Jimmy Nail facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jimmy Nail
Nail at the Sunday for Sammy concert in Newcastle, February 2020
Born	James Michael Patrick Aloysius Bradford (1954-03-16) 16 March 1954 (age 70) Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Occupation	Actor, author, vocalist, songwriter, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1982–present
Musical career
Genres	Pop, rock, soul, country
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Labels	Virgin, East West, Papillon
Associated acts	Gary Holton, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Guy Pratt

James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and the title role in Spender. He also recorded a 1992 number one single, "Ain't No Doubt". His role as Agustín Magaldi, the oily crooner in the 1996 film Evita, gave him international recognition.

Early life

James Michael Aloysius Bradford was born in Newcastle upon Tyne to father Jimmy and mother Laura. His father was an Irish Catholic shipyard worker, amateur boxer, and professional footballer. Nail describes himself as an angry child who was expelled from secondary school for setting fire to curtains. When he was 13, his sister, Shelagh, died at the age of 20. He later spent time drinking, fighting, and generally rebelling against authority. He was involved in a fight after a football match and was sent to prison.

After being released, he worked in a glass factory. While opening a crate of glass he stood on a six-inch spike that went through his foot and thereafter was called "Nail", a name he later adopted professionally. Also at that time he sang in a rock band called the King Crabs. His sister Val McLane is an actress who co-founded the Live Theatre Company in Newcastle in 1973 and later became Head of Drama at Sunderland University.

Career

Television

Nail's partner, Miriam, encouraged him to audition for a television show, and although he had no experience as an actor, he won the role of Leonard Jeffrey "Oz" Osborne in the BAFTA-nominated Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, an ITV comedy drama about construction workers on the job, first in Germany, then other countries. After a slow beginning ratings reached 17 million.

In 1989 Nail and Ian la Frenais began work on an idea which became the BAFTA-nominated BBC television drama series Spender. It was the first British television series shot entirely in the North-East of England. Running to 22 hours in total, 'Spender' ran for three seasons, 1990-92 as well as a 1993 2-hour Christmas special. Ratings stayed around 14 million throughout the series' run.

In 1994 Nail created, executive produced, wrote and starred in the BAFTA-nominated BBC television drama series Crocodile Shoes. Originally conceived as a single film for BBC2, the series ran on BBC1 for two seasons over 13 hours. 'Crocodile Shoes' was the first UK television drama series to successfully integrate bespoke compositions, commissioned, written and recorded solely for the production, throughout its storylines. The series averaged around 9 million viewers per episode. The show's eponymous album went on to sell over one million copies.

In 2000, he began work on reviving the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series, this time for the BBC. It was filmed in Middlesbrough and Arizona in 2001 and aired in 2002, with audience figures of 12.9 million. The series was BAFTA-nominated. Another series saw the brickies holed up in Havana, and the final two-hour instalment, set in Laos, broadcast over Christmas 2004 attracting over seven million viewers.

In 2008, Nail created and starred as Phil Parker in Parents of the Band, a 6 × 30 mins series on BBC1, broadcast between November 2008 and January 2009. The series revolved around a group of teenagers who formed a band just for their own enjoyment, and their parents, who fully expected them to be the next Led Zeppelin. Ratings were disappointing, around three million.

Music

Nail had pop hits with "Ain't No Doubt", co-written by Nail, Danny Schogger, Guy Pratt and Charlie Dore, "Crocodile Shoes", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". His album Growing Up in Public (east/west 1992) featured guitarists Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Elliot Randall and George Harrison. Crocodile Shoes (East West, 1994) was based on the BBC television series of the same name, in which he played an English country songwriter. The album sold more than one million copies in the UK. Big River featured guitarist Mark Knopfler. Ten Great Songs and an OK Voice (Papillon, 2001) was an album comprising many of his favourite songs by other writers. Nail sang on the film soundtrack for Evita and received a double-platinum disk in recognition of 600,000-plus sales of the eponymous album. . 'Big River' is often played prior to kick-off at Newcastle United's home, St James' Park.

With Tim Healy, Nail co-founded the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, established in 1999 in memory of their friend and colleague Sammy Johnson, to help young talent in North East England. He has participated in the Sunday for Sammy benefit concerts. To date the fund has given out over £600,000 in bursaries and support.

Theatre and film

Nail worked as an extra on the British gangster film Get Carter (1971). Although this has been disputed in some quarters, in his memoir, 'A Northern Soul', paperback edition pp. 69-70, 133, 175-176, he confirms his involvement in the movie, albeit momentarily, and how he got to joke about that 'moment' some years later with 'Get Carter' director Mike Hodges when the two worked together on 'Morons From Outer Space' (1985).

Nail came out of retirement to act and sing in The Last Ship, a musical by Sting about the shipbuilders of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the hometown of both Nail and Sting. Sting grew up in Wallsend, down the street from the shipyards. Nail worked in the shipyards and is the son of a shipyard foreman. The show opened in Chicago. On Broadway, when ticket sales began to drop, Sting replaced Nail to try to save the musical, but it ended after a short run. Nail sang on the Original Broadway Cast Recording and on Sting's album, The Last Ship.

Nail played Parson Nathaniel in a twelve week run of the Bill Kenwright production of War of the Worlds alongside David Essex and Michael Praed at the Dominion Theatre, London in 2016.

Nail had been due to reprise his role in the UK production of 'The Last Ship' at Northern Stage on 12 March 2018. The show's producer Karl Sydow stated: "After protracted negotiations carried out in good faith, we regret to announce the production's offer of employment to Jimmy Nail has been withdrawn. Joe McGann will replace him when the show opens in Newcastle in March." Nail said "I was very much looking forward to appearing in Sting's The Last Ship, particularly here in my home city, sadly that's not to be."

In 2019 Nail began working on 'Seconds Away!', a play with music, for Newcastle-based Live Theatre Company.

Nail played gamekeeper "Rabbetts" in Danny, the Champion of the World, based on the novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.

Nail had a lead singing role in the 1996 film adaptation of Evita.

In 1998 Nail played Les Wickes in the Columbia Pictures movie 'Still Crazy' alongside Stephen Rea, Billy Connolly, Bill Nighy, Bruce Robinson, Hans Matheson, Juliet Aubrey, Rachel Stirling, Mackenzie Crook and Timothy Spall. Featuring original songs written by Jeff Lynne (ELO), Mick Jones (Foreigner), Chris Difford (Squeeze) and Russ Ballard (Argent), the movie was written by Dick Clement & Ian la Frenais and directed by Brian Gibson. The movie's main theme, 'The Flame Still Burns', performed by Nail, was nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Defamation lawsuit

In 2004, Nail successfully sued News Group Newspapers and Harper Collins Publishers. The lawsuit concerned false and defamatory allegations made two years before in an article in News of the World and Nailed, a biography which was the newspaper's source for the claims. He described reading the article as one of the worst experiences of his life. He reportedly received damages of £30,000.

Personal life

Nail has two children and lives in London. He is a Newcastle United fan. He has been a patron of FACT, a North-East based cancer charity, since 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

• Take It or Leave It (1986)
• Growing Up in Public (1992)
• Crocodile Shoes (1994)
• Big River (1995)
• Crocodile Shoes II (1996)
• Tadpoles in a Jar (1999)
• 10 Great Songs and an OK Voice (2001)