Fred Feast
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| Fred Feast | |
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| Born | Fred Feast October 5, 1929 Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England |
| Died | June 25, 1999 (aged 69) Bridlington, England |
| Occupation | Television actor |
Fred Feast (1929 - 1999) was a British television actor, best remembered for playing the role of Fred Gee in Coronation Street.
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[edit] Early life
He attended the Graham School, Scarborough and served as a physical training instructor for the Parachute Regiment with the rank of sergeant. He worked as a variety artist and stand up comic at the Windmill Theatre and appeared in summer seasons and pantomimes. Other occupations included driving instructor, butcher, trawlerman, dolphin trainer, nightclub owner, personal shopper and publican.
[edit] Coronation Street
Although he acted in numerous television dramas, he was best known for his role as the Rovers Return's "potman", Fred Gee, a crooked man with unscrupulous morals, on the soap opera Coronation Street, a role he played from 1975 to 1984.
In 1983, Feast took time off sick at a moment's notice, causing the Coronation Street script writers to have to re-draft 12 episodes (then the equivalent of six weeks of programmes.) He claimed to be depressed, had trouble remembering his lines, and suffered from bouts of uncontrollable weeping (later photographic evidence appeared to show him at Ewood Park irately witnessing Derby County’s humiliating 5-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers on 10 September 1983). Podmore later said that if he had come to him and explained this in the first place, his role could have been temporarily reduced; appearing as a bar person in The Rovers, the focal point of Coronation Street, means that an actor tends to be in more scenes than other characters. Bill Podmore described Feast as 'earthy', and Fred Gee as being a toned-down screen version of Fred Feast.
The next time he took time off, in 1984 it was permanently. Fred Gee had gone from being an unlikeable loser to being an outright buffoon, getting the sack from The Rovers from owner Billy Walker after punching him in the face, unable to see that Walker had goaded him into it so he could fire him without having to pay him any redundancy. Business deals behind the back of London textile magnate Mike Baldwin also backfired. Feast refused to sign a new contract, stating in the British national press that he didn't want to become "...another Coronation Street cabbage", referring to several cast members - namely Peter Dudley, Jack Howarth and Bernard Youens, who had all recently died. Fred Gee was not killed off at that point, he was simply never mentioned again. He last appeared in the soap in September 1984. His place at The Rovers was taken by Jack Duckworth (William Tarmey).
[edit] Later roles
After leaving Coronation Street, he went on to a three-year stint on the BBC1 series All Creatures Great and Small in a minor role. Feast also went for the role of Fred Dibnah in a 1989 drama called Our Fred but the one off never came about. Another role which eluded him was that of Howard Booth in Yorkshire TV's 'The Bounder'. Apparently Feast was offered the role as a result of his strong showing at the audition, but his refusal to grow a rakish moustache counted against him; no such problem for Peter Bowles who duly secured the role.
[edit] Controversy
In August 1991 in a bizarre interview with the Daily Mirror, conspiracy theorist David Icke accused Feast of being a high level member of the New World Order, a supposed group that works under the orders of alienoid shape shifting lizards and secretly rules the world. Icke explained that it's not just politicians involved in such an undertaking, but "entertainers as well". "They help condition people for the moment when the reality of their predicament is exposed" he said, "so people like Fred Feast, I know he's a bit washed up now, but he was big in the 80s thanks to his role in Coronation Street, would be subliminally laying the foundations for the acceptance of the human race's rule by aliens". Speculating on Feast's then recent fall from grace, Icke said that he had perhaps displeased his lizard paymasters. He did add, however, that it is "highly unlikely" that Feast is himself half man, half lizard. "He doesn't have the necessary intelligence" added Icke.
Icke's claims were later found to be unsubstantiated, though his comments had continued repercussions for the now beleaguered Feast.
He was dropped for a TV commercial by car manufacturer Rover, who had planned to reprise his Coronation Street character's ubiquitous Rover 2000 - with Feast, no less, at the wheel.
[edit] Death of character
Feast later admitted that he regretted leaving Coronation Street, his bravado after having resigned long since gone. His character was killed off with a heart attack in January 1999, a few months before Feast's own real-life death from abdominal cancer. The news was given to Jack and Vera Duckworth by Fred's ex-wife Eunice (Meg Johnson) that he had died, in a manner that was "not befitting a Ram man" (Feast had been a Derby County season ticket holder for over three matches).
