Jeremy Clyde acted and sang his way to stardom. When he performed pop music in the '60s as part of the Chad & Jeremy duo, he and his singing partner, Chad Stuart, were good enough to compete in record sales with four fellow Brits named John, Paul, George, and Ringo. In 1964, Clyde and Stuart's "A Summer Song" pleased ears everywhere and made Top Ten lists in the U.S. But probably not many of Clyde's fans knew that the thirtyish, six-footer was also an actor trained in the classical style. Before etching his voice into the 45 and 78 rpm records that endeared him to teenagers on every continent, he had performed Shakespeare and Molière on the stage, using skills he learned at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. At the height of his music career, Clyde also appeared often on popular American television programs, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Williams Show, Hullabaloo, Batman, and Hollywood Squares. In the 1970s, he continued his TV work, mostly in British productions such Great Mysteries, Tales of the Unexpected, and Moll Flanders. And in the 1980s, he performed in both TV and film productions, including The Importance of Being Earnest, Charles and Diana: A Royal Love Story, and Invitation to the Wedding. His role as villain Hermann Gessler in the 1986-1988 TV series Crossbow earned him high praise and fame in the U.K.
A native of Dorney in Buckinghamshire, Clyde received an excellent education in England at Ludgrove Preparatory School and Eton, then in France at the University of Grenoble. In the late '90s, he appeared in such productions as The Moth, A Rather English Marriage, The Colour of Justice, Bodywork, and The Musketeer. Clyde hasn't made a recording with Stuart since 1983, although their songs continue to be popular here in the 21st century.
