EastEnders villain and 90s heart throb Paul Nicholas looked unrecognisable as he prepares to play the bumbling old Major in John Cleese’s stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers
As he gets ready to portray a completely different character as the clumsy old Major in John Cleese’s stage adaption of his BBC smash programme Fawlty Towers, the former EastEnders star Paul Nicholas seems unrecognisable.
79-year-old Paul gained popularity in the 1980s as Vincent in the popular comedy Just Good Friends. His curly blonde hair and cheeky style of humour won him over many fans.
The actor, whose chiselled face and wavy blonde hair made him a star in the 1980s, will now be a part of the West End stage production of the popular BBC series, which opens this weekend.
After starring as Vincent in the popular comedy Just Good Friends from 1983 to 1986, Paul gained widespread recognition. However, his wavy blonde hair has long since vanished, and he now looks completely different.
The 79-year-old, speaking of his new theatrical role, reportedly told Daily Mail: “Well, I’m at that time in my life when Peter Pan is no longer a possibility.
“I’m at the age where these kinds of roles come up – I played Colonel Pickering recently and that’s not dissimilar.”
His new position coincides with the upcoming West End production of Fawlty Towers, in which John Cleese will reprise his writing and acting duties alongside his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
With his daughter, the 84-year-old comedic icon is using his skills to revive Fawlty Towers. The founder of Monty Python has now turned his beloved television series into a theatrical production, which will debut at London’s Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.
The cherished programme is based on Donald Sinclair, a real-life hotelier who owned the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay. The pair were captivated by his extraordinarily impolite demeanour.
John and Connie Booth wrote the original Fawlty Towers, which aired on BBC2 for two seasons in 1975 and 1979.
In a similar vein, it chronicled the miserable antics of tense Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), as they attempted to maintain both their marriage and their establishment.
Paul, a previous villain on EastEnder, will now play Old Major in the theatrical version of Fawlty Towers.
However, Paul began his career as a pop singer under the name Paul Dean, going on to score three Top 20 successes, including Grandma’s Party and Reggae Like It Used To Be.
In the 1970s, he also appeared in films including See No Evil and What Became of Jack and Jill? and had his own music programme on television, Paul.
Paul subsequently moved to Albert Square, where he made his on-screen debut in 2015 as Kathy Beale’s third husband, Gavin Sullivan. A year later, Paul’s character was killed off in the soap opera due to a storyline involving kidnapping.
In addition to his work on the well-known Albert Square, Paul’s portrayal of Vince helped make him one of the 1980s’ most identifiable TV stars.
- Coronation Street Tracy Barlow star’s life – soap exit, ‘incredible pain’ and famous ex
- Coronation Street tackle issue of botched cosmetic surgery in latest storyline
- Coronation Street spoilers with Joel fears, Roy in danger and Bethany’s life-changing news
- ITV Coronation Street fans ‘rumble’ cruel betrayal with Ken Barlow to ‘lose everything’
- ITV Emmerdale’s Nate ‘actually dead’ as fans ‘work out’ who’s pretending to be him
- Emmerdale: 5 theories on what’s really happened to Nate after ‘bizarre’ exit
