Gary Frederick Holton[1] (22 September 1952 – 25 October 1985) was an English actor and musician from London. He is best remembered for playing the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Early life
Gary was the third child of Ernie and Joan Holton. He grew up in the slums of the East End, whilst musically talented Gary's real ambition was to act. Early on in his life, he began working in the theatre world with the Sadlers Wells Opera Company and was with them for three years. Soon after leaving education at Westminster School, he joined the Old Vic Theatre Company and from there he went on to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford.
At seventeen he joined the touring company of Hair and remained with them for two years. When he left the Company his musical talents led him to front the rock band Heavy Metal Kids as vocalist.
The Heavy Metal Kids
Gary was a spectacular front-man for the band, which formed in 1974. With his raucous cockney accent he proved himself a popular cult glam rock icon of the age. The band were discovered by former Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich front-man Dave Dee, who signed them to Atlantic Records, and they recorded their debut album straight away "The Heavy Metal Kids", it was well received by the press, however did little to cause an impact upon the music scene.
They played many gigs with notable punk rock band The Adverts They had their first American Tour in 1975, in this short time they shortened their name to simply The Kids.
In December 1975, the Kids signed with producer Mickie Most's RAK label, but before work could begin on their next album, Holton was loudly sacked from the lineup amid a storm of drink and drug related headlines. Plans for the remaining members to continue on without him, however, came to naught and, in late 1977, Holton rejoined the band for a handful of live shows and the long-delayed third album, Kitsch. But by mid-1978, he had departed once again and, this time, the band broke up.
Whilst the band was popular in Sweden they had little commercial success in Britain (though in 1976 their single "She's No Angel" was regularly played on BBC Radio 1, a favourite of legendary DJ John Peel, and this led to an appearance on Top Of The Pops), so they disbanded and Holton returned to acting.
His musical endeavours were now confined to strict one-offs for a while: in December 1978, Holton stood in for The Damned vocalist Dave Vanian on a short Scottish tour, he also recorded a solo single (which became a number one hit in Norway, a stunning punk-country version of Kenny Rogers's "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" with the Boys' keyboardist Casino Steel, with whom he would later write a song simply titled "Auf Wiedersehen Pet" about his experiences in the show. Holton and Steel recorded three albums together, all of them doing well in Norway. But even the opportunity to replace the late Bon Scott in AC/DC could not lure him back to full-time rock & roll.
Minor Television Roles
Gary returned on the acting scene, and although no real major parts came along for him, he played the lead part Ken in Stephen Frears' film Bloody Kids, alongside Only Fools and Horses star Gwyneth Strong.
He played a number of smaller parts in Music Machine and Quadrophenia and also a wide variety TV parts including: Dreams of Leaving, Shoestring, The Knowledge, Tiny Revolutions, The Gentle Touch and the Minder episode "A Number of Old Wives' Tales".
He memorably appeared in a successful series of TV adverts for Tennants Pilsner lager alongside model Debbie Linden in 1984.
Gary's big break came with the character Wayne in the Central Television production Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Playing the part of Wayne Winston Norris in the smash hit comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Holton became a household name. People came to have great affection for all the characters in the show. Holton played a Cockney carpenter who liked his women, music and drink, which was actually very similar to his off-screen personality.
He landed the part (the first of the seven to be cast), after he was introduced to Ian La Frenais at a party. La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement had been drafting storylines and working on an idea given to them by Franc Roddam, ex-foreign worker and director of Quadrophenia.
The first series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet ran between 1983 and 1984 with viewing figures steadily rising and topping the 14 million mark, Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement and their supporting writers had a huge hit on their hands. The true-to-life storylines were believable, capturing the reality of honest working men screwed by the system. The first series ended with the lads returning to Blighty to become another of Margaret Thatcher's unemployment statistics, which was a reflection of Britain in the early 1980s.
The British public wanted more. In February 1985 filming began on Auf Wiedersehen Pet 2. The cast were no longer unknowns. Auf Wiedersehen Pet had turned Gary Holton and his colleagues all into stars in their own right and the pressure to come up with high quality material to match or even surpass the original was great.
Gary became very close to his acting colleagues. The remaining members did not want to continue making the show, which was planned for a third series set in the Russian Embassy without him. The final episode of the second series, broadcast after Holton's death, was dedicated to his memory.
The show was successfully revived in 2002 with the original writers and all of the surviving cast members. Gary, despite being dead for seventeen years, was not forgotten, and Wayne was still essential to the plot. The gap in the line-up left by Holton was filled by Wyman, Wayne's illegitimate son, played by Noel Clarke.
Death
Holton was found dead by his girlfriend Janet Mclllewan in his bed on 25 October 1985. He had died from an overdose of alcohol and morphine, with traces of diazepam and cannabis in his system. Pathologist Dr Rufus Crompton said during his inquest at Hornsey, North London, that he would have been drinking less than half-an-hour before his death, and that the morphine would have made him unconscious within a matter of minutes.
Holton had a blood alcohol level of 199 mg and a morphine level of 0.8 mg per litre (0.5 mg per litre is considered invariably fatal[2]) . He had been a drug user for several years after experiences through the music scene and was addicted to heroin, a habit he had quit some time after the first series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet had been broadcast. He was considering setting up a clinic to help others with their addictions.
Holton had considerable debts and had two bankruptcy orders totalling £61,000 over him. These debts were partly due to his not having paid tax since 1979 and also having a mortgage of £48,500 on his flat in Maida Vale, London. He died midway through the second series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, but the producers used body doubles and clever editing of dialogue already recorded to allow the series to be completed.
They eventually rescripted the series such that in every indoor scene that originally included Holton excuses were made for his absence, normally tied into the character's love of the opposite sex, for instance Barry; "Where's Wayne? Off down the port chasing skirt again?" In one scene in the last episode of series 2, a body double is seen being carried out of a bar by Bomber, it is obviously a double as his face is never shown, and some dialogue is added "what is it I am supposed to have done?" having been chatting up Ally Frazer's girlfriend Vicki. Just before his death he had released a single Catch A Falling Star. He is survived by his son Red and his adopted son Max, with model Susan Harrison.
Funeral
Holton's funeral took place on 22 November 1985, with a 15-minute service at Golders Green Crematorium in London. His Auf Wiedersehen Pet co-stars were all there to pay their respects. His ashes were removed by the undertaker and later placed in his grandparents grave in Maesgwastad Cemetery, Christ Church, Welshpool, Powys where his father was landlord of a public house at the time.
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