{{Short description|English actor (1940–1995)}} {{About|the actor|the similarly named singer|Gary U.S. Bonds}} {{Use British English|date=August 2011}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Gary Bond | birth_name = Gary James Bond | image = Actor Gary Bond.jpeg | caption = Bond in the 1960s | birth_date = {{birth date|1940|2|7|df=y}} | birth_place = Liss, Hampshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1995|10|12|1940|2|7|df=y}} | death_place = Ealing, England | years_active = 1963–1994 | alma_mater = Central School of Speech & Drama | occupation = Actor | partner = Jeremy Brett (1969–1976)<br />E.J. Taylor (1979–1995) }} '''Gary James Bond''' (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor. He is known for originating the role of Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', his performances in several high-profile West End plays and musicals, and his portrayal of protagonist John Grant in the Australian film ''Wake in Fright'' (1971).
==Early life== Bond was born in the village of Liss, Hampshire,<ref name=independent>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-gary-bond-1578043.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=Derek | last=Granger | title=Obituary: Gary Bond | date=17 October 1995}}</ref> England. He was the first born child of his parents. He was born into a family in which the army was the destined career for any family member, with his father and numerous uncles being in the army. As a result, it was always assumed that he would follow in this tradition and was frequently persuaded by his family that this was his career path. Yet Bond from a young age had always harboured a love for acting.
He was educated in Churcher's College in Petersfield and later Portsmouth College of Technology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyforsale.com/gary-bond-autograph-resume-signed/dc309617|title=Gary Bond - Autograph Resume Signed {{!}} HistoryForSale Item 309617|website=HistoryForSale - Autographs, Collectibles & Memorabilia|language=en|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref> His father died in December 1956 when Bond was aged just 16 and, as a result, the young Bond was able to pursue his preferred path without any interference by family members.<ref name=":0" /> After leaving education he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa for a gap year.
However, he soon returned to England, after he won a scholarship at London's prestigious Central School of Speech & Drama. During his three years there, he gained several awards, including the Margaret Rawlings Cup, shared with Angela Morant, and the Elsie Fogerty Prize for the Best Individual Performance by a Man.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/facts-and-faq.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060114/http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/facts-and-faq.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2013-09-21|title=Facts and FAQs - The Wonderful World of Gary Bond|date=2013-09-21|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
==Career== ===Early career=== At the age of 23, Bond gained his first acting job with the Connaught Theatre, Worthing.<ref name=independent/> His debut performance was in a play titled ''Not in the Book'' and was followed by ''Doctor in the House'', where Bond appeared as Dr Simon Sparrow.<ref name=":0" />
In 1962, he made his big break when he was cast in the role of Pip in the Royal Court's production of Arnold Wesker's ''Chips with Everything''. Directed by John Dexter, it became one of the theatrical landmarks of the 1960s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-gary-bond-1578043.html|title=Obituary: Gary Bond|date=1995-10-17|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref> As result of the play's success, he made his Broadway debut when the production transferred the following year in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/2837|title=Chips With Everything [scenes] · British Universities Film & Video Council|website=bufvc.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/chips-with-everything-3022|title=Chips With Everything – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref>
In 1968, Bond was invited to join the Prospect Theatre Company, where he, relishing the opportunity to appear in classical roles, appeared in numerous productions including, Sebastian in ''Twelfth Night'', Sergius in Shaw's ''Arms and the Man'' and ''No Man's Land''.
In 1970, at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, he played Benedick in ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and the one man show ''Lord Byron''.
===Theatre=== In late August 1972, he created the role of Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/gary-bond-p7211|title=Gary Bond - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> Premiering at the Edinburgh International Festival by the Young Vic Theatre Company, it was directed by Frank Dunlop.<ref name="About the Show">{{cite web| url=http://www.reallyuseful.com/shows/joseph/history-inspiration |title=About the Show |last=The Really Useful Group |access-date=29 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225062752/http://www.reallyuseful.com/shows/joseph/history-inspiration |archive-date=25 December 2008 }}</ref> He later joined the London production at the Albery Theatre to great acclaim.
