Gareth Thomas - -

This section is continuously under development, with more details of Gareth's activities being added as we hear about them.

Note: the dates given for TV/Radio shows are where possible the first showing of the first episode where applicable, not when they were made.

Gareth has managed to die in a surprisingly large number of roles. The RIP symbol is shown against performances he is known to have died in.

Gareth has been known to bemoan the fact that he never gets to play lovers. The statistics seem to bear him out. Heart symbols indicate a romance, they appear to be heavily outnumbered by tombstones. (Parts where he is already married don't qualify. )

Gareth has said that he does't want to be thought of as just a Welsh actor, but as an actor who can do English and Welsh characters with equal ease. He has lived for a long time in England, and now in Scotland, after his early years in Wales. He has been cast in a lot of Welsh roles over the years. Leeks indicate Welsh parts.

Material here, comes from many sources including :- Blake's 7 magazine, Chris Blenkarn, Joyce Bowen, Sue Clerc, Robert Cheadle, Sue Cowley, Pat Fenech, The Freedom City Gazette (FCG), Horizon magazine, Julia Jones, Andrew Kearley, Gareth Randell, Judith Proctor, The Prydonian Renegade (March 96), Together Again - Action, TV Zone Special #4, Stellar Quines, Dundee Rep Theatre, Theatre Clwyd, The Magenta Partnership, Royal Lyceum Theatre - Edinburgh, Alan Stevens, Pete Wallbank, Andy Hopkinson, Mark Thompson, The Scottish Theatre Archive, Blake's 7 The Inside Story, The Archives of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Sheelagh Wells, Gareth Thomas and some very nice people who have asked not to be identified.

Date	Medium	Event
1967	Film	Quatermass and the Pit (Hammer Films, 1967). Directed by Roy Ward Baker. Starring James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley (Dr. Plaxton in Stardrive) and Julian Glover (Kayn in Breakdown). An intelligent and literate sf thriller, adapted from the tv serial of the same name by Nigel Kneale. Prehistoric skeletons are unearthed during the excavation of a new London underground line, leading to unexpected discoveries about the true heritage of mankind - culminating in the resurrection of an ancient Martian lifeforce. Gareth has a non-speaking part near the beginning as one of the construction workers who discover the skeletons. The film was called 5 Million Years to Earth for US release. Gareth's part was filmed in July 1966. This small part has been used as the trailer for the whole film. Gareth to the Edinburgh Evening News 16 Jan 2000: "They built up this very expensive plaster of Paris tube station wall with real clay carefully put in and the alien skeleton set behind it. "The director told me to take a pickaxe and hit the top of the clay so that the whole section of wall would fall away. He suggested a rehearsal first, and warned me not to actually hit the thing. "So I swung the pick, stopped it dead an inch from the wall ... and the head flew off and smashed the whole thing. "There was a moment's absolute silence broken only by the director yelling "props'! It took three hours to rebuild." The moment of discovery (62K) Gareth interviewed by Joe Nazzaro in Horizon NL#33: There was one wonderful occasion, not long out of drama school, when I played a small part in Quatermass and the Pit; in fact it was before the title came up. I was in Los Angeles as a spear-holder for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and apparently the film had just been shown on television. I was walking down the street and somebody came up to me and said, "My God, I saw you last night! You were in that film Quatermass and the Pit!" I think they had cut most of my lines; I had something like two lines, and yet somebody had seen that and remembered it."
1972	Film	The Ragman's Daughter Directed by Harold Becker, written by Alan Sillitoe. Starring Simon Rouse, Victoria Tennant, Patrick O'Connell and Leslie Sands. A story about a Nottingham layabout who falls in love with an exciting middle class girl. We don't know who Gareth played or how big a role it was - he has said that his part was filmed at United Daries in Streatham in South London.
1974	Film	Juggernaut (United Artists, 1974). A thriller directed by Richard Lester, in which a mad bomber threatens a transatlantic ocean liner. The star cast includes Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Omar Sharif, Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm, Shirley Knight, Roy Kinnear (Keiller in Gold), Cyril Cusack and Freddie Jones. Gareth has a very minor part as a Liverpuddlian joiner working on the ship. Speaking to Jackie McGlone of The Scotsman on 24 Jan 2000. Gareth was filming the Richard Lester movie, Juggernaut, with Richard Harris and Omar Sharif in 1974. They sailed for days around the Atlantic on a Russian cruise ship looking for storms. One afternoon they were comfortably ensconced below deck watching Scotland play Ireland at rugby. Suddenly the picture wobbled. "The ship was turning around. Sharif dialled the bridge and instructed the captain to steer a straight course until the game was finished. And he did. Now that is what I call being a Hollywood star." The Joiner at work (50K)
1975	Film	Mafia Junction Drama directed by Massimo Delmano. Produced by Monymusk Productions Ltd, London An Italian-British co-production filmed in London, Lebanon (Beirut), and Rome. Starring Stephanie Beacham and Patricia Hayes. The plot concerns a woman who uses her body to deceive men and get what she wants in life. Gareth plays a trench-coated detective who follows the male lead, and gets caught doing it... Little more is known about this at present - we can't find it in any reputable film guide! It appears to have been an Italian language film, so the British actors may well have been dubbed. We do know it was released as an NTSC video in 1989, retitled as Superbitch (or sometimes given as Super Bitch). The video jacket states prominently "Featuring Gareth Thomas", even though he's only in it for a few minutes.
1993	Film	Sparrow (1993. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli). Based on "A Sparrow's Tale" by Giovanni Verga. Gareth appears for about ten minutes as Corrado (Nino's father). This was filmed in Italy. The Italian title is "Storia di una capinera". A young girl is evacuated from her convent during a cholera epidemic, and falls in love with Nino. A few months later she has to return to the convent, but cannot forget him. Corrado (37K)
19 Feb 2001	Film	Possessions Gareth was in Possessions a video made by MJTV. Gareths part of this was filmed on 19th and 20th February 2001. Sixfoothigh films decided in June '02 not to do a full scale release of the film. (a small number of private viewing copies were sold to individuals). The film was written, directed and produced by Mark Thompson, but it was financed by sixfoothight films and they own the rights to it. Gareth appears for about an hour in as the suspicious 'Inspector Sabworth' and has a large amount to do for the following hour. Other actors included Peter Miles, Debbie Watling, Anna Karen and Mark Thompson (as a posh documentary presenter!)

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Last updated on 06th of May 2002.