at the top of the charts, leading to multiple appearances on Top of the Pops. The album, Growing Up In Public, was also a success and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Album Charts. The album featured guests such as Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Elliot Randall and George Harrison.
Nail's music career took off, and his third album, Crocodile Shoes, was released in conjunction with the television programme, Crocodile Shoes, which began airing on BBC1 in November 1994. Not only was the title track a hit, peaking at No. 4, further singles, "Cowboy Dreams" and "Calling Out Your Name" also hit the charts, with the album itself peaking at No. 2, selling over a million copies. [9]
In 1995, his fourth release hit the shelves, Big River , which hit No. 8, scoring yet another Top 10 album. The title track, which was a tribute to his hometown of Newcastle, was also a success, peaking at No. 18 and saw Nail perform it on Top of the Pops. Mark Knopfler also featured on the track as guest guitarist. A version of John Lennon's "Love" was also released as a single and hit No. 33 in the charts towards the end of 1995.
In 1996, Crocodile Shoes II was released, once again in conjunction with the television series. While it did not hit the heights of the first release, the album still performed well, peaking at No. 10. The lead single, "Country Boy", peaked at No. 25.
In 1997, Nail's back catalogue was deemed good enough to release a compilation, The Nail File: The Best of Jimmy Nail, which also had an accompanying VHS which included all the music videos for the tracks. While it included all the hits from his career, it included a new track, a cover of "Black and White", where he duetted with Ranking Roger. It was released as a single and peaked at No. 76.
In 1999, Tadpoles In A Jar was released and hit No. 79 in the charts. Ten Great Songs and an OK Voice (Papillon, 2001) was an album comprising many of his favourite songs by other writers. [10] Nail sang on the film soundtrack for Evita and received a double-platinum disk in recognition of 600,000-plus sales of the eponymous album. [11] "Big River" is often played prior to kick-off at Newcastle United's home, St James' Park.
With Tim Healy, Nail co-founded the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, established in 1999 in memory of their friend and colleague Sammy Johnson, to help young talent in North East England. He has participated in the Sunday for Sammy benefit concerts. [12] [13] To date the fund has given out over £600,000 in bursaries and support. Nail performed at the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 shows before he resigned from the board due to work commitments.
After some time away from the limelight, Nail joined Sting on stage during a show at Sage, Gateshead on 5 February 2012 to sing on "Every Breath You Take". [14]
Nail worked as an extra on the British gangster film Get Carter (1971). Although this has been disputed in some quarters, in his 2004 autobiography A Northern Soul (paperback edition pp. 69-70, 133, 175-176) he confirms his involvement in the movie, albeit momentarily, and how he got to joke about that "moment" some years later with Get Carter director Mike Hodges when the two worked together on Morons From Outer Space (1985).
Nail played gamekeeper "Rabbetts" in Danny, the Champion of the World , a 1989 television film based on the novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, [15] and had a lead singing role in the 1996 film adaptation of Evita.
In 1998 Nail played Les Wickes in the Columbia Pictures film Still Crazy . The film's main theme, "The Flame Still Burns", performed by Nail, was nominated for a Golden Globe award.
In 2014 Nail came out of retirement to act and sing in The Last Ship , a musical by Sting about the shipbuilders of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the hometown of both Nail and Sting. Sting grew up in Wallsend, down the street from the shipyards. Nail worked in the shipyards and is the son of a shipyard foreman. The show opened in Chicago. On Broadway, when ticket sales began to drop, Sting replaced Nail to try to save the musical, but it ended after a short run. Nail sang on the Original Broadway Cast Recording and on Sting's album, The Last Ship . [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
Nail played Parson Nathaniel in a twelve week run of the Bill Kenwright production of War of the Worlds alongside David Essex and Michael Praed at the Dominion Theatre, London in 2016. [21]
Nail had been due to reprise his role in the UK production of The Last Ship at Northern Stage on 12 March 2018. The show's producer Karl Sydow stated: "After protracted negotiations carried out in good faith, we regret to announce the production's offer of employment to Jimmy Nail has been withdrawn. Joe McGann will replace him when the show opens in Newcastle in March." Nail said "I was very much looking forward to appearing in Sting's The Last Ship, particularly here in my home city, sadly that's not to be."
In 2019 Nail began working on Seconds Away!, a play with music, for the Newcastle-based Live Theatre Company. This culminated in a two-week run of a staged reading of the play, which commenced on 6 February 2024. [22] Nail has written the songs in the show and also plays the main character, Frankie Tanner.
