Mike Walling

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Mike Walling

Mr Carline & Mr Walling
circa 1975 (Mike in front, left)
Born Mike Walling
July 8, 1950
Salford, Lancashire
Occupation Actor, writer, comedian.

Mike Walling is an English comic actor and screenwriter.

He began his career as an English teacher at Holland Park School in London. In the mid-1970s, whilst still a teacher, he won a British TV talent contest called New Faces with a comedy double act called "Mr Carline & Mr Walling." He immediately quit teaching and embarked on launching his new career in comedy. When the comedy duo split up, Walling moved into Situation Comedy, appearing in several series - "Just Liz", "Bootle Saddles" and then the very successful "Brush Strokes". He was also starting to get more work as a scriptwriter when he teamed up with Tony Millan. The two of them wrote for a number of different shows as well as their own original series.

In the early 80s Mike teamed up with session bass player Mo Foster for various comedy music projects, with Mike writing the lyrics and Mo writing the music and producing the resulting songs.

One of their songs, "The Papadum Song", a novelty song revolving around two men visiting an Indian restaurant (one of them for the first time) was repeatedly played on BBC Radio 1 and featured them live on several TV shows (including the BBC's Blue Peter) and was very popular at the time, but fate and industrial action decreed that it wouldn't sell. A 3 week strike at the distributors (Phonogram Records) meant that the records never actually got to the shops. The song was eventually re-released in 2006 [1] as part of a collection of comedy/parody songs called Make Tea Not War by the imaginary, but ill-fated and tragic, RJ Wagsmith Band. Another song from the same album, "Chalk Dust", which was written for Roger Kitter who released it under the pseudonym "The Brat", did hit the top ten all over Europe.

Mike has recently appeared in shows such as "The Smoking Room", "Coronation Street" and My Family.

"A Christmas Message"
The RJ Wagsmith Band

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Contents

[edit] Filmography

Mike Walling appeared in the following TV shows and films:

  • "Just Liz", UK TV {1980)
  • "The Disappearance of Harry" UK TV (1982)
  • "Badger by Owl-Light, UK TV (1982)
  • "The Pirates of Penzance" UK TV (1983)
  • "Bootle Saddles", UK TV (1983)
  • Scandalous at the Internet Movie Database UK Film (1984)
  • "Brush Strokes", UK TV (1986)
  • "Harry's Mad", UK TV (1993)
  • "Last of the Summer Wine", UK TV (2001)
  • Ep. – The Missing Bus of Mrs Avery
  • Ep. – "Last Night a Graphic Designer Saved My Life"
  • Ep. – "Quitters"
  • Ep. – "1987"
  • Ep. – "Happy Birthday"
  • Ep. – "Feeding Time"
  • Ep. – "Abi Ever After"
  • Ep. – "Once More with Feeling"
  • Ep. – "Four Affairs and a Funeral"
  • Ep. – "The Heart of Christmas"

[edit] Scriptwriter

He wrote or co-wrote scripts for the following comedy shows:

  • Ep. - "Breakfast Telly"
  • Ep. – "In at the Deep End"
  • Ep. – "First-Time Caller"
  • Ep. – "Suspicious Minds"
  • Ep. – #1.3
  • Ep. – #1.4
  • Ep. – #1.5
  • Ep. – #1.6
  • Ep. – #1.7
  • Ep. – "The Disappearing Act"
  • Ep. – "Reviewing the Situation"
  • Ep. – "Surviving Christmas"
  • Ep. – "A Walk on the Wildside"
  • Ep. – "Body Language"
  • "Trouble in Mind", UK TV, 1991
  • "A Prince Among Men", UK TV, 1997

[edit] References

  1. ^ Make Tea Not War, Angel Air

[edit] External links

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