← Back

Gary Shail

Gary Shail

Born: 1959-11-10 • London, England, UK

Gary Shail began work in TV and film in 1977 and is best known for his roles as Spider in the 1979 cult classic film Quadrophenia and as Steve, the punky teenager in The Metal Mickey TV Show.

Shail appeared in the 1980 series The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist and also played Oscar Drill in Shock Treatment the 1981 follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and as Guy Raines in the 1983 BBC production Johnny Jarvis. He wrote the original songs and theme music for this production, for which he received a nomination for the Ivor Novello Awards. In 1988, Shail appeared as the tough pimp "Billy White" in the TV mini-series of Jack the Ripper, starring Michael Caine. He has also made appearances in the TV series The Bill and in Casualty and The Professionals.

In 1995 Shail began working with music production company Natural Sound Source in London, producing music for television, film and advertising. In 2004 he produced the Arabic fusion album Infinity in Dubai.

In 2010 Shail was back in the recording studio working on his autobiographical self-penned album 'Daze Like This.' A collection of new songs interspersed with some re-workings of some Johnny Jarvis themes. The album received critical success, but failed to reach a wider audience mainly due to Shails reluctance to embrace the new 'download' generation.

In October 2015 Shail's memoir I Think I'm On The Guest List was published by New Haven Publishing Ltd.

Filmography
To Be Someone poster
To Be Someone
2021 • Charlie
Ready For My Close Up poster
Ready For My Close Up
2019 • Luigi
Day of the Stranger poster
Day of the Stranger
2019 • Loomweather
Jekyll & Hyde poster
Jekyll & Hyde
1990 • Sailor
Death of a Son poster
Death of a Son
1989 • DJ
The Bride poster
The Bride
1985 • 1st Circus Hand
A Visitor from Outer Space poster
A Visitor from Outer Space
1983 • Flipper
Easy Money poster
Easy Money
1982 • Terry
No Image
The Bed
1982 • Steve
Shock Treatment poster
Shock Treatment
1981 • Oscar Drill
Quadrophenia poster
Quadrophenia
1979 • Spider
The Music Machine poster
The Music Machine
1979 • Aldo
No Image
Clan of the Raven
— • King of Britons