Gary James Bond was an English actor and singer, born in Liss,
Hampshire. Although his family were in industrial and military
occupations, from an early age he wanted to be an actor. His father's
death in December 1955 freed him to make his own decisions and,
following schooling at Churcher's College, Petersfield, he won a
scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama.
He made his professional stage debut in 1962, in 'Not By The Book' at
the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, and his television debut the following
year in ITV Play of the Week" War and Peace (1963) . This was quickly
followed by his film debut as Private Cole in
Zulu - Die Schlacht von Rorke's Drift (1964). During the 1960s he pursued a
dual career on the stage and on television, and he made his musical
debut in Brian Epstein's revue 'On The Level' in 1966. This gave him a
taste for singing but not enough to accept the offer of a recording
contract. He would return to the musical stage on several later
occasions, notably in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' in
1972, in which he played Joseph, and in 'Evita' in 1978, where he
played Che.
He was also a popular performer for the radio and recorded several
titles including 'Lady Windermere's Fan'. 'Trelawny of the Wells', 'A
Patriot for Me', and 'Bhowani Junction'. In 1982 he was commissioned to
sing Harold Baum's biochemistry lectures to accompany a book on the
subject, 'The Biochemist's Songbook', and the following year he became
the first guest reader in Josephine Hart's Gallery Poets series, on
stage in London.
Gary Bond's greatest film achievement is probably the Australian
classic Ferien in der Hölle (1971), in
which he played the lead role, that of an arrogant teacher stranded in
the wilds of Australia. This film was restored and re-released to great
acclaim in 2009. On television he is perhaps best remembered for his
role as Lt Clive Russell in
Frontier (1968) and for the
recording made of his musical
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1972).
His last television appearance was in 1990 in the Bergerac episode 'All
The Sad Songs', and made his last stage appearance in 1994 in 'Aspects
of Love', in which he played the aging roué George Dillingham. In
October 1995 he died in Ealing Hospital, much mourned by his many
friends and admirers.