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a song for Bond titled "Disillusion Me", which he recorded as a single.
In 1976, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company;,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/4e0/gary-bond|title=Gary Bond - Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> where he played Hevern in Maxim Gorky's ''The Zykovs'' and Willy Oban in ''The Iceman Cometh''. He played opposite Ralph Richardson in ''Alice's Boys'' and in Noël Coward's ''Tonight at Eight'', in which he co-starred with Millicent Martin. He also joined seasons at the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic, including a production of Old Flames which transferred to the Arts Theatre. He played Brutus in Julius Caesar and starred in the world premiere of Jean Anouilh's play ''Scenario in Canada''.
When David Essex planned to leave Rice and Lloyd Webber's musical ''Evita'', they looked for someone to play the part of Che. After being introduced by Lloyd Webber, producer Hal Prince and Bond "hit it off famously and very soon Gary was cast as David Essex's takeover in ''Evita''." He succeeded him as Che Guevara in the 1978 London production, initially opposite Elaine Paige. However, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2018 memoirs, he recalls that, when performing eight shows a week, playing ''Evita'' became a strain for Elaine Paige: "Help came from Gary Bond. Had anybody thought of his friend Marti Webb? Marti, like Gary, was a veteran of stacks of West End musicals. They had both been in a show called ''On the Level'' which, although a flop, had a cast which spawned a bevy of West End musical talent."<ref>Andrew Lloyd Webber (2018) ''Andrew Lloyd Webber, Unmasked, A Memoir'', HarperCollins, London {{ISBN|978-0-00-823759-2}}</ref> Bond brought Webb round to Lloyd Webber's flat to sing for him, and suitably impressed, by November Bond was cast as Che and his friend Marti was his leading lady.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/5q1/evita/production/k8x|title=Production of Evita - Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> Over the years, Bond became close friends with both Lloyd Webber and his then wife Sarah Brightman and often provided a "lifeline to the goings on backstage."
He played Otto in Noël Coward's ''Design for Living'' in 1982, performed in ''State of Affairs'' in 1983, appeared opposite Keith Michell in ''The Baccarat Scandal'' 1988, and in 1992 was the Count in a revival of Jean Anouilh's ''The Rehearsal''.<ref name=":0" />
In 1993, despite struggling with failing health after being diagnosed as HIV positive, he achieved one final triumph in the theatre as George in ''Aspects of Love'', which toured the UK that same year before a short season at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.<ref name=":0" />
===Films=== Although probably best known as a theatrical actor in England, he also played a number of roles in feature films. Having made his screen debut when he appeared in ''Zulu'' (1964) as Private Cole, he starred as Mark Smeaton in ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969) and the Australian film ''Wake in Fright'' (1971).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/gary-bond-p7211/filmography|title=Gary Bond - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref>
===Television=== He made his professional screen debut in 1963, in a BBC production of ''War and Peace''. Other television roles include Pip in the 1967 television production of ''Great Expectations'' and Antonio in BBC Television's 1972 production of ''The Duchess of Malfi''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fa8a640|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617143650/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fa8a640|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 June 2017|title=Gary Bond|website=BFI|language=en|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref> In 1985 he starred as John Worthing to Jeremy Clyde's Algernon and Wendy Hiller's Lady Bracknell in ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. He also appeared in ''Variation on a Theme'', as Boswell in ''The Highland Jaunt'', starred in the series ''Frontier'', ''The Linden Tree'', ''Affairs of the Heart'', ''Wings of Song'' and a recorded version of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''.
Bond had cameos in ''Z-Cars'', ''The Avengers'', ''The Main Chance'', ''Hart to Hart'' and a major role in "All the sad songs" - an episode of ''Bergerac''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=27519|title=Gary Bond|website=www.aveleyman.com|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=1 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001031125/http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=27519|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==''Wake in Fright''==
Although his film output is small, consisting of only three films, Bond is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the Australian film ''Wake in Fright'' (occasionally renamed ''Outback'') as teacher John Grant.
