Largely shot on location in the North East, Spender ’s three series were major TV hits. In 1992, he returned to the charts with Ain’t No Doubt which became his biggest hit, reaching number 1.įurther 1990s hits included Crocodile Shoes - the title track of the TV series which Nail created and starred in - as well as Cowboy Dreams and Big River.Īt the same time, he was further flexing his creative muscles, both writing and starring as Tyneside Detective Freddie Spender. In 1985, his cover of Rose Royce’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was a big UK hit. Jimmy's Auf Wiedersehen, Pet audition was initially for a part as an extra, but such was his immediate star quality, La Frenais and Clement bumped him up to play the boozy and bellicose main character of brickie, Leonard 'Oz' Osbourne. Jimmy Bradford, or as most of us know him Jimmy Nail, was born in Longbenton, North Tyneside, in 1954.Īn early brush with showbusiness came as singer with Newcastle punk band the King Crabs, in which he wore a dress and hobnail boots on stage! “The rhythm of the scenes is now stilted and awkward. “It’s political correctness gone mad,” he said. In 2020, the Daily Mirror told how Healy was unhappy that scenes had been cut from repeats of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet on UKTV. Tim is one of the co-founders of the two-yearly Sunday For Sammy concerts in memory of Tyneside actor Sammy Johnson (who appeared briefly in series two of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet as Martin Cooper) which raise funds to help young upcoming musical and acting talent on Tyneside.
His other TV work has included Boys From The Bush (1991), Breezeblock (2002), Benidorm (2009), Waterloo Road (2009) and Still Open All Hours (2014), while he also appeared in the film Purely Belter (2000), and in Billy Elliot The Musical. Playing the 'gaffer', Tim was one of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet's major players in each of its four series. As bricklayer Dennis, he was the often-reluctant 'leader' of the lads in Germany, keeping them in line and sorting out their problems.Ī young Tim paid his dues on the am-dram stages and around the workingmen's clubs of Tyneside, landing a role in TV's A Captain's Tale (1982), a dramatisation of West Auckland FC's two 'world cup' wins in the early 1900s.
Tim was born in Benwell, Newcastle, in 1952.