Terry Wiles
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Terrence 'Terry' Wiles (born 12 January 1962) was one of the most disabled
thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications o ...
babies born in the UK. He has since become known internationally through the Emmy Award winningNewland, Paul (ed), ''Don't Look Now: British Cinema in the 1970s''
Published by Intellect Bristol & Chicago (2010) pg 86 ''
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
'' television drama ''
On Giant's Shoulders ''On Giant's Shoulders'' is a 1979 BBC television film about the early life of thalidomide victim Terry Wiles, with Wiles playing himself. The drama also starred Bryan Pringle and Judi Dench and won an Emmy Award in 1980.Judi Dench's nomina ...
'' and the best-selling book of the same name.


Early life

He was born as Andrew Maulle in
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to a 17-year-old prostitute mother and a visiting
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
father. During her pregnancy Andrew's mother took the sedative
thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications o ...
to combat her morning sickness, resulting in his severe physical disabilities at birth. Unable to cope with his disabilities and suspecting he would not survive, Andy's mother left him at the hospital, this abandonment resulting in him being put into care. He met Hazel ( ''née'' Brooker) (1931-2013) and Leonard George Wiles (1911–1995) at Chailey Hospital in Sussex in October 1967, and after initial opposition from his birth mother and Social Services, Leonard and Hazel were able to adopt the young Andrew. As part of his fresh start with his new parents, Andrew decided to change his name to Terrence Wiles.On Giant's Shoulders : the Story of Terry Wiles by Marjorie Wallace and Michael Robson Times Books, London (1976) Over the following years Len Wiles, who was technically minded and helped to design military equipment during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, built a series of 'Supercars' for Terry, based on the
forklift truck A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...
, which enabled Terry to both augment his height and move around freely for the first time. He had a
nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
due to bullying and abuse at his secondary school Ernulf Community College in
St. Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
, where on one occasion some students put him in a
holdall In American English, a gym bag or carryall is a large bag made of cloth or leather typically with a rectangular base and a zippered opening at the top. Two handles enable the bag to be carried, and a (usually removable) strap lets the user suppor ...
and dragged him around a room. He left the school to study at a
polytechnic Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...
.'Fight For Love' Channel 4 documentary 1997 He attended California State University at Fullerton in the early 1980s.


''On Giant's Shoulders''

Then aged 17, Wiles played himself in a 1979
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television ''Play of the Week'' drama entitled ''
On Giant's Shoulders ''On Giant's Shoulders'' is a 1979 BBC television film about the early life of thalidomide victim Terry Wiles, with Wiles playing himself. The drama also starred Bryan Pringle and Judi Dench and won an Emmy Award in 1980.Judi Dench's nomina ...
'', starring
Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the ...
as Leonard Wiles and
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
, who was nominated for a BAFTA for her role as Hazel Wiles. The drama was directed by Anthony Simmons. The film was based on
Marjorie Wallace Marjorie Wallace (born January 23, 1954) is an American actress, television host, model and beauty queen. In 1973, she made history as the first woman from the United States to be crowned Miss World, but just 104 days later, pageant officials ...
and Michael Robson's book of the same name published in 1976. Terry Wiles had never acted before and, as he was then 17, his voice had to be dubbed by a child actor after filming as it had broken and he had to appear to be much younger, playing himself from age 9 to 12. The drama went on to win an Emmy in 1980. Following the film's broadcast in the United States in 1980 Wiles was interviewed on '' Good Morning America'' and ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...
''.


Recent years

After Wiles received financial compensation for his birth defects, he and his adoptive parents
emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Later, in 1986 at a conference for disabled children, Wiles met Robyn (born 1960), a married nurse who left her husband in June 1988 to be with him. The couple faced a great deal of opposition from both families; Wiles' parents believed that Robyn was only interested in his money, the financial payout that he had received from the thalidomide manufacturers (
Distillers Company The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness & Co. (now part of Diageo) in 1986 in a transaction which was later ...
). However, despite this opposition the couple married on 13 October 1990 at their two-bedroom villa-style home in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
in New Zealand. There were 25 guests - Terry's mother Hazel didn't attend but his father Len did. After the marriage Len and Hazel Wiles severed all contact with the couple and moved back to England in 1993. Terry heard of the death of his adoptive father in 1995 through the Thalidomide Society. He never heard from Hazel Wiles again; she died in Cambridgeshire in 2013. Terry and his wife continue to live in New Zealand, where Terry counselled others with disabilities. In 1997,
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 ...
filmed Terry and Robyn in New Zealand for a documentary entitled ''Fight For Love'', in which they discussed how they met, and how they had to fight their families and the views of society in order to be together.'Fight For Love' on the Internet Movie Database
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References


External links


Terry Wiles: Man's Estate - a BBC East documentary from 1980 profiling the life of thalidomide sufferer Terry Wiles - East Anglian Film ArchiveThe British Film Institute entry for Terry WilesTerry Wiles
on the
Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
* *
Website about 'On Giants's Shoulders' the 1979 film of the life of Terry WilesA website about the life of Terry WilesBBC 'Play of the Week' entry for 'On Giant's Shoulders' (1979)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiles, Terry 1962 births Living people New Zealand people of English descent English people with disabilities New Zealand people with disabilities People with phocomelia English people of African-American descent New Zealand people of African-American descent