A film version of ''Wake in Fright'', based on the 1961 novel by Kenneth Cook, was linked with the actor Dirk Bogarde and the director Joseph Losey as early as 1963. However, Group W purchased the rights, hiring Canadian director Ted Kotcheff to direct the film.
Kotcheff asked multiple British actors to play the part of John Grant, and he particularly wanted Michael York. Eventually he cast a 29-year-old Bond, persuaded by his audition and his strong CV. He later commented that "Gary was magnificent so I hired him for this. I thought he had such a likability to him that it would make it easy for audiences to want to follow him on this terrifying journey."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/38309/exclusive-ted-kotcheff-looks-back-at-forty-years-with-wake-in-fright/|title=Exclusive: Ted Kotcheff Looks Back at Forty Years with Wake in Fright|last=thehorrorchick|date=2012-10-10|website=Dread Central|language=en|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
Anthony Buckley, the film's editor, later said the producers "NLT and Group W pushed him as the 'new Peter O'Toole'". He also commented that Bond was "affable, likeable and somewhat shy, but crew members found him diffident." Monica Dawkins, the film's make-up artist, remembered that "out of hours he was very nice but during shooting he kept himself apart, he wasn't comfortable around people".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2009/06/12/making-wake-fright-part-two|title=The Making of Wake in Fright (Part Two)|website=SBS Movies|date=12 June 2009|language=en|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
Bond started shooting in January 1970 in the mining town of Broken Hill, New South Wales.
He dyed his hair blonde for the part; as a result comparisons were made between him and Peter O'Toole.
The world premiere of ''Wake in Fright'' (as ''Outback'') occurred on opening night of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival on 13 May.<ref name="boxoffice 31 may">"One UA, 3 Columbia Films Are Exhibited at Cannes". ''BoxOffice''. 31 May 1971. E-2. "The Cannes Film Festival, which ended Thursday (27) got under way on 13 May with an opening night presentation of 'Outback,' a United Artists release which was the official Australian entry."</ref> Ted Kotcheff was nominated for a Golden Palm Award.<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/dcc27a70-7f10-4520-ba66-d92df51c5ac5/year/1971.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Wake in Fright |access-date=13 April 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> The film opened commercially in France on 22 July 1971, Great Britain on 29 October 1971, Australia during the same month, and the United States on 20 February 1972.
The film was deemed lost for years, until a copy of it was rediscovered and, following its restoration, it was screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2009 when it was selected as a Cannes Classic title by the head of the department, Martin Scorsese.<ref name="www.usatoday.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-05-17-scorsese_N.htm |title=At Cannes, Martin Scorsese has his eyes on films long unseen |access-date=8 January 2012 |work=USA Today|first=Anthony |last=Breznican |date=18 May 2009| archive-date= 26 July 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130726053024/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-05-17-scorsese_N.htm| url-status=live}}</ref> ''Wake in Fright'' is one of only two films ever to screen twice in the history of the festival.<ref name="www.nfsa.gov.au">{{cite web |url=http://nfsa.gov.au/site_media/uploads/file/2010/11/03/08-09-Annual-Report.pdf |title=Australian National Film & Sound Archive Annual Report 2008-09 |access-date=8 January 2012 |publisher=National Film & Sound Archive Australia}}</ref> Consequently, Bond's performance was once again praised.
