Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted April 9, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) Who in entertainment and pop culture in general is a proper gimmick? I was watching Mr. T at the Hall of Fame and thought "this bloke couldn't play anything other than Mr. T". So I starting this topic. Â I'll kick this thread off with John Challis. There's no way he's playing anyone other than Boycie. He may have done previous, but not now. He's been typecast to shit, so the only option is to embrace the character and try and make money with it. Like a cockney Honky Tonk Man. His autobiography is called "Being Boycie", his twitter handle is @BeingBoycie, he does the convention circuit and always takes Marline with him. He does Panto as Boycie even if he's playing Captain Hook. He'll do the laugh and everything. Also its 2014. Nobody has mustaches, so that tashe is only there so the 8x10 have him in full gimmick. Â Any other evidence of this? Mr Belding is always in his famous character, but he's an absolute weirdo and a creep so I dont want him in my search engine. Edited April 9, 2014 by IANdrewDiceClay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted April 9, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2014 You've got to look to a lot of the soap stars for full on gimmicks don't you? Mainly the one's that have been around for years upon years. Your Pat Butchers or Vera Duckworths who would have been around for years before and done so much with their careers, yet you now can only see them in that way. Â Could you imagine Zak Dingle trying to be a Thespian actor now? Reciting poetry in between nailing Lisa in the barn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted April 9, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2014 I reckon if you caught Timmy Mallet in a grey suit ad tie, he'd kill you with Pinky Punky to protect his gimmick, and then defend himself in court via word association. Â Apparently even Rod Hull's family had never seen both of his arms at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted April 9, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2014 Fred Willard has been in character for 40 years, that man lives his gimmick. Â Jerry only from the Misfits lives his gimmick to the max too, I'm a huge fan of his and I've never seen him without makeup, his stage clothes and trademark hairstyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey_Piste Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Jerry only from the Misfits lives his gimmick to the max too, I'm a huge fan of his and I've never seen him without makeup, his stage clothes and trademark hairstyle. I've seen Jerry Only sans make up and devil lock in person. He had his hair down which is kind of long, a bandana under a Misfits trucker cap and massive sunglasses. He was swarmed by people trying to get his autograph coming off his tour bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callum1993 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I don't think Richard Wilson ever got over being tagged as Victor Meldrew. Whatever part he gets he's bound to get someone shouting 'I don't believe it' at him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted April 9, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 9, 2014 Su Pollard was a fucking horrid permanent gimmick. Appearing on You Bet and Blankety Blank shouting HI DE HI all the time. Little Jimmy Krankie too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direct Impact Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) I don't think Richard Wilson ever got over being tagged as Victor Meldrew. Whatever part he gets he's bound to get someone shouting 'I don't believe it' at him. Â Classic Father Ted that. Â Richard Wilson as done well following One Foot In The Grave though. He doesn't live his Victor Meldrew gimmick though, quite the opposite. I attended a lecture/ Q&A he was running several years ago, and he made it clear he refuses to say the catchphrase. Edited April 9, 2014 by Direct Impact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted April 9, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 9, 2014 Russell Crowe could fit into this category. A miserable fucker who tends to only play miserable fuckers. Â Charles Hawtrey was always the same character, but was excellent at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted April 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 10, 2014 Kenneth Williams on the other hand was a right Big Daddy. Dirty, cocky and charismatic on screen, a sad, poor self-loathing man who didn't want to be touched off it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted April 10, 2014 The Chuckle Brothers have had a decently long run with their gimmick. I see them as basically the Bushwhackers of British telly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted April 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) This is a brilliant idea for a thread. I'm fascinated by people who've become trapped in these roles they created, or just those who genuinely are that unique. As the latter, Jeff Goldblum immediately popped into my head. What a character, honed to perfection over the years, and he's always on. Â Â That fucking Gino D'Acampo idiot's one of the try-hards. He comes across like a racist caricature, like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Genuine Italians must wonder why he does the Super Mario act. I guess it's the European take on the mockney thing everyone on TV did during the BritPop era. Â Kenneth Williams on the other hand was a right Big Daddy. Dirty, cocky and charismatic on screen, a sad, poor self-loathing man who didn't want to be touched off it. Â I'd say he was just a man of two very different sides. His Carry On characters would switch between the posh, nasally "Well, I say. I've never been so appalled, it's an absolute disgrace" Ken and the cheeky "'ere, stop messin' about" commoner. In real life, he was much the same. Â His diaries have two separate moods throughout, where one day he'll write about "Some builders talked to me today. Disgusting. Why can't the riff raff leave one alone? Those dreadful little films don't make me public domain..." and the next, he'll be all "A wonderful tramp came up and told me how much of a fan it was, and it made my day! I do adore my public. Then some builders shouted 'Oi Oi, Ken!' and I waggled my bum out of the window." Â In a way he was terribly repressed, but then he'd be getting his dick out at Elstree for the millionth time. Truthfully, he probably suffered from monumental depression and mood swings, and would probably be diagnosed bi-polar these days. Â Absolute character though and completely belongs in this thread. Many's the time I've gotten lost for hours in a string of chat-show appearances of his on Youtube. Â Charles Hawtrey was always the same character, but was excellent at it. Â Hawtrey might have played the same roles in the Carry Ons, but away from them was not the same man at all. His chat show spots got very dark. Edited April 10, 2014 by Astro Hollywood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted April 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) 70s and 80s Britcoms are full of them. Ruth Madoc did the whole HI DE HI schtick wherever she was on TV too. Â Giles Brandreth is living a gimmick surely? Verbose, upper class, jumper wearer. He's the same on Dictionary Corner as he was on the news as a politico. Kind of a dry run for Boris Johnson. Â Also, Paul DANGEROUS Danan is one of the best TV gimmick workers ever. He is Sol off Hollyoaks turned up to 11. Edited April 10, 2014 by PowerButchi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted April 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 10, 2014 Biggins. There's another one. Â The true test of these folks is if they can keep it up during reality show conditions. Stick 'em in the Big Brother house, and if they're suddenly all normal and boring, it kills it for me. Timmy Mallet turned out to be a bit of a sociopath when they stuck him in the jungle. Speaking of which, the #1 gimmick character of the modern era: Â Â Once he realised people paid attention when he made sexist jokes and played up how disgusting he could be, he cranked the dial up to 11 and never looked back. Before anyone knew what was happening, he was on Big Brother's Big Mouth every other night, talking about fucking, and getting thrown off of Loose Women for picking his nose and eating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted April 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 10, 2014 Here's a thought, is Katie Hopkins queen of the gimmick workers? She is so pro-wrestling. Plays us like fiddles, never drops the facade. She knows what she's doing too. Great gimmick, always keeps her in work for a controversial sound byte, then gets that money Rollin in. A real carny gimmick worker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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