Mr. Lee Grant

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Mr. Lee Grant
Mr Lee Grant.jpg
Mr. Lee Grant
Background information
Birth nameBogdan Kominowski
Born (1945-04-22) 22 April 1945 (age 80)
OriginPolish
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer, Actor
InstrumentVocals
Years active1964–present

Bogdan Kominowski (born 22 April 1945) is a New Zealand singer and actor. [1] He is also known by his stage name, Mr. Lee Grant. He has had a successful singing and acting career, having starred in stage shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Elvis , television shows, and the James Bond movie A View to a Kill .

Contents

Early life

Bogdan Kominowski was born in a Nazi German concentration camp just outside of Düsseldorf, to Polish parents. His father died in the camp, but he and his mother survived and in 1949, emigrated to New Zealand where they settled in Palmerston North.

Kominowski left school in 1963 and enrolled at Palmerston North Teachers College, after which he taught at West End School. While there he displayed considerable talent not only as a musician and singer, but also an artist. One particular teacher (Mrs. M. Foster) was so delighted with the friezes he drew around the top of her blackboard that she made a considerable effort to retain them even after he left teaching. He was well-liked by all his pupils and fellow teachers.

Kominowski's first interest in music came when he joined a local band called The Cyclones.

A friend of Kominowski's knew DJ Keith Richardson, who ran youth dances in the Hawkes Bay area, and he managed to get him some gigs there. According to Richardson's autobiography Never a Dull Moment, Richardson decided that Bogdan Kominowski was a bit of a handful. However, it was Sylvia Richardson, Richardson's wife, who came up with a new name, Lee Grant. The Mr was added to avoid confusion with an Auckland actress Lee Grant (there is also a US actress of that name).

Mr. Lee Grant's first recording was "Doo-Doodle-Do-Doo"/"As Long As I Have You" on Viscount in 1965. To promote the record, he travelled to Auckland for an appearance on Teen Scene . It was while doing that show, he met reporter, Dianne Cadwallader. She decided to become his manager and groomed the 21-year-old as a presentable soloist. Cadwallander secured guest spots at Teenarama in Wellington and a recording contract with HMV. She had him dressed by a Wellington fashion mogul and he quickly became New Zealand's Mr. Mod. After two unsuccessful singles, Cadwallander managed to get him a spot on the hit New Zealand music show, C'Mon.

Music career

C'mon

Mr Lee Grant meets a fan in 1968 Mr Lee Grant.jpg
Mr Lee Grant meets a fan in 1968

The producer, Kevin Moore, was impressed and contracted Mr. Lee Grant as resident vocalist on C'Mon. During 1966–67 he went on three brief tours around New Zealand as a support artist to the Sandy Edmonds, Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers and The Yardbirds package. This gave him quite a high level of exposure by the time C'Mon kicked off in February 1967.

Towards the end of the first C'Mon series HMV released the single "Opportunity", which entered the National Charts at number 17. By the time Mr. Lee Grant had completed The Animals and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's tour five weeks later, "Opportunity" was at number one on the charts in May 1967.

His next single "Thanks To You" was released in September 1967 just prior to the "Golden Disc Spectacular". "Thanks To You" also made it to number one on the National Charts and collected the 1967 Loxene Golden Disc award. To complete a magnificent year, Mr. Lee Grant also picked up the NEBOA Award for "Entertainer of the Year"

A new single "Movin' Away" in December 1967 stalled at the number two position. Then with a failure for the next – "Ave Maria" – not even making the charts, he was rescued by the follow-up single "Why Or Where Or When", which had him back at number one in March 1968, just as Mr. Lee Grant was preparing to leave for Britain.

London

On 3 March 1968, Mr. Lee Grant, the biggest male star since Johnny Devlin, flew out of Auckland bound for London. In his absence, he scored two more Top 10 hits in New Zealand. In June 1968 "Rivers Run Dry" reached number 5 and "Bless You" reached number 6 in August.

Being away from his Australian fans, Mr. Lee Grant's popularity soon plummeted, and his record sales came to a halt. He did release some singles in England, however, as Lee Grant, but none of them were successful.

Resurgence through acting

Success as a pop star in England was never realised, so Kominowski turned to stage, TV and film under his birth name. He played roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Elvis, and TV shows such as the revival of Oh Boy and Brushstrokes.

In 1993 Kominowski appeared in the title role of The Phantom in the Australia/New Zealand production of Ken Hill's 1976 Phantom of the Opera musical (best known as being the inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber's better-known version).

Along with Frankie Stevens who appeared in Diamonds Are Forever , Kominowski is one of two New Zealand singing stars to have appeared in a James Bond movie. He played the part of Klotkoff, a KGB agent in the 1985 film A View to a Kill .

Discography

In 2001 EMI released a CD called The Very Best of Mr. Lee Grant.

Singles

Song TitleHighest NZ Chart PositionYear
"Doo-Doodle-Do-Doo"1965
"Mind How You Go"1966
"Opportunity"No. 11967
"Thanks To You"No. 11967
"Movin' Away"No. 21967
"'Ave Maria"1968
"Why or Where or When"No. 11968
"Rivers Run Dry"No. 51968
"Bless You"No. 61968
"A Little Love And Understanding"1970
"What Am I Gonna Do"1971
"Mechanical Man"1972
"You Keep on Dancin'"1972
"Come on Dance"1974

Albums

Mr. Lee Grant (#1, 1967)

Mr. Lee in London (#3, 1968)

The Very Best of Mr. Lee Grant (2001)

Partial filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980 Flash Gordon Lieutenant of Ming's Air ForceFilm
1981 To the Manor Born 2nd SurveyorEpisode: "Station Closing"
1982 Whoops Apocalypse Arch Mullah OperatorEpisode; "The Violent Hour"
1983 Reilly: Ace of Spies Peters3 episodes
1985 A View to a Kill KlotkoffFilm
1986 Lytton's Diary Tennis CoachEpisode: "Rules of Engagement"
1987 Sorry! SandyEpisode: "Dream Time"
1989 Confessional Turkin1 episode
The Paradise Club Elvis Look-AlikeEpisode: "Bring On the Cavalry"
1990–1991 Brush Strokes Marcello Morella7 episodes
1995 The Ghostbusters of East Finchley Psycho1 episode
2004 The Bill Nikolai SemanovaEpisode: "Crocodile Tears"
2014 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Mr. BorovskyFilm
Vera Walter KraszewskiEpisode: "On Harbour Street"

See also

References

  1. Marks, Ian D.; McFarlane, Ian; McIntyre, Iain (2011). Wild about You!: The Sixties Beat Explosion in Australia and New Zealand. Verse Chorus Press. p. 146. ISBN   9781891241284 . Retrieved 21 September 2015.