Biography
Jimmy Stanley was born in Liverpool and lived in the North Wales area during the early 1960s to early 1990s. His love of music and acting was soon apparent when he was selected to play the lead roles in various school productions. He played the leading role of King Of Kola in the Operetta/Musical 'Zurika' at the age of 10 and the 'Stage Manager' role in the theatre adaptation of Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' which toured successfully around local Secondary schools at the time and had been originally a 1940 USA movie starring a young William Holden. After failing to gain a place at London School Of Speech and Drama, he applied and won a place in Bangor University at the age of 17 for an acting/drama theatre course, Jimmy excelled and starred in various theatre productions such as a Rock Musical adaptation of 'Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus' re-titled 'Uptightus', and 'Brush With A Body', A farce play by renowned playwright Maurice McGloughlin, to name a few. In 1986, Jimmy performed his TV debut as Rock n' Roll legend Buddy Holly in a review program for a Channel 4 TV production commemorating the singer's posthumous 50th birthday. It was a role that Jimmy relished being a huge Buddy fan and was to repeat in 2012-14, performing this time to a whole new audience in US army bases and theaters, backed by his brother Ben and 3 musical friends in a tribute band to The Crickets. In 1993, Jimmy signed with a UK TV casting agency and minor roles in the BBCTV drama 'Children Of The North' and regular soaps such as 'Channel 4's Brookside, Yorkshire TV's Emmerdale and Granada TV's Medics & Coronation St' followed. Barely 2 months after his regular appearance as the Duckworth family's plumber and neighbor on Coronation St, Jimmy was selected from over 80,000 hopefuls for his biggest TV appearance as Robin Gibb of Bee Gees fame, in the UK's most popular Granada TV light entertainment series 'Stars In Their Eyes'. Watched by an audience of over 13 million viewers, Stars In Their Eyes' remains one of the most iconic and memorable entertainment TV series of the 1990s. Roles in ITV's TV drama 'Peak Practise' and BBC1's 'The Buccaneers' followed. Then in 1995, Jimmy was selected for the role of the late great frontman 'Freddie Mercury' of the rock band Queen for the London West End Theatre production of 'Freak-Out' produced by legendary Executive TV Producer Johnnie Hamp-The man who was first to put The Beatles on TV. Using a large cast of over 30 actors and crew, the show was about the mid-life crisis of a washed-out 60s/70s hippy character 'Mike Fab Gere' played by UK singer/actor/entrepreneur 'Mike Southon'. And his attempts to invigorate life back into what had become a decadent, lifeless music scene. This would be done by cloning dead rock stars and using them in a brilliantly-perceived stage production. The show's backing band consisted of members from 'Iron Maiden, Deep Purple & The Zombies and toured many provincial cities on it's debut run before it soon ran into budgeting problems and a second run sadly had to be canceled, as a result. In 1996, following his success on 'Stars In Their Eyes' Jimmy was able to once again perform his role of Robin Gibb when he formed the tribute band 'Stayin' Alive' and a lifelike recreation of the Bee Gees and their music both visually and audibly. The band's various accolades consisted of 'The Premiere Launch for 'Saturday Night Fever-The West End Musical' when it was relayed 'Live' outside The London Palladium by BBC1's 'Watchdog' with presenter Anne Robinson. Jimmy and his colleagues in Stayin' Alive' were also the only guests to be requested back as performers 3 times in Suggs of Madness' 'Night Fever Celebrity Karaoke Quiz-show, Channel 5-1999-2000. Later in that year, Jimmy appeared in the pilot episode of BBC1's 'Battle Of The Fantasy Bands' as one of the Top 6 tribute bands in the UK. The tribute-based TV show also featured Terry Wogan & Ulrika Jonsson as hosts. However, the planned series was discontinued after being slammed by critics for it's confusing format. More recently, Jimmy recorded a Bhangra-style version of the Bee Gees classic song 'Stayin' Alive' with top Indian producer 'Balli Sagoo' for the Bollywood film 'It's A Wonderful Afterlife' in 2012. The version was featured in the closing credits of the Gurinda Chadra produced movie. In 2003-05, Jimmy was accepted to attend a 2 year acting and drama repertory company in Manchester, UK with renowned drama coach and entrepreneur David Johnson. The course served as a refresher in acting skills and improvisational theatre, helping to further Jimmy's skills as a natural actor. In 2009, Jimmy landed the minor role of main Press Reporter in the UK movie 'Telstar'-The Joe Meek Story' He was featured in the unedited opening credits of the film and also as van driver for the band 'The Outlaws' featuring presenter/actor James Corden. In 2012, Jimmy featured in US film producer Ron Howard's blockbuster movie 'Rush' as a Formula One enthusiast. The scene was filmed on location at a mock-up of the legendary 'Brands Hatch' near London, UK. Appearances in the UK award winning Netflix series 'The Crown' in 2018 & 2019 followed. Jimmy has also won the coveted UK tribute award for several years in recognition for his services to acting and performance of the late great Robin Gibb CBE in 2015-18. He is also a performer/actor in tribute to Sir Paul McCartney of The Beatles. A singer/songwriter in his spare time, he has composed and recorded over 100 recorded songs, some of which are published and written for various cult TV conventions.
