Peter Gordeno; Guardian obit (actor in 'UFO')
Hyfler/Rosner
Actor, singer and dancer, his greatest achievements lay in
choreography
Terry Monaghan
The Guardian,
Thursday October 30 2008
Photo here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/oct/30/obituary
Peter Gordeno as Carlin in UFO. Photograph: Rex Features
Peter Gordeno, who has died aged 69, was among the
performing choreographers of the 1960s who redefined
entertainment dance on television screens and the West End
stage, introducing fluid, subtle, lyrical jazz dancing that
contrasted with the more muscular, balletic style
predominant in the US. Although he is remembered more widely
for his short run of acting appearances as Captain Peter
Carlin in the cult television series UFO, his true artistic
importance lies in his dance and vocal achievements.
Gordeno excelled especially in live cabaret, backed by his
loyal and enthusiastic dancers. As well as successes on the
QE2, he appeared for many seasons throughout the 1970s and
early 1980s at the Talk of the Town in London, and at the
Sporting Club, Monaco, for three seasons at the Riviera in
Las Vegas, in three hugely popular tours of the Soviet Union
and a string of live concerts in Sydney.
One of three sons of an Italian-American father and a
part-Scottish, part-Burmese mother, he was born Peter
Godenho in Rangoon as war approached, in 1939, and
experienced the kind of deadly dramas he later sometimes
enacted on stage. At the post office in Rangoon with his
mother, he narrowly escaped death by bombing, and one
brother was lost as they fled the invading Japanese. Then
Peter and his other brother Derrick were evacuated to
Calcutta and left in an orphanage. He later began dancing in
Calcutta cabarets and, following a collaboration with an
English dancer, Yvonne Scott, decided to try his luck in
Britain.
He knew no one in London and took jobs in a plastics
factory, on a garage forecourt and in a coffee bar. There,
in 1958, a showgirl told this dark, exceptionally
good-looking newcomer about chorus auditions taking place
for Shirley Bassey and Tommy Cooper's stage show, Blue
Magic. Despite his comparative inexperience, he was one of
the two chosen out of 100 hopefuls.
Three months later, Gordeno auditioned successfully for the
London opening of West Side Story at Her Majesty's Theatre,
and ascended from the chorus to the lead role of Pepe, his
"real training in show business", he later admitted. His
combination of a strong voice and unusual style of dance led
to an EMI recording contract and attracted the attention of
Ernest Maxim, producer of the Kathy Kirby Show (1964-65),
one of the biggest on television. He was invited to appear
on the show, and Maxim then asked him to choreograph as
well.
A succession of television appearances, intended to promote
his records, created yet more demand for his ineffably
smooth dancing and choreography. He appeared in Max
Bygraves' show Do Re Mi (1961), took a role in the murder
mystery film Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1965), and was in
ABC-TV's The Blackpool Show, compered by Tony Hancock
(1966), and the West End production of the musical Man of La
Mancha (1968).
Gordeno began to suffer doubts about his career at about
this time and was then involved in a serious car crash. He
drew heavily on the support of his wife, Angela Wallace, and
their children in overcoming the psychological damage,
caused in particular by his facial injuries .
He bounced back with a solo spot on the The David Frost Show
in December 1968, which led to a 13-week engagement on LWT's
The Saturday Crowd (1969). That year he won a Golden Rose
award in Montreux for the song Everybody Knows. An
appearance on Juke Box Jury led to him being cast as Carlin
in UFO, the 1970 television show created by Gerry and Sylvia
Anderson in the wake of the success of their Thunderbirds
and Captain Scarlet marionette series. Gordeno plunged into
the part, often performing his own action stunts, but left
after only seven episodes of the 26-part series when his
agent warned him of the dangers of typecasting.
His later work included a BBC TV special, The Peter Gordeno
Show, which had some success as an export, and performances
with Mike and Bernie Winters and the Three Degrees in a BBC1
Seaside Special at Blackpool in 1975, and with Nana
Mouskouri and Les Dawson in 1976 at Caesar's Palace, Luton.
He also compered the UK and world disco dancing competitions
live for ITV, and undertook behind-the-scenes choreographing
and coaching of artistes including Tom Jones, Twiggy and
Engelbert Humperdinck. However, his choreography and acting
role as the Shaman in Carry on Columbus (1992) was less
successful, as was his first and only appointment as
director, for the stage production The Baskerville Beast
(2005).
He experienced recurring bouts of cancer from 1995 but began
work on his own musical story, The Golden Land, which his
son Peter, who followed him into entertainment, is now
completing. He is survived by Angela, two sons and a
daughter, and by his brother.
. Peter Gordeno (Godenho), dancer, singer, actor and
choreographer, born June 20 1939; died October 18 2008