Mike LeRoy (1937-2020), born Michael Robinson-Learoyd on 18 March 1937, was an English writer and singer. Leroy sang the theme song to the 1965 film, '' A High Wind in Jamaica''. He also sang "With a Little Love" in 1970, which was subsequently used on the

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

the Hun sketch of ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...

''.

Biography

Mike LeRoy was born in Lupset,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. His father was in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and his mother was a farmers daughter. His grandfather was the farmer and breeder of hunters, Mark Robinson of

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...

. LeRoy's mother and father separated when he was seven so he went to live with his sister, brother and mother in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

(

Arkengarthdale Arkengarthdale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Running roughly north-west to south-east, it is the valley of the Arkle Beck, and is the northernmost of the Yorkshire Dales. It is a subsidiary ...

). The family moved to

Croft-on-Tees Croft-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It has also been known as Croft Spa, and from which the former Croft Spa railway station took its name. It lies north-north west of the coun ...

in Yorkshire when he was eleven and it was there that LeRoy was awarded one of only two annual scholarships to

Richmond School Richmond School & Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by the merger of three schools, the oldest of which ...

in Yorkshire where he was a boarder until 18 years old. LeRoy entered into RAF aircrew in March 1955 for an eight-year term but resigned and left the RAF in March 1957 as he felt that flying was not his aspiration anymore. LeRoy's

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

said ''"This man should do well in any field of activity which requires his initiative and powers of command"''. When asked what his future plans were he replied, ''"I want to be a singer"''.

Career

LeRoy went to London after the RAF and became a well known

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

, playing his guitar and singing nightly in the clubs and restaurants of

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

as well as the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. He was discovered during that time and made his first record for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

in 1961 under the name of Roy Lee. LeRoy made his first contracted singing engagement in

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

in 1963 where he met his wife. He then went on to record with several labels in the sixties ( EMI Columbia/

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

/ MCA). In 1965, he recorded the title song to the film ''A High Wind in Jamaica'' for

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. During the second half of the sixties, LeRoy owned a

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods ...

called The Strolling Guitar in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. In 1969, he acquired the famous French Restaurant, a night club in

Gloucester Road, London Gloucester Road (B325) is a street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It runs north–south between Kensington Gardens (at which point it is known as Palace Gate) and Old Brompton Road. At its intersection with Cromwell R ...

. Whilst owning this club, LeRoy continued to record and appeared in TV shows such as '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'', ''Lunchbox'' and ''Discs A Go Go''. In 1974, LeRoy decided to move into the country and start a family. At this time he took a break from singing. He settled near Ascot and took a lease on all the catering facilities at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

, including the Pub. For the next five years he fed up to 1000 people every day. At the same time, LeRoy farmed pigs on his land at Ascot and bought property in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and the North. These interests continued for a decade, and then with his two children in mind, LeRoy bought the famous

Stubbington House School Stubbington House School was founded in 1841 as a boys' preparatory school, originally located in the Hampshire village of Stubbington, around from the Solent. Stubbington House School was known by the sobriquet "the cradle of the Navy". The sc ...

. In 1991, after finishing a period in local government, LeRoy was granted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

by the

King of Arms King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings and sometimes certify genealogies and noble titles. In other traditions, the power has been de ...

following a petition to the

Earl Marshal Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the United Kingdom). He is the eig ...

with his crest and motto. After LeRoy's two sons finished their university education, he decided to invest in property again and built up an extensive property empire most of which is now disposed of but some houses are still retained and run by his sons who also took over his Ascot Holding and turned it into the famous Palm Hills Boutique Hotel and

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

. LeRoy retired after he and his sons disposed of his property holdings in 2015. His son Deke carried on with his property development, and his son Ross is now a successful film producer. LeRoy later wrote

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s and advised on film production. LeRoy also developed his writing skills and created the film story/script of ''The Snow Princess'' with Noble House Entertainments. With three other film scripts completed and in development, LeRoy decided to write and sing again after requests from his loyal fan base. He continued writing and recording music until his death during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in early 2020.

Discography

References

*IMD
"A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), Music Department, Sung by Mike Leroy"
''IMDB'', 1965. *Cab Kaye. "Back in London he began his second London career in Mike Leroy's "Chez Club Cleo" (Knightsbridge)", ''Wikipedia'', 27 October 1970. *NM
"Mike Leroy, “500 Miles” / “Big City” (Columbia)"
''New Musical Express'', 3 July 1964. *NM

''New Musical Express'' 2 October 1964. *A High Wind in Jamaica. "Music Department", ''Wikipedia'', 1965.

External links

Mike LeRoy's Website

High wind in Jamaica Site

Mike LeRoy's IMDB page

Snow Princess Website (mike leroy wrote snow princess)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leroy, Mike 1937 births Living people People from Wakefield English male singers