Thomas Winston Maitland (a.k.a. Tommy Maitland) is a British born comedian and game show host of the 2017 reboot of the 1970s classic game/variety show The Gong Show played by Mike Myers.
Background[]
Born on July 7, 1944, Thomas Winston Maitland (his middle name is a tribute to Winston Churchill) grew up in Neasden, GLC, Borough of Brent, where his father was an actuary and in Merchant Marine and his mother was in the RAF. After a failed stint as a pipe fitter's apprentice. Tommy joined the British Army at the tender age of 15. He later joined the Entertainment National Service Association (ENSA) where he got to know some of the UK's biggest comedians. He played the ukuele, told jokes and drummed (though he drummed badly) and he ended up hosting the show - a talent he would later be known for. He was voted ENSA Entertainer of the Year for which he was given a guarantee to appear on British radio. He later worked as an announcer for the British radio show, "The Whosey Whats" and got small rotes in the "Carry On" films - either as the over anxious compart at a men's club or the strict union pipe fitter. He also appeared in the TV series "The Lord Mayor" as the cheeky mayor of a mythical town in East Anglia, who struck it rich because they sat atop an oil field.
In 1973, Tommy wrote a book about his time in the British Army fighting the Mau Maus called, "The Mau Maus are Revolting" and he also worked at Butlin's Holiday Camp at the same time, for two seasons, in Anglesea, Wales and Brighton.
Hughley popular in Italy, he made four of his 1 films there. Two of the four were Spaghetti Westerns, where he played the fastidious banker, and the other two were James Bond knockoffs - "You One Live Once, To Be Honest" and "From Russia, Luv" At the same time, Tommy continued to work the working men's clubs across England, where he received top dollar as emcee.
In 1976, Tommy starred "He Wore a Dustman's Hat" about an upper-class city of London gent who discovers that his dad (Tommy Maitland) is a garbage worker for the Council in Hackney. This show played on Canadian TV at 4am on Saturday Mornings. Will Arnett saw this show in syndication on Canadian TV in 1980 and thought that Tommy was a comedic genius. Later that year, Tommy bought an estate in Kent, called Serendipity, which he found by accident. Serendipity was a mega-celebrity hangout where people could escape, party, do or be anything they wanted to be, free from judgment and the prying eyes of the paparazzi.
In the 80s, Tommy hosted the British game show Tell You What which was a charades based adventure game. He later hosted an Australian game show called Dingo's Got the Baby in which one contestant would be the dingo and one contestant would be the baby and a chase would ensue. In 1990 he returned to England for a series of one-hour specials called "You've Still Got No Proof".
Tommy retired at the age 55 but was still doing ENSA gigs. He loves comedy, so he often went to Edinburgh Fringe Festival to watch young comics. Will Arnett, who was doing stand-up at one of the festivals, approached and befriended him. Desperately wanting to work with Tommy, Arnett tried for years to come up with a gig that was suitable for his immense talent and The Gong Show was the perfect match.
Show hosted[]
The Gong Show (2017-2018)