In 2004, Nail successfully sued News Group Newspapers and Harper Collins Publishers. The lawsuit concerned false and defamatory allegations made two years before in an article in News of the World and Nailed, a biography which was the newspaper's source for the claims. He described reading the article as one of the worst experiences of his life. [23] [24] He reportedly received damages of £30,000. [23]
Nail has two children and lives in Newcastle. [1] He is a Newcastle United fan. [25] He has been a patron of FACT, a North-East based cancer charity, since 2017.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1985 | Morons from Outer Space | Desmond | |
Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf | Dom | ||
1988 | Crusoe | Tarik | |
Dream Demon | Paul | ||
Just Ask for Diamond | Boyle | ||
1989 | Danny, the Champion of the World | Rabbetts | |
1996 | Evita | Agustín Magaldi | |
1998 | Still Crazy | Les Wickes | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1983–1984, 1986, 2002, 2004 | Auf Wiedersehen, Pet | Leonard Jeffrey "Oz" Osborne | 40 episodes |
1983 | Spyship | Metcalfe | 2 episodes |
1984 | Minder | Nathan Loveridge | Episode: "The Car Lot Baggers" |
Master of the Game | Schmidt | Episode 1 Miniseries | |
1985 | Blott on the Landscape | Edwards | Episode: "Cards on the Table" |
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story | Vilmos Langfelder | Television film | |
1986 | Nicking Kids | Criminal 1 | |
Lenny Henry Tonite | Guest star | Episode: "Neighbourhood Watch" | |
Educating Oz | Oz Osborne | Television film | |
Shoot for the Sun | Geordie | ||
1991–1993 | Spender | Freddie Spender | 21 episodes Also writer, producer and creator |
1994 | Crocodile Shoes | Jed Shepperd | 7 episodes Also writer, executive producer, creator and director/co-director |
1996 | Crocodile Shoes II | 6 episodes Also writer, executive producer and creator | |
2000 | The 10th Kingdom | Clayface the Goblin | Miniseries |
2008–2009 | Parents of the Band | Phil Parker | 6 episodes Also creator, executive producer and title music composer |
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.
Kevin Whately is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Neville "Nev" Hope in the British comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet; Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse (1987–2000) and Lewis (2006–2015); and Jack Kerruish in the drama series Peak Practice, although he has appeared in numerous other roles.
Timothy Malcolm Healy is an English actor. He played Dennis Patterson in the comedy-drama series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–2004), Les/Lesley Conroy in the sitcom Benidorm (2009–2018), and Gastric in the comedy series Still Open All Hours (2014–2019).
Dick Clement is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Ian La Frenais is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge and its sequel Going Straight, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Gary Frederick Holton was a British singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids (1972–1977), worked with Casino Steel (1981–1984), and played the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–1985). Holton died from an overdose of morphine combined with alcohol in 1985.
Crocodile Shoes is a British 13-part television drama set across two series and was made by the BBC. It was screened on BBC1 in 1994 and in 1996.
Spender is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1991 and 1993, finishing with a feature-length special, The French Collection, broadcast on 29 December 1993. A total of twenty-one episodes were produced. The first and second series were produced by Martin McKeand, while the third and final series was produced by Paul Raphaël and Peter McAleese.
Alan Clark is an English musician who was the first keyboardist and co-producer of the rock band Dire Straits. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a significant member of the band.
Joe Fagin was an English pop/rock singer-songwriter. He was best known for the 1984 chart hit "Breakin' Away / That's Livin' Alright", and for singing a version of "As Time Goes By" for the 1990s BBC comedy series of the same name starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.
The Sunday Sun is a regional Sunday newspaper on sale in North East England, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, published in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Reach plc. First published on 31 August 1919 as The Sunday Sun, the name was changed to the Sunday Sun between 1954 and 1967.
Val McLane is an English actress, scriptwriter, director and teacher. Her younger brother is actor and musician Jimmy Nail.
Ronald Samuel Johnson was an English actor.
"Crocodile Shoes" is a single by Jimmy Nail. It was written for the television drama Crocodile Shoes, and became a chart hit for Nail in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Sweden in 1994 and 1995. It is featured on the album of the same name.
Crocodile Shoes II is a British six-part television series made by the BBC and screened on BBC One in 1996. The follow-up to Crocodile Shoes, it was written by Jimmy Nail with Nick Mead as script associate.
Sunday for Sammy is a series of biennial charity concerts held in aid of the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, which benefits young performers. The fund was established in memorial to Sammy Johnson, an actor from North East England, who died suddenly in 1998.
Crocodile Shoes is an album by Jimmy Nail consisting of "original songs from the BBC Television serial" of the same name. It was released in 1994 by East West Records and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. It was the Christmas number two album that year.
Tarquin Gotch is a British entertainment industry executive, having worked in the music and later on in film business since the late 1970s.
Brendan Healy was a British entertainer from North East England. Beginning as a musician, he worked in television, becoming an actor, theatre writer and producer, and, later, a comedian.
James Bate was a British television, film and stage actor.