Gary Bond

Gary James Bond (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor and singer born in the village of Liss, Hampshire. He originated the role of Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, appeared in several prominent West End productions, made his Broadway debut in 1963, and portrayed the protagonist John Grant in the Australian film Wake in Fright (1971).

Bond grew up in a family with a strong military tradition, his father and several uncles having served in the army, and it was widely assumed he would follow the same path. He was educated at Churcher's College in Petersfield and later Portsmouth College of Technology. His father's death in December 1956, when Bond was sixteen, removed the primary pressure on him to pursue a military career. He subsequently spent time in Johannesburg, South Africa before returning to England after winning a scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. During his three years there he received several awards, among them the Margaret Rawlings Cup, shared with Angela Morant, and the Elsie Fogerty Prize for the Best Individual Performance by a Man.

His first professional acting engagement was at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, where he appeared in Not in the Book and then as Dr Simon Sparrow in Doctor in the House. In 1962 he was cast as Pip in the Royal Court's production of Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything, directed by John Dexter. The production transferred to Broadway the following year, giving Bond his Broadway debut in 1963. That same year he made his professional television debut in a BBC production of War and Peace, and his film debut followed in Zulu (1964), in which he played Private Cole.

In 1968 Bond joined the Prospect Theatre Company, where he appeared in classical roles including Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Sergius in Shaw's Arms and the Man, and No Man's Land. At the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park in 1970, he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and performed in the one-man show Lord Byron. He also appeared in seasons at the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic, played Brutus in Julius Caesar, and starred in the world premiere of Jean Anouilh's Scenario in Canada.

In late August 1972, Bond created the role of Joseph when Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival, produced by the Young Vic Theatre Company and directed by Frank Dunlop. He subsequently joined the London production at the Albery Theatre. Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song specifically for Bond titled Disillusion Me, which he recorded as a single. In 1976 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, taking on roles including Hevern in Maxim Gorky's The Zykovs and Willy Oban in The Iceman Cometh. He appeared opposite Ralph Richardson in Alice's Boys and co-starred with Millicent Martin in Noël Coward's Tonight at Eight.

When David Essex departed the London production of Evita, producer Hal Prince and Bond met through Lloyd Webber's introduction and Bond was cast as the replacement Che Guevara in 1978, initially performing opposite Elaine Paige. Bond also introduced his friend Marti Webb to Lloyd Webber as a potential leading lady for the production, and Webb was subsequently cast opposite him. In his 2018 memoirs, Lloyd Webber noted that both Bond and Webb had previously appeared together in the musical On the Level. Bond maintained a close friendship with Lloyd Webber and his then wife Sarah Brightman throughout this period.

His subsequent stage work included Otto in Noël Coward's Design for Living in 1982, State of Affairs in 1983, a production of Old Flames that transferred to the Arts Theatre, The Baccarat Scandal opposite Keith Michell in 1988, and the role of the Count in a revival of Anouilh's The Rehearsal in 1992. In 1993, despite having been diagnosed as HIV positive, he played George in a UK touring production of Aspects of Love, which concluded with a short run at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.

Beyond the stage, Bond starred as Mark Smeaton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and as teacher John Grant in Wake in Fright (1971), directed by Ted Kotcheff and shot in Broken Hill, New South Wales beginning in January 1970. The film had its world premiere on the opening night of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, where Kotcheff received a Golden Palm Award nomination. Bond dyed his hair blonde for the role, and producers at NLT and Group W promoted him as the new Peter O'Toole. His television credits included Pip in the 1967 production of Great Expectations, Antonio in the BBC's 1972 production of The Duchess of Malfi, and John Worthing opposite Jeremy Clyde and Wendy Hiller in a 1985 production of The Importance of Being Earnest. He also appeared in Z-Cars, The Avengers, Hart to Hart, and Bergerac, among other television productions.