Adam Faith
Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright, known as
Adam Faith (
June 23,
1940—
March 8,
2003) was an
English singer,
actor and financial journalist. He was born in
Acton in West
London, and was unaware that his real surname was Nelhams-Wright until he applied for a passport and obtained his birth certificate. He was known as Terry Nelhams in early life.
Adam Faith was one of Britain's most significant early
pop stars. His first hit, "What Do You Want", came in 1959 and hit number one on the
UK singles chart, and with subsequent songs like "Poor Me" (another
chart topper), "Don't That Beat All" and "Someone Else's Baby" he established himself as a serious rival to
Cliff Richard in British
pop music. His style and looks were in complete contrast to Cliff's, offering a real alternative for the teenage market. Like most contemporary pop singers, he did not write his own material, and much of his early success was attributable to his partnership with
John Barry. He gave a credible account of himself on the
TV interview series
Face to Face with
John Freeman in December 1960.
Faith's brand of sometimes rather twee pop ("Lonely Pup (In a Christmas Shop)") became less popular through the
1960s in the face of competition from groups like
The Beatles, and he began an alternative career as an
actor. While still a
musician he had appeared in films such as
Beat Girl (1961), but now he concentrated on acting in the
theatre. In the
1970s he went into music management, notably managing
Leo Sayer among others.
He appeared in the
1970s television series
Budgie, about an ex-convict, but after a car accident as a result of which he almost lost a
leg, his career suffered something of a decline. It restarted in 1975 when he landed a major role as the manipulative manager of rock star
David Essex in the film
'Stardust'. In the early
1990s, Faith had another hit TV series in
Love Hurts co-starring with
Zoe Wanamaker.
In the 1980s Adam Faith's interests moved from show business to finance, and he became an astute financial investments advisor. In 1986 he was hired as a financial journalist, by the
Daily Mail and its sister paper the
Mail on Sunday. He also had an involvement with the television
Money Channel. But the channel proved to be an unsuccessful venture and closed down in 2001. Adam Faith was declared
bankrupt owing a reported £32 million.
He had had heart problems since 1986 when he underwent
open heart surgery. He became ill after his stage performance in
Stoke on Trent on the Friday evening, and died in hospital of a
heart attack early on Saturday morning,
March 8,
2003.
At the time of his death, much of the British
tabloid press revelled in reporting his apparent last words; these being a comment on British television channel,
five: "Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space". Although it is not certain that these were his actual last words, it has become a popular
urban myth in recent years.
Michael Caine, (born Maurice Micklewhite) said that his mother worked with Adam's mother in their early days, but because each, of course, referred to her son by his real name, they never made the connection to each other's already well-known offspring.
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All Music Guide entry*
Adam Faith site
