Mike Walling (8 July 1950 – 2 July 2020) was an English comic

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and screenwriter.

Career

Walling began his career as an English teacher at

Holland Park School Holland Park School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form in Holland Park, London, England. In 2013, it has attained academy status. Opened in 1958, the school became the flagship for comprehensive education, and at one time had ove ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In the mid-1970s, while still a teacher, he won a British TV talent contest,

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: 197 ...

, with a comedy double act called "Mr Carline & Mr Walling." He immediately left teaching and embarked on launching his new career in comedy. When the comedy duo ended their partnership, Walling moved into situation comedy, appearing in several series—"Just Liz", "Bootle Saddles" and then the highly successful "

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom, broadcast on BBC television from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in south London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl H ...

". He began starting to get more work as a screenwriter when he teamed up with Tony Millan. The two of them wrote screenplays for a number of different shows, as well as their own series. In the early 1980s Walling teamed up with session bass player

Mo Foster Mo Foster (born Michael Ralph Foster, 22 December 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, solo artist, author, and public speaker. Through a career spanning over half a century, Foster has toured, recorded, and perf ...

for various comedy music projects, with Walling writing the lyrics and Foster writing the music and producing the resulting songs. One of their songs, "The Papadum Song", a novelty song revolving around two men visiting an Indian restaurant (one of them for the first time) was repeatedly played on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and featured them live on several TV shows (including the BBC's '' Blue Peter'') and was very popular at the time, but fate and industrial action decreed that it would not sell. A three-week strike at the distributors (

Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany. Phonogram was the nam ...

) meant that the records never actually got to the shops. The song was eventually re-released in 2006 as part of a collection of comedy/parody songs called ''Make Tea, Not War'' by the imaginary, but ill-fated and tragic, R.J. Wagsmith Band. Another song from the same album, "Chalk Dust", which was written for

Roger Kitter Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

who released it under the pseudonym "The Brat", did hit the top ten all over

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Walling has appeared in shows such as "

The Smoking Room ''The Smoking Room'' is a British television sitcom written by Brian Dooley, who won a BAFTA for the series in 2005. The first series, consisting of eight episodes, was originally transmitted on BBC Three between 29 June and 17 August 2004. Th ...

", " Coronation Street" and ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

''. Walling died on 2 July 2020, the cause of death was not released.

Filmography

Mike Walling appeared in the following TV shows and films: * ''Just Liz'', TV (1980) * ''The Disappearance of Harry'', TV (1982) * ''Badger by Owl-Light'', TV (1982) * ''The Pirates of Penzance'', TV (1983) * ''Bootle Saddles'', TV (1983) * ''Scandalous'', film (1984) * ''

'', TV (1986) * '' Alfonso Bonzo'', TV (1990) * ''

Billy Webb's Amazing Stories ''Billy Webb's Amazing Story'' is a 1991 CBBC series by Steve Attridge, continuing the story of Billy Webb, a character in the book the series was based on, '' Alfonso Bonzo'' by Andrew Davies. Plot Each episode begins with Billy recounting the ...

'', TV (1991) * '' Harry's Mad'', TV (1993) * ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of '' Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes f ...

'', TV (2001) :* Ep. – The Missing Bus of Mrs Avery * ''Chaos and Cadavers'', film (2003) * ''

'', TV (2004) :* Ep. – "Last Night a Graphic Designer Saved My Life" :* Ep. – "Quitters" :* Ep. – "1987" :* Ep. – "Happy Birthday" :* Ep. – "Feeding Time" * '' Coronation Street'', TV (2006) * ''

'', TV (2007) :* Ep. – "Abi Ever After" :* Ep. – "Once More with Feeling" :* Ep. – "Four Affairs and a Funeral" :* Ep. – "The Heart of Christmas" * ''Made in Romania'', film (2008) * ''

Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006, and has 12 series making it the second longest running British sitcom (in series) behind the longest running sitcom worldwide, Last of the Summer Wine. It sta ...

, TV (2013) :* Ep. - "Rabbit"

Scriptwriter

He wrote or co-wrote scripts for the following comedy shows: * '' Me and My Girl'', TV, 1984 * ''Relative Strangers'', TV, 1985 * '' A Small Problem'', TV, 1987 * ''

ChuckleVision ''ChuckleVision'' is a British children's comedy television series created by Martin Hughes and the Chuckle Brothers for the BBC. It starred Barry and Paul Elliott as the Chuckle Brothers and occasionally their older brothers, Jimmy, and Brian ...

'', 1987 :* Ep. - "Breakfast Telly" * ''Valentine Park'', TV, 1987 * '' Birds of a Feather'', TV, 1989 :* Ep. – "In at the Deep End" :* Ep. – "First-Time Caller" :* Ep. – "Suspicious Minds" * '' Not with a Bang'', TV, 1990 :* Ep. – No.1.3 :* Ep. – No.1.4 :* Ep. – No.1.5 :* Ep. – No.1.6 :* Ep. – No.1.7 * ''

The Brittas Empire ''The Brittas Empire'' is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie played titular character Gordon Brittas, the well-intended but hugely incompetent manager of the fictional Whitbury New T ...

'', TV, 1991 :* Ep. – "The Disappearing Act" :* Ep. – "Reviewing the Situation" :* Ep. – "Surviving Christmas" :* Ep. – "A Walk on the Wildside" :* Ep. – "Body Language" * ''Trouble in Mind'', TV, 1991 * '' A Prince Among Men'', TV, 1997

References

External links

*
RJ Wagsmith Band

RJ Wagsmith Band @ MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walling, Mike 1950 births 2020 deaths English male television actors English male voice actors English television writers British television writers English male film actors British male television writers 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from Salford