==Personal life== Within the theatrical profession, Bond was openly gay and from 1969 to 1976 was the partner of actor Jeremy Brett.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Manners|first1=Terry|title=The Man Who Became Sherlock Holmes: The Tortured Mind of Jeremy Brett|date=1997|publisher=Virgin Books|isbn=978-1852276164}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=William J.|author-link1=William J. Mann|title=Edge of Midnight: The Life of John Schlesinger|date=2005|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0099451884|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zY57_2_UK7kC&pg=PA187}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/facts-and-faq.html |title=Facts and FAQs |publisher=The Wonderful World of Gary Bond |date=12 October 1995 |access-date=27 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717045020/http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/facts-and-faq.html |archive-date=17 July 2011 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2014}}
In Garry O'Connor's 2019 biography of Ian McKellen, he mentions that the two were in a relationship early in both of their careers, but it came to an end in 1972 when Bond was about to open in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/01/ian-mckellen-memoir-biography-garry-o-connor-john-humphrys-today-peter-pan-white-city-closing-early|title=In lieu of Ian McKellen's own memoirs, a new biography offers revelations|last=Brooks|first=Richard|date=2019-09-01|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-09-12|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In the same biography, a former lover of Bond said that <blockquote>He was part of one of the first relatively out [gay] couples with Jeremy Brett, but theirs was an on-off liaison which lasted for years...Bond was irresistible, with an easy warmth of manner, wonderful humour and sometimes a wicked sense of fun. He was divine, lovely and wonderful in bed.<ref>Garry O'Connor (2019) ''Ian McKellen: The Biography'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London {{ISBN|978-1-4746-0851-0}}</ref></blockquote>
Agent David Graham mentions in his book ''Casting About: A Memoir'' that <blockquote>Had it been within my power to choose, Gary Bond would have become my life's companion. When ''Chips with Everything'' was brought to New York [which was in 1963], he was among the original British cast that came with it. Ashley-Steiner had been asked by his agent to represent him, and I was the lucky bloke assigned to look after him. Young, blond and handsome, he struck me as the most beautiful man I had ever seen. One Saturday afternoon between performances, Gary came to my apartment for a drink and a snack. We ended up in bed together and I was completely smitten. It was only afterwards I learned he was in a relationship with Jeremy Brett at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jeremybrett.livejournal.com/300037.html|title=The Paul Shenar mystery|website=jeremybrett.livejournal.com|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref></blockquote>
From 1979, he lived with American artist and illustrator E.J. Taylor,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Strachan|first1=Alan|title=Gary Bond: Finer Aspects of Musicals|url=http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/guardian-obituary---gary-bond.html|access-date=21 December 2014|work=The Guardian|date=30 October 1995|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922010505/http://www.thewonderfulworldofgarybond.com/guardian-obituary---gary-bond.html|archive-date=22 September 2013}}</ref> following their initial meeting in Fire Island, New York, later moving to Barnes and then to Ealing, London.
==Death== Bond died of AIDS-related causes on 12 October 1995 in Ealing Hospital at the age of 55. He had been with his partner E.J. Taylor for 16 years, and he died exactly one month after Jeremy Brett.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/arts-suffer-most-as-aids-rages-on-1583729.html |title=Arts suffer most as Aids rages on – Home News, UK |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=26 November 1995 |access-date=27 August 2011 |first=Clare |last=Garner}}</ref>
==Legacy== His alma mater of Central School of Speech and Drama, established The Gary Bond Memorial Award which is "awarded annually to a BA (Hons) Acting student who is facing financial hardship".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cssd.ac.uk/content/gary-bond-memorial-award|title=Gary Bond Memorial Award {{!}} The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama|website=www.cssd.ac.uk|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1964|| ''Zulu'' || Private Cole || |- |1969|| ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' || Mark Smeaton || |- |1971|| ''Wake in Fright'' || John Grant || |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0093937}} * {{IBDB name|32443}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Gary}} Category:1940 births Category:1995 deaths Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people Category:20th-century English male actors Category:20th-century English male singers Category:Actors from East Hampshire District Category:AIDS-related deaths in England Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Category:English gay actors Category:English gay musicians Category:English gay writers Category:English LGBTQ singers Category:English male film actors Category:English male stage actors Category:English male television actors Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:Gay singers Category:Male actors from Hampshire Category:People from Liss