Fred Feast

Fred Feast
Born	Fred Feast 5 October 1929 Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
Died	25 June 1999(1999-06-25) (aged 69) Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Television actor

Frederick Feast (5 October 1929 – 25 June 1999) was a British television actor, best remembered for playing the role of Fred Gee in Coronation Street.

Early life

He attended the Graham School, Scarborough and served as a physical training instructor for the Parachute Regiment with the rank of sergeant. He worked as a variety artist and stand-up comic at the Windmill Theatre and appeared in summer seasons and pantomimes. Other occupations included driving instructor, butcher, trawlerman, dolphin trainer, nightclub owner, personal shopper and publican.

Coronation Street

Although he acted in numerous television dramas, he was best known for his role as the Rovers Return's "potman", Fred Gee, a crooked man with unscrupulous morals, on the soap opera Coronation Street, a role he played from 1975 to 1984.

In 1983, Feast took time off sick at a moment's notice, causing the Coronation Street script writers to have to re-draft 12 episodes (then the equivalent of six weeks of programmes.) He claimed to be depressed, had trouble remembering his lines, and suffered from bouts of uncontrollable weeping. Podmore later said that if he had come to him and explained this in the first place, his role could have been temporarily reduced; appearing as a bar person in The Rovers, the focal point of Coronation Street, means that an actor tends to be in more scenes than other characters. Bill Podmore described Feast as 'earthy', and Fred Gee as being a toned-down screen version of Fred Feast.

The next time he took time off, in 1984 it was permanent. Fred Gee had gone from being an unlikeable loser to an outright buffoon, getting the sack from The Rovers from owner Billy Walker after punching him in the face, unable to see that Walker had goaded him into it so he could fire him without having to pay him any redundancy. Business deals behind the back of London textile magnate Mike Baldwin also backfired. Feast refused to sign a new contract, stating in the British national press that he didn't want to become "...another Coronation Street cabbage", referring to several cast members—namely Peter Dudley, Jack Howarth and Bernard Youens, who had all recently died. Fred Gee was not killed off at that point, he was simply never mentioned again. He last appeared in the soap in December 1984. His place at The Rovers was taken by Jack Duckworth (William Tarmey).

Later roles

After leaving Coronation Street, he went on to a three-year stint on the BBC1 series All Creatures Great and Small in a minor role. Feast also went for the role of Fred Dibnah in a 1989 drama called Our Fred but the one off never came about. Another role which eluded him was that of Howard Booth in Yorkshire TV's 'The Bounder'. Apparently Feast was offered the role as a result of his strong showing at the audition, but his refusal to grow a rakish moustache counted against him; no such problem for Peter Bowles who duly secured the role.

As the roles dried up, Feast made a brief foray into local politics. He initially stood as the Labour candidate for Glossop East in the Derbyshire County Council elections, but during a public debate at Glossop Town Hall, Fred fluffed his lines and could only mumble that the local Labour manifesto was "something about wheelie bins, dog dirt and joyriders" and that he'd be a "better councillor than Alf Roberts"—a reference to Bryan Moseley's Coronation Street character who was Mayor of Weatherfield.

Fred was abruptly de-selected the following morning by the local Labour Party committee, but immediately re entered the election as an independent UKIP candidate. He polled less than 40 votes, and lost his deposit—but not before a bravura performance at the count, upstaging the returning officer and other candidates with an off-the-cuff 14 minute speech—much of his ire aimed at the Labour National Executive.

He was dropped for a TV commercial by car manufacturer Rover, who had planned to reprise his Coronation Street character's ubiquitous Rover 2000 -with Feast, no less, at the wheel.

Controversy

In August 1991 in a bizarre interview with the Daily Mirror, conspiracy theorist David Icke accused Feast of being a high level member of the New World Order, a supposed group that works under the orders of alienoid shape shifting lizards and secretly rules the world. Icke explained that it's not just politicians involved in such an undertaking, but "entertainers as well". "They help condition people for the moment when the reality of their predicament is exposed" he said, "so people like Fred Feast, I know he's a bit washed up now, but he was big in the 80s thanks to his role in Coronation Street, would be subliminally laying the foundations for the acceptance of the human race's rule by aliens". Speculating on Feast's then recent fall from grace, Icke said that he had perhaps displeased his lizard paymasters. He did add, however, that it is "highly unlikely" that Feast is himself half man, half lizard. "He doesn't have the necessary intelligence" added Icke.

Death of character

Feast later admitted that he regretted leaving Coronation Street, his bravado after having resigned long since gone. His character was killed off with a heart attack in January 1999, a few months before Feast's own real-life death from abdominal cancer. The news was given to Jack and Vera Duckworth by Fred's ex-wife Eunice (Meg Johnson) that he had died in a manner that was "not befitting a Ram man" (Feast had been a Derby County season ticket holder).

External links

• Fred Feast at the Internet Movie Database
• Fred Feast at Corrie.net