Neil Sands

Neil was born in Ilford, Essex on 2nd June 1947 and from an early age showed a great interest in both entertaining and sport.
From being given his first guitar at the age of eight, Neil was already performing on stage in his own skiffle group at nine years old.
As a teen Neil was part of the 60’s beat boom, playing with many groups in and around East London and Essex, often sharing the stage with many of the legendary names of that era.
But it was to be as a Television Wrestling star that he first found national recognition.

His life time interest in sport led him to a wrestling gym which in turn led to a wrestling career which took him all around the world.  Dubbed “The Golden Boy”, long before “Beck's” was even a twinkle, Neil was often seen topping the bill against the likes of Kendo Nagasaki, Jackie Pallo, Giant Haystacks etc. He even challenged for the Heavyweight championship of the world against giant American “The Mighty Quinn” in 1981. To this day Neil is still fondly remembered by many fans of that era as a fine wrestler and great showman, and is very much in demand as an after dinner speaker telling humorous backstage tales and stories of the golden days of British television wrestling.

It was during this time that Neil first went in to promotion and production, presenting wrestling shows in Civic halls, Holiday Parks and corporate events throughout East Anglia.

By 1979 wrestling was becoming less popular in this country and with two young children Jemma born in 1975 & Jamie in 1978 Neil and his wife decided to move into the licensing trade, owning various pubs & restaurants in Suffolk.

But it was during this time that Neil’s entertaining came back to the fore, from singing & compering in the pub. Neil went on to perform in summer seasons at Butlins, and cabaret in many clubs, working with the likes of Mike Reed, Bobby Davro, Bob Monkhouse etc. But still found time to supply quality entertainment for many venues, clubs, and corporate clients

He has appeared in films with Richard Burton, John Cleese, and Richard Harris. His TV credits include Lovejoy, The Chiefs & Campion. He even taught his Royal Highness Prince Edward to wrestle for the Cambridge production of Trafford Tanzi.

For the past 15 years Neil has been producing shows for the theatre market including Nashville Nights and Dixie Days which has been touring successfully for the past 8 years, and is considered to be the UK’s no1 country music show.
Remember When a matinee show filled with magical musical memories from the 40’s to the 70’s, with a very popular Christmas version of this show.
This year has seen The Ultimate Juke Box Party start to tour with over 60 of everyone’s favourite songs party songs from Abba to Elvis Queen to Blues Brothers etc. it has been an outstanding success gaining rave reviews everywhere it appears. 2010 will see the start of another matinee show There’ll Always Be An England, and there is another show being lined up for next autumn.

In between this Neil still finds time to perform some solo singing, cabaret and after dinner bookings as well as keeping a host of corporate clients successfully supplied with quality entertainment.