Gary Shail
Birthday: 1959-11-10
Place of Birth: London, England, UK
Synopsis
Gary Shail began work in TV and film in 1977 and is best known for his roles as Spider in the 1979 cult classic film Quadrophenia and as Steve, the punky teenager in The Metal Mickey TV Show.
Shail appeared in the 1980 series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist and also played Oscar Drill in Shock Treatment the 1981 follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and as Guy Raines in the 1983 BBC production Johnny Jarvis. He wrote the original songs and theme music for this production, for which he received a nomination for the Ivor Novello Awards. In 1988, Shail appeared as the tough pimp "Billy White" in the TV mini-series of Jack the Ripper, starring Michael Caine. He has also made appearances in the TV series The Bill and in Casualty and The Professionals.
In 1995 Shail began working with music production company Natural Sound Source in London, producing music for television, film and advertising. In 2004 he produced the Arabic fusion album Infinity in Dubai.
In 2010 Shail was back in the recording studio working on his autobiographical self-penned album 'Daze Like This.' A collection of new songs interspersed with some re-workings of some Johnny Jarvis themes. The album received critical success, but failed to reach a wider audience mainly due to Shails reluctance to embrace the new 'download' generation.
In October 2015 Shail's memoir I Think I'm On The Guest List was published by New Haven Publishing Ltd.
Acting
To Be Someone
as Charlie
Life couldn’t be better for entrepreneur and British Mod, Danny. That is until he’s introduced to Mad Mike, an unhinged underworld mobster who is determined to coerce Danny into pulling off an illegal drugs run.
Day of the Stranger
as Loomweather
Adapted freely from the classic novella 'The Mysterious Stranger' by Mark Twain; Day of the Stranger revives the tradition of the acid western of the 1970's. Caine Farrowood is a bounty hunter who works under the control of ruthless kingpin Loomweather. One day a bounty retrieval goes awry and Caine is left for dead. Just when he thinks his life is over he mysteriously awakens back home to the comforts of his wife Christina. Baffled and confused by how he got home Caine insists on finding answers, but before long he is enlisted in the retrieval of another bounty. This one is huge and may cost Caine not his life, but his sanity when he finds himself pitted against somebody who may very well be the fallen angel himself.
Quadrophenia
as Spider
Based on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job. While after, he shops for tailored suits and rides his scooter as part of the London Mod scene.
Clan of the Raven
as King of Britons
These were truly the Darker Ages, The Chaos Wars ensued. Judgement upon humanity. Judgement upon a broken, wounded world. A World on the edge, bereft of the Old Gods who have descended into insanity, senility, or sentient sleep as they have tired of their mortal playthings. Magic, Kings, the Gods & order are all but lost and a new disorder reigns. The Darkest of times. So a strange alliance gather to stand & back the elemental forces of nature.
