Monday 20 February 2012

Wagner moment

A "Wagner moment" is what we call it at 5RdA when you momentarily confuse two very different people because they have similar names. As for example Richard Wagner (19th cent. high-brow opera composer) and Robert Wagner (1970s B-movie star).

We had a great one the other night and, not for the first time (remember Robert and John Altman?), it involved the cast of Eastenders.

 
By way of background, David Wicks has made a return to the Square after 15+ years. For actor Michael French (pictured above), it must be a welcome relief from the purgatory of "Casualty" (British equivalent of ER) to reprise the role of son of the late "Fat Pat" Evans, father of Bianca (Ricky!/Strictly) Butcher and brother of - I forget his name but he was whatsname in "Heartache".

So, we were watching Easties the other night and Carol says "Do you think from the number of times he gets mentioned, they're going to bring back David's son Joe as well? You remember, he was a bit strange. Played by Paul Nicholls."

No I didn't remember. And it was one of these moments when you don't want to open your mouth for fear of making a total prat of yourself because I was thinking Dancing with the Captain ...


Eventually, I cracked and said "Wouldn't Paul Nicholas be a bit old to play Michael French's son ...?"

Aahhhhhh! Paul Nicholls! Why didn't you say?

Not to be confused with Nick Berry
Hang your head in shame if you can (a) name another Paul Nicholls hit apart from Dancing with the Captain; and (b) kill yourself now if you remember the name of his character in "Just Good Friends"


I remembered he was a bookie and her name was Pen. Carol remebered the name of the actress (using the term in its loosest possible sense) who played her was Jan something that's a first name. She's right.

9 comments:

Kathie said...

OMG, Wicksie is around? We used to watch "Eastenders" in the late 1980s, when it aired on a local public TV station. At least Wicksie turned out nice-looking (unless a different actor took over the role in the intervening decades). What about the evil Nick Cotton and his clueless mother Dot? (Yes, we heard about Wendy Richard's death on this side of the Pond).

Robert Wagner has experienced a certain degree of notoriety in the US lately, after some money-grubbing alleged witness wrote a book questioning the official account of the manner of Natalie Wood's death 30+ years ago.

RJW nowadays ha, inter alia, a recurring role on US TV's #1 hit dramatic show, "NCIS," as Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo's jet-set con-artist father.

Neil King said...

You're mixing up the two Wicks brothers, Kathie. There was a younger one called Simon. He, not David, was "Wicksy" (note spelling, BTW) and was considered in certain quarters to be a heart-throb. I gather Simon returned for a cameo appearance at Fat Pat's funeral. Good "where are they now?" piece about Wicksy here:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2037862/Nick-Berry-TV-heart-throb-10-years-got-fed-fame.html

Nick Cotton also briefly returned to the Square about a year ago. He is played by actor Robert Altman, not to be confused with John Altman (director of MASH).

Marisa said...

Kathie I guess you're in the spirit of the post, ehehehhe. You just had your Wagner moment! How about that?

Kathie said...

When one's nickname is spelled ending in IE it's second nature to assume, absent evidence to the contrary, that all nicknames with the Y sound on the end are spelled ending in IE ;-)

Er, the director of "M*A*S*H* was Robert Altman:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026

Kathie said...

Re trying to recall the names of actors and/or characters on TV series or in film, www.imdb.com is your friend :-)

Anonymous said...

This Azorean in Rhode Island, also a lover of Flores, has discovered your blog when you seem to have stopped it.
Are there other entries coming?
I hope so.
Best,
V.

David said...

Paul Nichols ("Vince Pinner", and no, I didn't have to look it up) can still be heard in the recesses of my head singing "Grandma's Party", and if I close my eyes I can see him in housecoat drag performing it on Top of the Pops. Help me please.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kathie said...

Surprise! Marisa and I met IN PERSON last weekend on São Miguel at a colloquium where I gave my first talk in Portuguese. Ran into a Valadão at the meetings *whom I'd met at a previous conference a few years back) who was born in Ponta da Fajã Grande, so we're going to exchange genealogical materials and try to figure out our relation.

After nearly 5 years I also FINALLY met Gabriela -- through the magic of email we'd collaborated on our first book together without ever having met -- so now all that's left is to meet you two. I will, someday, I vow.