Peter Gordeno R.I.P.

[Mr Flash]

name='Lord Brett']I've just rememberd, when I met Mr Gordeno I asked him about a film he was in in the 1980s called Urge to Kill, which got a lot of publicity in the Daily Star, as it was apparently packed with page 3 girls, but then never seemed to get a release. He remembered it well, and was pleased and surprised that anyone had even heard of it.



He played a man who lived in a fully automated house which (as they do) decided to kill the occupants. Has anyone else come across the film?

Sadly Urge to Kill/Attack of the Killer Computer was never released. It was the last film to be made by british sex film director Derek Ford.

A crew member once jokingly told me the film “cost about one pound fifty” to make. At least I think he was joking.

[julian_craster]

Peter Gordeno with Kathy Kirby in the mid-1960s (BBC)

Obituary: Peter Gordeno

Actor, singer and dancer, his greatest achievements lay in choreography



by Terry Monaghan

The Guardian, Thursday October 30 2008



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

[julian_craster]

Whatever happened to Kathy Kirby - is she still performing ?

[Dame Starry]

name='julian_craster']Whatever happened to Kathy Kirby - is she still performing ?

Try her official website: Kathy Kirby



DS x.

[jamesharris]

Another ofg my childhood heroes gone.

R.I.P. Peter Gordeno

[TheEntertainer]

name='jamesharris']Another ofg my childhood heroes gone.

R.I.P. Peter Gordeno

I am so pleased to have found this forum. Peter was a wonderful friend of mine. It is so nice to see so many lovely comments about him on here and to see that he is far from being forgotten. In recent years he has been working on his musical The Golden Land which we showcased in 2000. This is a project that was so close to his heart and will continue to move forward in his absence. To see that Peter is remembered as the all round entertainer and very special person he was is just wonderful. I have so many memories of Peter that I will cherish for ever. He was the nicest and most genuine person in the business with time and respect for everyone and a unique and brilliant sense of humour. I can't yet believe he's no longer with us.

I shall miss him very much. There is a very bright star shining in the sky now.

God bless you Peter.

xxx

[bhowells]

When I was seven I went to the pantomime in the Swansea Grand Theatre with my primary school, the panto was Dick Wittington. There was a guy in that panto who looked like Peter Gordeno I wonder if was him. The Dame might have been Jack Haig.



I havent got a programme for this and cant find anything on the Swansea Grands website,but if anyone remembers this panto can they please send me a P.M..

[julian_craster]

Peter Gordeno as Carlin in UFO

[ollie]

Very Cool ..... captain of skydiver

[TheEntertainer]

name='Geoffers']He was also a decent singer.

Wonderful photo Geoffers. Where did you find it? I would not have recognised him.

[julian_craster]

From The Times

November 12, 2008



Peter Gordeno: dancer and choreographer



In the 1960s and 1970s Peter Gordeno was one of Britain’s busiest choreographers and dancers, working on a string of TV variety specials and West End cabaret floorshows. His slick style of dancing, allied with his good looks, made him something of a pin-up. He also had a pleasant singing voice and recorded several hit singles including You’re Following Me (1961).

He choreographed variety shows for stars such as Kathy Kirby, Danny La Rue, Engelbert Humperdinck and Tom Jones, but unexpectedly gained international fame in 1970 when he took up acting and was cast as Captain Peter Carlin in Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s sci-fi series UFO, a role he played for three years.The Andersons were puppet specialists and UFO was their first attempt at real-life action. In the series the Earth is pitted against a mysterious alien force. Captain Carlin is commander of the submarine Sky Diver and the pilot of its aircraft, Sky One. Gordeno did all his own stunts and was disappointed when he was written out of the show, his agent fearing that he might be typecast in the role.



Peter Godenho was born in Rangoon, Burma, in 1939, the son of an Italian-American father and a Scottish-Burmese mother. After his father was killed in the war the family left Rangoon and his mother brought up Peter and his brother in Calcutta.



The young Godenho developed a great interest in dance and as a teenager formed an act with an English dancer, Yvonne Scott, appearing in nightclubs in Calcutta. In the late 1950s he changed his surname and came to England, winning himself a dancing role in Blue Magic (1959), a West End revue starring Shirley Bassey and Tommy Cooper.



He danced in the original London production of West Side Story (1959- 61), playing the role of Bernardo, and subsequently appeared in the Max Bygraves musical Do Re Mi (1961).



Spotted by Ernest Maxim, a variety producer, he moved into television, working as a choreographer on The Kathy Kirby Show. A solo spot dancing on The David Frost Show (1969) led to a 13-week engagement on The Saturday Crowd (1969). But it was his appearance on Juke Box Jury, performing his latest single, that caught the attention of Sylvia Anderson who was casting UFO.



After his spell on UFO he returned to variety starring in shows such as Leslie Crowther’s Scrapbook (1979) and he also appeared frequently in cabaret at the Talk of the Town.



He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.



Peter Gordeno, choreographer and dancer, was born on June 20 1939. He died on October 18, 2008, aged 69

[cornershop15]

As seen in the opening titles (The Cat With Ten Lives in case you're wondering):





I remember him more as a dancer on ITV's variety shows but only very vaguely.

[cornershop15]

Peter was one of astrologer Roger Elliot's subjects in this issue of the magazine:

Avoiding the crabs might have been difficult with those sexy dancers he used to prance around with every week. This was around the time Peter disappeared off our screens, I think. He was always a distant childhood memory until I started watching UFO on DVD in the last few months. Not a particularly good actor but it was nice to see him again after all these years. Some of his work is on YouTube.



Sadly, Roger Elliot died in 1993 during heart surgery, aged 56. He also had a weekly column in the News of the World.

[Mr Flash]

I've just rememberd, when I met Mr Gordeno I asked him about a film he was in in the 1980s called Urge to Kill, which got a lot of publicity in the Daily Star, as it was apparently packed with page 3 girls, but then never seemed to get a release. He remembered it well, and was pleased and surprised that anyone had even heard of it.



He played a man who lived in a fully automated house which (as they do) decided to kill the occupants. Has anyone else come across the film?

I’ve finally managed to get hold of a copy of “Attack of the Killer Computer” aka The Urge to Kill- seemingly derived from a time-coded VHS screener of the film. I’ve been asked to write the film up for an upcoming book on British horror films of the 1980s, so won’t go into great detail here, suffice to say its one hell and a film and lives up to expectations.
Heres a few screenshots:

[Santonix]

So sad to hear of his passing. R.I.P.