Cliff Twemlow

Cliff Twemlow
Twemlow in the film G.B.H. Grievous Bodily Harm (1983)
Born	Clifford Twemlow (1937-10-14)14 October 1937 Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Died	9 May 1993(1993-05-09) (aged 55) Manchester, England. Buried at St Wilfred's Church, Northenden, Manchester
Years active	1960s–1993

Cliff Twemlow (14 October 1937 – 5 May 1993) was an English actor, film screenwriter, producer, composer and novelist.^[1] He is notable for pioneering, in the early 1980s, the production of independently-made low-budget films made for the home video market.

Early life

Twemlow was born in Hulme, Manchester, the son of a merchant seaman.^[2] In the early 1950s he worked as a nightclub bouncer in Morecambe.

Career

In 1962 Twemlow began his acting career as an extra in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.^[1]

Music

In the early 1960s Twemlow began a successful career composing library music under the names Peter Reno and John Agar. His music was used in TV programmes (e.g., Public Eye, Rutland Weekend Television, The Benny Hill Show, Queenie's Castle, The Sweeney), feature films (e.g., Zeta One (1970), Secrets of Sex (1970), Deathdream (1974), A Touch of the Sun (1979), Dawn of the Dead (1978)) and TV commercials. He wrote "Distant Hills", the end credit theme of the ITV programme Crown Court (1972–1984), which was issued as the B-side to the Van der Valk theme "Eye Level" (Columbia DB 8946^[3]).

In 1973 he encountered legal problems with his song "Live and Let Die", recorded by Salena Jones. Although released shortly before Paul McCartney recorded his song with the same title for the film Live and Let Die (1973), McCartney successfully took out an injunction against Twemlow.^[4]

Writing

In 1980 Twemlow published his autobiography The Tuxedo Warrior^[5], which documented his career in the music industry and as a bouncer. The book inspired the film Tuxedo Warrior (1982), which however ignores his life and instead uses him as a character in a fictional narrative.

He wrote two novels: The Pike (1982),^[6] of which he announced a film version^[7][8][9] but failed to secure funding,^[10][11] and The Beast of Kane (1983).^[12]

Film

In 1983 Twemlow wrote, produced and starred in G.B.H. Grievous Bodily Harm,^[13] one of the earliest British films to be shot on video, which sold over 10,000 copies in its first month of release.^[14][15] He starred in nine more films until 1992, produced a pilot for a TV show, and appeared in several special interest training films produced by Brian Sterling-Vete on the MajorVision label includingThe Power to Win, The Ultimate Self Defense and Fitness Over Forty.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Twemlow died from a heart attack on 9 May 1993,^[2] aged 55.

Documentary

Twemlow is the subject of the 2023 documentary Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow by Jake West (Severin Films).^[16][17]

Filmography

Film	Year	Director	Role as actor	Credits
Tuxedo Warrior[18]	1981	Andrew Sinclair	Chaser
G.B.H. Grievous Bodily Harm[13]	1983	David Kent-Watson	Steve Donovan	Screenwriter, co-producer, music (as John Agar)
Target Eve Island[19] a.k.a. Operation Urgent Fury	1983	David Kent-Watson	Chaser	Screenwriter, producer
The Ibiza Connection[20]	1984	Howard Arundel	Wolf Svenson (as Mike Sullivan)	Co-screenwriter, producer
The Omega Connection (re-edit of Tuxedo Warrior)	1985	Andrew Sinclair	Chaser	Screenwriter, co-producer, music (as John Agar)
The African Run[18] (re-edit of Tuxedo Warrior)	1985	Andrew Sinclair	Chaser	Screenwriter, co-producer, music (as John Agar)
Moonstalker a.k.a. Predator: The Quietus[21]	1986	Leslie McCarthy	Daniel Kane (as Mike Sullivan)	Screenwriter, co-producer
The Eye of Satan[22]	1987	David Kent-Watson	Kane	Screenwriter, co-producer
The Hit Man a.k.a. The Ambassador	1988	Leslie McCarthy	uncredited
Firestar: First Contact[23]	1991	David Kent-Watson	John D Trooper (as Mike Sullivan)	Screenwriter, producer
G.B.H. 2: Lethal Impact a.k.a. The Manchester Mandate[24]	1991	David Kent-Watson	Steve Donovan (as Mike Sullivan)	Screenwriter, co-producer
Bad Weekend (short)[25]	1992	David Kent-Watson	Hawk (as Mike Sullivan)	Screenwriter, co-producer

Discography

All albums credited to Peter Reno, and released by De Wolfe Music, except where noted.

