Brian Protheroe (born 16 June 1944) is an English musician, actor and narrator. He is best known for his first single, "

Pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

", which was released in August 1974, and entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. He has narrated the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

dating show '' First Dates'' since 2015.

Career

Music

Protheroe was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, to a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

father and English mother. He joined a local

church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

when he was twelve years old, and started piano lessons at about the same time. The music of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

inspired him to start learning the guitar. He joined a rock band called the Coasters (not to be confused with the similarly titled United States outfit) as lead singer in 1961, and also joined an

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

group called the Studio Theatre. Protheroe's first job was a

library assistant A library technician or library assistant is a skilled library and information paraprofessional trained to perform the day-to-day functions of a library, and assists librarians in the acquisition, preparation, and organization of information. They a ...

for a year followed by three years as a student technician in a hospital pathology laboratory. Musical influences around this time were

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

Josh White Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sout ...

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was ...

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

and the choral church music of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

. Protheroe joined the folk group Folk Blues Incorporated (FBI) when he was nineteen, while at this time listening to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. He came to London with FBI in 1965, and played in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

in and around London. In 1966, Protheroe began his career as an actor. His first job was with his local

repertory theatre A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

in Salisbury. He worked there for about seven months then spent the next five years in various theatre companies around Britain, developing his musical skills as well as becoming an experienced actor. In 1968, he worked for nearly two years in a theatre company in Lincoln, where he met Martin Duncan who was also a musician, writer and actor. Over the next few years they collaborated on various musical and artistic projects. In 1973, Protheroe was playing the part of a pop singer in a play called ''Death on Demand'', when a representative from

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright A ...

heard a song he had written for the show. His first single, "

", was released in August 1974, and it entered the

at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. Then followed by an album of the same name. The follow-up single "Fly Now" made

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

's "Capital Countdown" chart. This was followed over the next couple of years by two more albums – ''Pick Up'' and ''I/You'' (which featured Simon Phillips, as well as

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist ...

and

Barriemore Barlow Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow (born 10 September 1949, Birmingham) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980. Christened Barrie, 'Barriemore' was an affectation ...

of Jethro Tull). All three of Protheroe's original Chrysalis albums were produced by Del Newman and engineered by Richard Dodd. The song "Pick-Up"" was the centrepiece of a cabaret show called ''KinoTata'' which was put on by Martin Duncan, Protheroe's oft-times lyrical collaborator.Brian Protheroe. ''Pinball and Other Stories'', EMI, 2006, liner notes Protheroe's songs are noted for their use of wordplay, some nonsensical, in the vein of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. Most of his songs feature lyrics he wrote, but "Changing My Tune", "Oh, Weeping Will" and "Dancing on Black Ice" had lyrics written by Martin Duncan, and it seems Duncan was the one responsible for more of the wordplay.

Acting

A developing acting career found Protheroe, in 1976, starring in the London production of the

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and con ...

, ''Leave Him to Heaven'' at the

New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

. Temporarily laying aside his career in music, he focused on theatre, television and film. He also has a small role in the 1978 film ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

'' as a co-pilot of Air Force One. In 1982 he was cast in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

play ''

Spider's Web A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word '' coppe'', meaning "spider") is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. ...

'' by

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...

, and in the following year played the role of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...

in the

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, it ...

productions of ''Henry VI, Part 2'', ''Henry VI, Part 3'' and ''Richard III''. In 1984 he played in the West End musical '' Pump Boys and Dinettes'' on piano and vocals and percussion. In 1997 Basta Records released a

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

of the first three albums from the 1970s, with an additional disc of unreleased material in a

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

, ''Brian's Big Box''. The advent of the internet allowed for a resurgence in interest in his musical career. He released the collection ''Citysong'' in 2005. It was described as a "new single with seventeen bonus tracks and two movies". It included the new song "Holyoke Hotel" as well as two homemade

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...

. After remastering his original tapes at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

, EMI studios released a

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

collection called '' Pinball and Other Stories'' in 2006. In 2002 Protheroe played the role of Gower in

Adrian Noble Adrian Keith Noble (born 19 July 1950) is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003. Education and career Noble was born in Chichester, Sussex, England. After le ...

's production of ''

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

''. In 2007 he was cast as

Saruman Saruman, also called Saruman the White, is a fictional character of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, ...

in the original stage musical version of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

''. Performances began at London's

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

on 21 June 2007. Protheroe played his final performance at the end of his year contract in June 2008. In 2012 he appeared in '' Hunted'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and HBO. His television work includes: ''

Reilly, Ace of Spies ''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits ...

'', '' Gentlemen and Players'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', ''

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less ''Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less'' was Jeffrey Archer's first novel, first published in 1976. It was said to have been inspired by Archer's real-life experience of near-bankruptcy. Synopsis Harvey Metcalfe, a Polish immigrant to the United ...

'' (for which he also sang the title song), ''

55 Degrees North ''55 Degrees North'' is a BBC television drama series starring Don Gilet as DS Nicky Cole, a London detective relocated to Newcastle upon Tyne after exposing police corruption. Dervla Kirwan co-stars as Claire Maxwell, an ambitious solicito ...

'', ''

North and South North and South may refer to: Literature * ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell * ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987) ** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', ''

Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...

'', ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'' and '' Doctors''. More recently he appeared in the eighth series of '' Spooks'', in which he played the part of Samuel Walker, a senior CIA officer based in London. His personal website includes his extensive theatre, television and theatre experiences.

Discography

Albums

*''Pinball'' (1974),

Chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

*''Pick Up'' (1975), Chrysalis *''I/You'' (1976), Chrysalis *''Leave Him to Heaven'' (1976), Chrysalis *''The Cookie Jar'' (2018), independent * ''Desert Road'' (2020), independent

Singles

" (1974), Chrysalis *"Pinball" / "Money Love" (1974), Chrysalis *"Fly Now" (1974), Chrysalis *"The Good Brand Band Song" (1975), Chrysalis *"Running Through the City" (1974), Chrysalis *"Scobo Queen" (1974), Chrysalis *"Citysong" (2005), Basta *"Venice" (digital only) (2012), independent *"Broken Bridges" (digital only) (2013), independent *"Sad Song" (digital only) (2016), independent *"Night Traveller" (digital only) (2018), independent *"Enjoy It" (remix) (digital only) (2019), independent *"Fly Now" (digital only) (2020), independent

Compilations

*''Brian's Big Box'' (1997), Basta (contains 'Pinball', 'Pick Up' and 'I/You' plus a bonus album 'Unreleased') *'' Pinball and Other Stories'' (2006), EMI *''The Albums 1974-76'' (2020), Cherry Red (contains 'Pinball', 'Pick Up' and 'I/You' plus a total of five bonus tracks)

Filmography

*''

'' (1978) - Co Pilot (Superman's 1st Night) *''

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified f ...

'' Episode ''Duty Roster'' (1978) - Ward *'' A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square'' (1979) - Stan the Spinner *'' Metroland'' (1997) - Woody (uncredited) *''Il gioco'' (1999) *''Royal Shakespeare Company: The Merchant of Venice'' (2015) - Aragon *'' Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward'' (2015) - Archbishop Thordan VII *'' Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers'' (2019) - Seto, Bismarck

References

External links

Official website
*

* , recorded at The Troubadour, 2012, with Paul Jones on harmonica {{DEFAULTSORT:Protheroe, Brian 1944 births Living people English male television actors People from Salisbury English male singers British folk rock musicians English male stage actors Chrysalis Records artists The Albion Band members

Career

Music

Acting

Discography

Albums

Singles

Compilations

Filmography

See also

References

External links