:: This article first appeared on the Express & Star's website on June 13th 2008 ::
It is hard to think of Paul Nicholas as a veteran. But at 62, the actor is relishing the wide variety of roles that maturity and experience brings.
He has done it all – starred in the West End, appeared on TV dramas, directed plays, played in a rock band, appeared in the UK charts and even played the part of a demented killer in a classic horror film – since his career started in the late 1960s. Where most people would recognise him from is playing the part of Vince in the BAFTA Award-winning BBC TV series Just Good Friends, but even that is a drop in the ocean of his incredibly long career.
Now he is preparing to wow the city by playing the classic baddie Captain Hook in the Grand Theatre’s Peter Pan pantomime this winter – just the kind of stage he loves.
“You’re right, I’ve done a lot,” he said. “I haven’t got a favourite out of the stage, television or films, but out of them all, I just love being able to perform in front of a crowd. That’s what I did when I started off as a teenager in Paul Dean & The Dreamers, and that’s what I’m doing now; I’m going out and showing people what I can do. With TV there is a lot of hanging around, so while I enjoy doing it, the stage has been good to me in a very different way. I get a great buzz from performing live.”
Born in Peterborough, he said growing up in the 1950s, with black and white TVs and everything closed on a Sunday was what convinced him to try to make a career out of showbiz. Growing up in Watford, his band travelled the country to support The Savages, who were the backing band for the rockers Screaming Lord Sutch. It was the start of a career that saw him release a series of singles before getting into stage performing. His big chance came and he grabbed it, winning the main role in the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which led to roles in dozens of plays.
“It was a great time,” he said. “Suddenly, there I was, having this great career and having fun. The Savages had this act where a band member played Jack the Ripper on stage and pretended to rip my heart out. It was so theatrical, but it really summed up what I was all about, and when I started to star in theatre shows, I loved it. Even in that horror film Blind Terror I enjoyed myself, even though in the film all you can see for most of it is my feet. It has me chasing this girl and you only see my face right at the end of it. With the stage work, the TV and the music, it was an incredible time really.”
His pop career produced three top 10 singles in the 1970s, but he wanted to land a high-profile TV role to take his career to the next level. In 1983, BBC TV sitcom Just Good Friends was looking for a suitable actor to play a wisecracking bookmaker who had an on-off relationship with a girl called Jan. He got the role as Vince, and even sang the theme tune. It made him a household name and led to numerous more TV roles and stage performances in the West End.
He said: “It was a good show. I still like it, and the great thing about Just Good Friends is that the writing was so good. When the writing is that good, it makes it so much easier for the actors.”
Now living with his 59-year old wife Linzi in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, he says all of his six children have moved out, including the youngest, 22-year old Carmen. “Being in showbiz, you quickly realise it means time away from your family but I’m hoping to commute while I am here in Wolverhampton. It’s a great place because I remember being here last year for 42nd Street, but because we work late and need to prepare in the daytime, it doesn’t give us much time apart from the morning to see it. I’ll be looking around the place but I want to get home and see my wife too.”
Joining him for the Peter Pan panto are comedy duo The Krankies, who are playing sidekicks Captain and Mate, while Peter Pan is played by Jack Montgomery, the youthful star of Torchwood and Primeval. More than 38,000 tickets have been sold for Peter Pan, which runs from December 6 to January 25.
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