ADAM FAITHOne of Britain’s leading pop singers who improbably turned himself into a leading actor and businessman in later life, Adam Faith died on 8 March 2003, at the age of 62.During his brief career as a pop idol, he vied for popularity with stars such as Billy Fury and Cliff Richard and, later eclipsed by guitar groups like the Beatles, went on to reinvent himself several times.BBC bigwig Alan Yentob described the entertainer as “a messenger boy who became a 50s rocker, a TV-star-turned-recor d-producer who then... transformed himself into a financial journalist and media entrepreneur.”Terenc e Nelhams was born on 23 June, 1940, in Acton, London, where he grew up on a council estate and attended the John Perryn secondary modern school. He later left, however, to pursue a career in the film industry and began work as a messenger boy, slowly progressing through the ranks to become assistant film editor.On the side, meanwhile, he formed skiffle group The Worried Men with whom he appeared in a live broadcast for BBC TV in 1958. He was spotted by producer Jack Good who convinced him that, with a name change, he could become a star. Indeed, it was not long before Mr Faith, as he now renamed himself, soon found fame with record label Parlophone.His first release, ‘What Do You Want’, hit shelves in 1959 and was an instant hit. Selling almost 50,000 copies a day, it went straight in at number one, just the first of 16 top 20 records which Faith would enjoy over the next five years.‘Poor Me’, ‘Who Am I’ and ‘Someone Else’s Baby’ were quick to follow and Mr Faith was soon established as a teen idol. Roles in movies including ‘Beat Girl’ and ‘Never Let Go’ further cemented his popularity.By the late 1960s, however, and the arrival of Beatle-mania, Mr Faith’s stardom had waned. Recognising that “the worst thing in the world is to be an ex-pop singer doing the clubs,” the young singer instead chose to focus on his acting career and subsequently saw his profile rise again with a number of roles in theatre.He returned to the music business during the 1970s, this time as a manager and producer, and discovered future singing sensations, Sandie Shaw and Leo Sayer.The 80ssaw him reinvent himself again as a financial guru, working as a columnist for the Daily Mail and its sister paper, Mail on Sunday. He also became a partner in cable and satellite television’s Money Channel but its failure in 2001 ultimately cost him over £30 million and forced him into bankruptcy.Further acting roles during the 1990s in sitcoms ‘Love Hurts’ and ‘The House That Jack Built’ ensured Mr Faith never stayed off British screens for long. He died of a heart attack on 8 March 2003, at the age of 62.The entertainer had a history of heart problems and had been given open heart surgery to relieve blocked arteries in 1986.His memoirs, ‘Acts of Faith’, were published in 1996.
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