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CAREER

Barty, using his real name, Ian Bartholomew, has worked as an actor extensively in Theatre, Television, Radio and Film over the last 35 years.

He spent three years at the National Theatre working primarily with Richard Eyre and David Hare playing alongside Anthony Hopkins in the original production of Pravda, and Rik Mayall in The Government Inspector, as well as the award winning production of Guys and Dolls.

For the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice which toured England, and then China, Malaysia and Japan.

Other highlights include The Front Page at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Sam Mendes and playing ‘Jimmy Tomorrow’ in the Almeida Theatre/Old Vic production of The Iceman Cometh, starring Kevin Spacey.

He was nominated for an Olivier award for the London production of Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, and again for a British musical called Radio Times at the Queens Theatre.

Other West End credits include Tommy at the Shaftesbury, and Dead Funny at the Savoy.

Theatre work includes ‘The Fool’ in King Lear opposite Tom Courtenay at the Manchester Royal Exchange, The Grapes of Wrath, Guys and Dolls, Twelfth Night, The Crucible at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Liverpool Playhouse.

His television work includes Spooks, Florence Nightingale, Thieves Like Us, New Tricks, Minder, Bergerac, Rock Follies, The Professionals, Darling Buds of May, Wycliffe, The Blackheath Poisonings, Harry, The Echo, Without Motive, Casualty, The Bill (who hasn’t?) Holby Blue, Heartbeat and The Rivals.

On film he has appeared in Beyond the Sea, Shiner, Breakout, Max and Helen, Eisenstein and A Prayer For The Dying.

His only regret through all this time is having met the producers of Doctor Who some years ago to play the Doctor himself, and not getting the part.

And so it goes………

MUSIC

Barty joined his local church choir when he was eight years old, and has been involved with music ever since.

He sang solo treble in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the age of eleven, with singers from The Royal Academy, and went on to be the main soloist for the choir singing ‘Hear my Prayer’ by Mendelssohn, which includes ‘O, for the wings of a dove’ at Truro and Norwich cathedrals.

Aaaah…

Then he discovered Rock’n’Roll!

Early influences were Billy Fury, Cliff and The Shads, The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Hendrix, Zeppelin and anything LOUD.

Then came Stax Soul, anything Motown, Stevie Wonder, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren and a life-long commitment to Steely Dan.

After he moving to London in his early twenties and started sharing a flat with Nick Griffiths, they began writing together along with actor Bob Mason (Howlin’ Bastard: The Rochdale Cowboy) under the name of Dag Rallantando and The Cosmic Dockers. Sadly, the music biz was mistakenly, totally uninterested in their brand of musical satire.

Around this time, Nick hauled Barty off to play a game of cricket down in Blackheath for a team of ne’er-do-wells called the Dregs of Humanity Cricket Club, where he first met Wes McGhee, who was The Dregs’ fast bowler. Barty became a regular in the team, and then a regular in Wes’s band on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, and thence began his education in all things Country.

After several tours around the UK, Texas and various festivals throughout Europe, Vince and the Viletones raised their ugly heads. Very stoned one night after a McGhee gig, the plot was hatched to use the same line-up, but indulge in some 60’s beat Rock’n’Roll, wear leopard skin jackets, play red guitars, and be generally vile. Usually these schemes wither away after a good night’s kip and the advent of daylight, but this one didn’t, whereupon Barty was promoted to lead vocals, and a plethora of b-sides was collected and listened to for the repertoire that has since been crucified on an irregular basis. A Christmas re-union is always a feature of the ‘Tones modus operandi, so if ever you see one advertised, do yourselves a favour and go catch ‘em.

Barty at one time wrote songs with the actor Anthony Head under the guise of The Beamish Boys, but alas, the powers that be were not inclined to offer them a deal. Tony went to America and success slaying vampires with Buffy, and Barty didn’t.

And so it goes…

LIFE

Barty was born on the South Coast in Gosport, Hampshire in 1954, the youngest of three boys to William and Ida, brother to John and Peter. His Dad being a singer, there was always music and singing around the house, so it seemed natural for him to follow the family tradition, and join the local choir. From there he went on to getting involved in plays and musicals at school, encouraged by his Dad, up until his untimely death of a heart attack when Barty was only 12. He subsequently joined the local Amateur Dramatic Society, and at the age of 14, he decided that he was going to act for a living. He left school with a lamentable lack of qualifications, and did a drama course at Highbury Technical College in Portsmouth, and from there to The Guildford School of Acting. After three years he was unleashed on an unsuspecting world, and has made a reasonable living pretending to be other people ever since.

Having lived in London, or ‘the centre of the universe’ as people living there will have you believe, for over 30 years, he has swapped the urban life for the rural idyll, returned to his first love, music, and is now living in Cheshire with his new love, his wife Loveday and their two children, Nellie-Bea and James.

And that’s a whole lotta love.

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