• Z-Patrol (1967, with Reg Tilsley)
• Inter City (1967, with John Reids and Jack Trombey)
• Bossalena (1967, with Keith Papworth and Edward Ward)
• Mini-Skirt (1967, with Les Reed and Reg Tilsley)
• There's a World Going On (1967, with Reg Tilsley and others)
• Lucky Me (1967, track "Intimate")
• Travelling Light (1967)
• Polaris (1967)
• For the Young (1967, with John Reids)
• Big City Story (1968)
• More Electric Banana (1968) (songs "Street Girl" and "Love, Dance and Sing")
• Inherit the Wind (1968)
• Colours (1969)
• Blue Pacific (1969)
• Loony Tunes (1969)
• TV Suite Vol 2 (1970, with Johnny Hawksworth)
• Sweet Chariot and Friends (1970)
• Key Largo (1970)
• Tilsley Orchestral 9 (1970, De Wolfe, with Reg Tilsley and Dick Bradford)
• Sunspots (1971, with Johnny Hawksworth)
• Sit Back (1971, Hudson Music)
• Illinois (1971)
• Alibi (1971, with Johnny Hawksworth)
• Restless Woman (1971)
• Times Two (1971, with Keith Papworth)
• Afro-Rock (1971, as Vecchio)
• Native Rhymes (1972)
• Here and there (1972)
• Meatball Jack (1972)
• Wheel of Fortune (1972, with Reg Tilsley)
• Great Day (1972, with Simon Haseley)
• Quartet of Modern Jazz Vol.2 (1972)
• Tete a Tete (1972, with Reg Wale, and Simon Haseley)
• City Scene (1972, with Keith Papworth and Jack Trombey)
• Junction (1973)
• Synthesizer Contact (1973)
• Syndrome (1973, with Reg Tilsley)
• Hot Breath (1974, Hudson Music, with Reg Tilsley)
• Super Ride (1974, with Barry Stoller)

References

1. Willis, Andy; Lee, C P (2009). "The Lost World of Twemlow and Kent-Watson: Mancunian Exploitation Film in the 1980s and 1990s". Journal of British Cinema and Television. 6 (1). Edinburgh University Press: 58–72. doi:10.3366/E1743452109000685.
2. Lee, C P; Willis, Andy (2009). The Lost World of Cliff Twemlow. Hotun Press. ISBN 9780955625718.
3. "The Simon Park Orchestra – Eye Level". Discogs. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
4. "Cliff Takes Aim for Success". Cadishead and Irlam Guardian. 12 October 1973.
5. Twemlow, Cliff (1998). The Tuxedo Warrior: Tales of a Mancunian Bouncer. Summersdale Publishers. ISBN 978-1873475461.
6. Twemlow, Cliff (1982). The Pike. Hamlyn. ISBN 9780600206644.
7. "Computerized Fish As Star Of Manchester Pair's Feature". Variety. 307 (1): 38. 5 May 1982 – via ProQuest.
8. Dobbie, Peter (7 April 1982). "After Jaws... It's The Pike!". Evening Standard: 13 – via ProQuest.
9. Kendal, Ena (25 July 1982). "Magnum Pike". The Observer Magazine: 9 – via ProQuest.
10. "Seeking out a robot pike's hiding place". The North-West Evening Mail. 24 May 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
11. "Press Releases". Anglers' Net. 18 July 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
12. Twemlow, Cliff (1983). The Beast of Kane. Hamlyn. ISBN 9780600207733.
13. "G.B.H.: Grievous Bodily Harm". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
14. Kerekes, David (2022). "G.B.H. Grievous Bodily Harm (1983)". In Upton, Julian (ed.). Offbeat: British Cinema's Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Items (2nd ed.). Headpress. pp. 515–517. ISBN 9781909394933.
15. Qureshi, Yakub (29 October 2013). "Movie fan's bid to put action hero Cliff back in the frame: Bouncer-turned-actor made scores of cult films But videos were never transferred onto DVD". Manchester Evening News. p. 19. ProQuest 1446169543. Retrieved 18 April 2024 – via Proquest.
16. Bamford, Thom (14 November 2023). "The Legendary Indie Film Maker who Shocked Britain Honoured in Documentary". ilovemanchester.com. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
17. Wise, Damon (27 August 2023). "'Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow' Review: Moving Tribute To A Cult Movie Maverick – Frightfest". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
18. "Tuxedo Warrior". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
19. "Target Eve Island". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
20. "The Ibiza Connection". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
21. "Predator: The Quietus". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
22. "The Eye of Satan". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
23. "Firestar: First Contact". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
24. "G.B.H. 2: Lethal Impact". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
25. "Bad Weekend". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 11 September 2024.

External links

• Cliff Twemlow at IMDb
• Steve Powell's Cliff Twemlow page archived from the original, 14 March 2010
• Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow, official trailer on YouTube
• Cliff Twemlow discography at Discogs