Gambit from The New Avengers: In reality I am not that

At the age of fifteen, Gareth Hunt, the main performer of the TV series “The New Avengers”, along with Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Joanna Lumley as Purdey, was a sailor. He then worked as a butcher, baker and scavenger. For his thirteen fatalities and twelve crafts, his current success in the role of Mike Gambit is what made a big impression on him.

“Don't ask me why,” said Gareth Hunt, 33. “Maybe I was born to become an actor. But all this came a little late to me, right?”

He is absolutely right. Many actors began their careers before they turned twenty-six. But there are few men who make an impression on women as good as Gareth in The New Avengers... How has this old sailor's life changed so much?

Amateur Theater

"I was also a salesman, but my boss was never pleased with me because I didn’t sell enough. I spent too much time on the amateur scene. The sales manager told me that, as Hamlet, I won’t make as much money from sales, and after this conversation, I handed him my keys to the company, and went to the drama school.

Gareth's first attempts to succeed as an actor were unsuccessful. His marriage with a hairdresser ended in divorce.

"Carol and I got engaged after my service in the Navy was over. It was a lightning marriage. Now I realize that I was young. But then it seemed like a good idea to get married. We had a terrible wedding night. We had no money to go on a honeymoon, so we headed straight to our new home, which consisted of one large and one small room.

I spent the first night in conversation with the landlord. He talked about his experience in the war and Carol didn’t like it very much. When I began to sculpt sculptures, I could not get along with him. I made busts of clay and burned them in the oven, which naturally caused a terrible stench. At some point, the landlord exploded and shattered my work into a thousand pieces.

Hard times came when I decided to go to drama school, where I paid forty guilders a week ... At that time I only earned my bread and butter, my family thought I was crazy. "This is temporary...” they said, since I had already had a lot of jobs. "

Conflict

"Carol and I always did everything together, and suddenly I wanted to do something alone. There was conflict between us."

Two years ago, they broke up.

"We have not become the worst enemies and even now are good friends. I see our eight-year-old son, Gareth Jr., almost every weekend."

Gareth now lives in Putney with his girlfriend Carrie, who is a wardrobe mistress. The couple have been together for three years.

Did the success of Mike Gembit affect your life?

“For a short time in a cafe and on the street, they’d point at me. Mike Gambit is more likely to break out of everyday life for other people than for me. But I don’t do strange things, such as jumping or somersaults, if I don’t work in the series. I'm not a sporty type...

If I were threatened by several strong guys who have an advantage, then I would walk away. I would like Mike Gambit to be more like me. I'm pretty clumsy. I think it would be interesting if, for a change, Gambit would sometimes be funnier as well. In the script, he is friendly, affable and always does his job, but I would like to see more humor in his character. "

Most of the bruises Gareth received didn’t come during the filming of this series, but during a propaganda trip to Paris, where he was surrounded by sixty Frenchmen.

Specialist

“This man was some kind of torture specialist, I thought. He was wearing a black leather swimsuit and holding a stick.” He said, "Hold your gun tight." I did it and with one stroke of the stick he knocked the gun out of my hands, and at the same time, hit me in the ear. It really was very painful. For the photographers, we had to repeat it again, and I got my turn in my other ear. In order to prove himself to those present, he finally gave me a kick under the ribs. I had a thousand fears, but the photographers were very excited."

When asked what Gareth thinks about blonde Joanna Lumley, who plays Purdey, he replied: "She fascinates me, but is not “prey"... She is a friend".

Photo caption: Gareth Hunt (right of the photo) plays Gambit, one of the main roles alongside John Steed and Purdey.

(Back to Archive: Gareth Hunt)