Owen Money

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born Lynn Mittell, 16 May 1947) is a Welsh

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, actor,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

, and radio presenter. He was born in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

, Wales. In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, Money was made an

for services to entertainment in Wales.

The Bystanders

Mittell was bassist of Merthyr Tydfil-based band The Crescendos, who amalgamated with another Merthyr band ''The Rebels'' to form The Bystanders in 1962. Mittell changed his name to Gerry Braden, and became lead singer in a line-up with: * Micky Jones – guitar and vocals * Clive John - guitar, keyboards and vocals * Ray Williams - bass * Jeff Jones - drums The band signed to the record label Pylot records in 1963, with initial release ''"That's The End"'', with ''"This Time"'' as the 'B' side. They were then signed to Pye Records, where they released the double-sided cover single ''"98.6"'' (backed with

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's ''"Stubborn Kind Of Fellow"''), which peaked at number forty five on the UK Singles Chart in February 1967 Gerry Braden left ''The Bystanders'' in 1967, to be replaced by Vic Oakley from ''The Meteorites'', who was, in turn, replaced by

Deke Leonard Roger Arnold "Deke" Leonard (18 December 1944 – 31 January 2017) was a Welsh rock musician, "serving a life sentence in the music business".Man. Owen Money reformed the Bystanders in 1998 for a one-off performance at

Maesteg Town Hall Maesteg Town Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Dref Maesteg) is a municipal structure in Talbot Street, Maesteg, Wales. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Masteg Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History In the 1870s, the local boar ...

for his TV programme

Tomfoolery

Mittell formed comedy entertainment Tomfoolery in 1974, which rapidly became a successful comedy show band, topping the bill at

South Pier, Blackpool South Pier (originally known as Victoria Pier) is one of three piers in Blackpool, England. Located on South Promenade on the South Shore, the pier contains a number of amusement and adrenaline rides. It opens each year from March to November an ...

. The band toured extensively in the UK and Europe, winning many comedy awards on the way. In 1980 Owen Money left Tomfoolery for the comedy circuit, starting a tradition for the band where members come and go, including ex-lead singer

Brian Conley Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of ''The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40-ye ...

1980 and onwards

Owen Money toured the club circuit as a comedian, winning the Club Land ''"Comedian of the Year"'' award, performing alongside

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

and

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

. In 1987, Money joined BBC Radio Wales with weekly programme ''"Money for Nothing"'', which increased in popularity through 1997 to win two gold Sony Radio Academy Awards: one for ''"Regional Broadcaster of the Year"'', and the other for ''"Best Music Sequence Programme of Year"''. ''"Money for Nothing"'' is presently broadcast every Saturday morning. Money regularly appears with his band the ''Travelling Wrinklies'', and takes the ''"Owen Money Laughter Show"'' to venues around Wales and South West England.

Business interests

Money used to be the landlord of a pub called The LA in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. It was originally named the Hafod Inn; Money used to say that LA stood for "Lower 'Afod". The pub is now the Hafod Inn once again. Money was formerly a director and chairman of

Merthyr Tydfil FC Merthyr Tydfil Football Club was a Welsh football club based at the Penydarren Park ground in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2010 the club was liquidated and reformed under the name Merthyr Town, which was accepted into Division One of the Western League ...

, and was instrumental in trying to bring

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

to the club.

Pantomime

In 2000, after appearing himself in pantomime, he set up his own pantomime company, The Owen Money Theatre Company, with the aim of taking family friendly pantomimes around the theatres of Wales from November to February. The first production was ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', followed by '' Cinderella'' (2001/02), '' Jack And The Beanstalk'' (2002/03), ''

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...

'' (2003/04), ''

'' (2004/05), '' Robinson Crusoe'' (2005/06), '' Peter Pan'' (2006/07), '' Cinderella'' (2007/08), '' Jack And The Beanstalk'' (2007), Adult pantomime ''Buttons Undone - The Cinderella Story continues...'' (2008), Robinson Crusoe (2008), Aladdin (2009), Dick Whittington (2010), Peter Pan 2011/2012), Babes in the Wood (2012/2013), Aladdin (2013/2014).

Personal life

Married, Money lives in Porthcawl, and has a daughter Katie and a son Mathew. He has a niece who lives in Merthyr Tydfil called Deni Davies. In March 2006, he suffered a minor

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

while at his holiday home in Thailand. He flew back home, and was admitted to hospital in

's Morriston Hospital.BBC NEWS , Wales , Entertainer suffers minor stroke
/ref> Under his given name of Lynn Mittell, Owen Money was awarded an

in the Queen's New Year Honours List 2007. The citation reads: "Radio Presenter and Comedy Music Performer. For services to entertainment in Wales".

References

External links

Official website

''Money for Nothing''
(BBC Radio Wales)
''Owen Money's Solid Gold Sunday''
(BBC Radio Wales)
Details of Owen Money theatre company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Money, Owen 1947 births Living people People from Merthyr Tydfil Welsh male singers Welsh comedians Welsh radio presenters Welsh television presenters BBC Radio Wales presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire