Tim Dry (born 9 January 1952) is a mime artist, writer, photographic artist, musician and actor, best known for appearing in '' Return of the Jedi'' and the

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

sci-fi/horror film ''

Xtro ''Xtro'' is a 1983 British science fiction horror film directed by Harry Bromley Davenport. Starring Bernice Stegers, Philip Sayer, and Simon Nash, the film focuses on a father who was abducted by aliens and returns to his family three years late ...

''. Tim was a member of the duo

Tik and Tok Tik and Tok are the robotic mime and music duo of Tim Dry and Sean Crawford. They began performing together with Shock, a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with Barbie Wilde, Robert Pereno, L.A. Richards and Carole Caplin. ...

, that popularised robotic mime in the UK in the 1980s.

Early years

Tim Dry was born in Redhill, Surrey, in 1952. After leaving a Graphic Design Dip AD course at Reigate School of Art and Design in 1972, he moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Sussex to explore other areas of creativity, including painting, fine art and producing, along with other Reigate Art School alumni, ''The Cosmic Colouring Book'' which was published to acclaim in 1973. In 1976, he relocated to London to train in mime and physical theatre with Desmond Jones and Lindsay Kemp (who tutored Kate Bush and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, amongst others).

The-eighties

After three years of intensive stage work (both in solo and duo shows, and as a member of Jones' company 'Silents') Tim, alongside fellow mime partner

Barbie Wilde Barbie Wilde is a Canadian-born British actress and writer, perhaps best known for appearing as the Female Cenobite in '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988) – the second of ten Hellraiser films based on Clive Barker's novella, ''The Hellbound ...

, formed SHOCK: a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe with Robert Pereno,

Carole Caplin Carole Caplin (born 8 January 1962) was the style adviser to Cherie Blair and a fitness adviser to Tony Blair, when he was the British prime minister. She was controversial because of her relationship with the convicted conman Peter Foster. Ear ...

, LA Richards and Sean Crawford. SHOCK performed extensively in the burgeoning New Romantic club scene in London in the early 1980s. The first SHOCK single on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, 'Angel Face', (co-produced by Rusty Egan from Visage and

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

from

Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

) was a modest dance floor hit in clubs all over the UK and in New York. SHOCK continued to play at the Blitz Club, The Venue, the Playboy Club, The Embassy Club, The Lyceum, and 'The People's Palace' performance at the Rainbow Theatre. They supported

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

for three nights at his 'Farewell' concerts at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

in April 1981. Reduced to a four-piece ensemble after the abrupt departure of Robert and LA in June 1981, SHOCK released a second single, 'Dynamo Beat', on RCA, which again was a dance floor hit in UK clubs, but failed to chart nationwide.

Tik and Tok

In early 1982 Tim and Sean left Shock to pursue their own vision of a combination of mime, visual image and music, creating a duo called

. Signed to Indie label Survival Records, they released 5 singles and an album 'Intolerance' in the UK, Europe and Japan. Their second single 'Cool Running' reached No.69 in the UK Top 70 Singles Chart (''

The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...

''). In 1982, Tik and Tok were cast as featured creatures in two roles each in ''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi''. The same year also saw them appear in the cult sci-fi/horror film ''Xtro''. Tim played The Monster and Sean played The Commando. Tik and Tok supported

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

on their sell-out UK tour of 1982 and Gary Numan on his comeback UK 'Warriors' tour in 1983. They appeared on 23 TV shows, including ''

The Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

'' in front of HRH

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and the cult music program '' The Tube'', hosted by

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

and Paula Yates. Tik & Tok reformed briefly in 2005, creating a new album, ''Dream Orphans'', in which Tim wrote, played and produced all the songs. Tim and Sean appear regularly at 'Star Wars' autograph conventions worldwide.

Photographic work

Tim is a photographic artist, whose subjects have included

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously k ...

, composer Georg Kajanus,

Mediæval Bæbes The Mediæval Bæbes are a British musical ensemble founded in 1996 by Dorothy Carter and Katharine Blake. It included some of Blake's colleagues from the band Miranda Sex Garden, as well as other friends who shared her love of medieval music. ...

, writer

Rupert Thomson Rupert Thomson, FRSL (born November 5, 1955) is an English writer. He is the author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels and an award-winning memoir. He has lived in many cities around the world, including Athens, Berlin, New York, Sydney, L ...

and

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

. His work has been commissioned as CD covers, illustrative articles and book jackets for clients including James McCarraher's 'Office Haunting',

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, Cosmopolitan magazine, Black Lace Publishing,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

and Hot Shoe magazine. His photographic collages have been exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Photographic Society, The Association of Photographers Gallery in London and in Bath, Hamburg, and Berlin, as well as at the Christmas 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 shows at the prestigious Gallery 286 in West London. In March 2009 he showed one portrait at an exhibition at The Arts Club in London.

Acting

Tim acted in more than 90 TV commercials in the UK and Europe. He had featured roles in the US-UK co-production of the TV series '' The 10th Kingdom'', in films such as ''Soup'', '' Death Wish 3'', ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' and '' Decadence'', and UK TV shows including ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

Dempsey and Makepeace ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Detective Makepeace), who later married e ...

'', ''Goodbye Mr Steadman'' and ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until ...

''. On stage he played the lead in Steven Berkoff's ''Harry's Christmas'' and Molière's ''School For Wives'', Satan in ''Adam Redundant'' and The Lecturer in John Bowen's ''After The Rain''. In October 2010 Tim starred in the titular role in the short horror/comedy movie''"SON of Nosferatu''. Written and directed by David Rose, it was released in 2011. Tim has a featured role in the feature-length movie "Le Accelerator" and he co-stars in the film short ''Pier Pressure'' released in Autumn 2014.In 2020 Tim played the character Ezekiel Petrov in Episode 5 'Dad'of the horror series 'Dark Ditties' for Amazon Prime.

Noir

In 1996, alongside singer-songwriter Georg Kajanus from the band

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

, he co-created the poetic/techno music duo called NOIR. Their song 'Walking' was used as a motif in four episodes of the Channel 4 food and drink series 'FEAST' in 1997, which was directed by David Pritchard (of

Rick Stein Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

and Keith Floyd fame) and also starred TV chef

Jean-Christophe Novelli Jean-Christophe Novelli (; born 22 February 1961) is a French celebrity chef. Early life Novelli was born in Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France, in 1961. He left school at 14 and worked in a bakery before, at the age o ...

. Noir also presented 'Feast' and wrote the theme tune. The video for the 'Walking' single, released on Koch Records in the UK, was shown on '' Top of the Pops 2'' and ''Live and Kicking''. Their self-produced album, 'Strange Desire', was re-released by Angel Air Records in 2007.

Writer and songwriter

Tim is the author of two published books of memoirs:Falling Upwards – Scenes From A life and Continuum – The Star Wars Phenomenon As Experienced From The Inside. His first novella, entitled Ricochet was released in January 2018 by Azoth Khem Publishing. He also has short stories in three Horror anthologies published by Western Legends Press. Namely:O is for Onokentaura in The Bestiarum Vocabulum, N is for Nostophobia in Phobophobias and A is for Annis in The Grimorium Verum. Lycopolis Press published his story Interview With Nybbas in their anthology Demonology in 2015. All of which were compiled and edited by Dean M Drinkel. The 2016 anthology of poems and short stories influenced by the life and work of the late David Bowie entitled 47 – 16 featured Tim's story Inside. Tim's tale Leo was published in the anthology The Thirteen Signs, published by again edited by Dean M Drinkel, in 2016. A story by Tim entitled The Fall can be found in Whirling World anthology of industrial horror. Christmas 2017 saw the publication of Tim's story Nine Ladies Dancing in the anthology 12 Dark days. Tim has also contributed articles for Forbes magazine, Film Review annual and Film Rage magazine. He wrote the text for the illustrated book Detroit Rising that is to be made into a feature-length movie in 2017. From 2008 to 2011 Tim was collaborating with guitarist Mo Blackford (LIGOTAGE and NASA) under the name TIMANDMO, creating music that can best be described as 'Organic Electronica'. A limited edition double CD of previously unreleased solo recordings entitled ''Retroject'' was released on June 28, 2022.

Discography

TIM DRY Album: *'Retroject'. Self-Released 2022. SHOCK Singles: *'Angel Face'. b/w 'R.E.R.B'. RCA Records 1980. *'Dynamo Beat'. b/w 'Dream Games'. RCA Records 1981. TIK AND TOK Singles: *'Summer In The City'. b/w 'Crisis'. Survival Records 1982. *'Cool Running'. b/w 'Vile Bodies'. Survival Records 1983. *'Screen Me, I'm Yours'. b/w 'Dangerous and Unafraid'. Survival Records 1984. *'Everything Will Change'. b/w 'Cracking Up'. Survival Records 1984. *'Higher Ground'. b/w 'Down From The Sky'. Survival Records 1984. Albums: *'Intolerance'. Survival Records 1984. *'Dream Orphans'. Self-Released 2007. Compilation *'Definitive'. Self-Released 2019. EPs: *Tik & Tok EP Rephlex label 2004. *'Slightly Deranged' EP Self-Released 2006. *'Intolerance Xtras' EP Self-Released 2006. *'Vintage Lo-Fi' EP Self-Released 2006. Compilations (featuring): *Survival Dance Report SUR LP 007. 'Summer In The City' and 'Cool Running'. 1983 *The Art Of Survival LP SUR LP OO9 'Screen Me, I'm Yours' and 'Higher Ground'. 1984. *Jet Set – Sounds Of Lust & Luxury CD 0927 454422. 'Crisis'. 2002 *DJ-Kicks: Chicken Lips CD K7155CD. 'Crisis'. 2003 *Intergalactic Sunrise (XL Version) PR-009. 'Cool Running'. 2006 THE WANG BROTHERS Single: *'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (George Harrison) b/w 'Wango!' (co-writer). Communiqué Records 1985. BEKI BONDAGE (co-writer) Singles: *'Don't Turn Away' b/w 'Hard To Get'. Communiqué Records 1985. *'Out Of The Darkness'. b/w 'You Got It Made'. Communiqué Records 1985. NASA (co-writer) Album: 'Insha – Allah'. Sire Records 1990. *'Burning Gold'. NOIR Single: *'Walking'. Koch Records 1997. Album: *'Strange Desire'. Angel Air Records 2007. TIMANDMO: Digital album: 'Happy Accidents' 2011.

References

* "Duran Duran – Notorious" by Steve Malins. Andre Deutsch 2005.. * "Praying to the Aliens" by Gary Numan and Steve Malins. Andre Deutsch 1997. * "The Cosmic Colouring Book". Mushroom Cloud Publishing Co Ltd. 1973. * "Falling Upwards – Scenes From A Life" by Tim Dry. Bear Claw Books. 2013. * "The Bestiarum Vocabulum". Edited by Dean M Drinkel. 2013. * "Continuum – The Star Wars Phenomenon As Experienced From The Inside" by Tim Dry. 2012. BookBaby. ASIN:B007XIZMD2

External links

* * * https://www.youtube.com/user/TIMDRY * https://www.spotlight.com/interactive/cv/9859-6721-4699 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dry, Tim English male film actors Living people People from Redhill, Surrey 1952 births