John Leyton
Birthday: Born in 1939-02-17 in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English actor and singer. Leyton as a singer is best known for his hit song "Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961 despite being banned by the BBC for its death references. His follow-up single, "Wild Wind", reached number two in the charts. Alongside singing, Leyton's acting career saw him appearing in television and films throughout the 1960s. His films included The Great Escape, Guns at Batasi, Von Ryan's Express and Krakatoa, East of Java. In 2009 he also had a small role in the film Telstar, a biopic based on Joe Meek's life in which Leyton himself was portrayed by Callum Dixon.
TV Credits
Ready Steady Go!
Character: Self
Ready Steady Go! is one of the UK's first rock/pop music television programmes and was a forerunner of MTV-type programming. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the show's producer, and Michael Lindsay-Hogg who was appointed the show's director in 1965. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966. It was produced by Associated-Rediffusion the weekday ITV contractor for London, called Red...
Jericho
Character:
Jericho is an American espionage series set during World War II. The series stars John Leyton, Don Francks and Marino Masé as secret agents, and aired on CBS from September 1966, to January 1967....
Jukebox Heroes
Character: Self
Series on the unsung heroes of British pop....
Biggles
Character: Ginger
Biggles was a Detective Air Inspector attached to Scotland Yard. Helping him was Ginger & Bertie and they fought against villains like von Stalhein. Aimed at a younger audience there was plenty of action, excitement, death traps and even some flying with each adventure ending in a cliff hanger with the viewers told to tune in next week for more daring adventures....
The Nearly Man
Character: Brian Griffin
The Nearly Man was a UK TV series from the mid-1970s created by Arthur Hopcraft about a middle-class Labour MP. Originally screened on ITV on 4 August 1974, the series won the Broadcasting Press Guild award for the best single play on British television in 1974. The series was filmed in London by Granada Television, in black and white. Some episodes were directed by British director John Irvin. The main cast included Tony Britton as the lead character, Anne Firbank, John Leyton, and Ian McCulloc...
Movie Credits
Von Ryan's Express
Character: Lt. Orde
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding....
The Great Escape
Character: Willie 'Tunnel King'
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story....
Schizo
Character: Alan Falconer
A recently-married woman who has been labeled as mentally unstable, begins to suspect that someone close to her is the culprit in a sudden string of murders....
Guns at Batasi
Character: Private Wilkes
An anachronistic martinet RSM on a remote Colonial African army caught in a local coup d'etat must use his experience to defend those in his care....
It's Trad, Dad!
Character: Himself
The hero and heroine want to popularize a trad jazz in their town. Some older people feel displeased about a trad jazz, and prevent their trying. The hero and heroine go to London television studio to ask trad jazz musician to support their trial....
A Life in the Death of Joe Meek
Character: Self
This documentary chronicles the rise, fall and resurrection of Joe Meek. It shows, due in equal measures to his pioneering DIY recording techniques, hit-making philosophy and a life full of social, psychological and sexual obstacles....
Every Day's a Holiday
Character: Gerry Pullman
A group of teenagers take jobs at a holiday camp for the summer and enter a TV talent show...
The Idol
Character: Timothy
A rebellious student embarks on an affair with the mother of his best friend, leading to disastrous consequences....
I'm All Right Jack
Character: Recruit to Detto (uncredited)
Naive Stanley Windrush returns from the war, his mind set on a successful career in business. Much to his own dismay, he soon finds he has to start from the bottom and work his way up, and also that the management as well as the trade union use him as a tool in their fight for power....
Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective
Character: Dave Boot
When D. C. Dangerous Davies, not held in high regard by his superiors, is assigned to find a notorious criminal kingpin, he uncovers the details of 15-year-old cold case....
Colour Me Kubrick
Character: Lord Charles Benson
The true story of a man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut, despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him....
Telstar: The Joe Meek Story
Character: Sir Edward
Set against a backdrop of early '60s London, Telstar is the story of the world's first independent record producer, Joe Meek. A maverick genius who enjoyed phenomenal success with Telstar – the biggest selling record of it's time – before bad luck, depression, heartbreak and paranoia led to his downfall....
Krakatoa, East of Java
Character: Rigby
A team of maritime salvage workers are about to embark on a recovery dive. However the 1883 Krakatoa Volcano eruption provides more pressing problems....
The Very Strange Story of the Legendary Joe Meek
Character: Himself
Documentary about the influential pop composer and record producer Joe Meek, who died in dramatic circumstances in 1967 after a bizarre childhood and a career, often controversial, which spanned the period from the mid-50s to the rise of the Beatles in the 60s. At the end of his life he was suffering from paranoid delusions that people were watching him through walls. Alan Lewens' film charts an Ortonesque tale of post-war Britain....
Baby Talk
Character: Steve
It's such a simple, natural thing to have a baby, thinks Mary. But she and husband Paul are preoccupied with their careers. Can their young neighbour Tessa help, or are the emotions around a new baby more complex than anyone had expected?...
Danger Within
Character: POW (uncredited)
Drama set in an Italian prisoner of war camp during World War 2, where a group of British soldiers find their plans for escape thwarted by a mysterious traitor in their midst....
The Unexpected Return of Mr Meek
Character: Self
The Unexpected Return of Mr. Meek is a music documentary exploring the groundbreaking career and tragic life of 1960s producer Joe Meek. A visionary innovator and queer icon, Meek shaped modern music while battling personal demons in a hostile era. Featuring music legends and new artists reworking his unreleased tracks, the film reintroduces Meek’s genius to a new generation....