The Legend Of Tom Adams.

One of the first people I met after moving to England to work at The Hind's Head in 1998 was Tom Adams. I immediately had him pegged as a bit of a ham, albeit a hilarious one, but so many people seemed to come into the pub and recognize him... point... giggle... that I finally asked him what the big deal was. "David, my young Canadian friend," he began. "I've been in the motion pictures, you see!" I learned from talking to other locals that he was most reknown for the string of funny commercials he'd made. Most of them for DFS Furniture. But his most famous spot was the infamous and side-splitting Hyundai ad.



Tom's career has actually been fairly impressive overall. He played one of the British prisoners in The Great Escape and even has a few lines. He co-starred with Raquel Welch in Fathom (watch the trailer and look for the guy trying to kill Raquel with a speargun) and has been on all kinds of notable TV shows: Dr. Who, Remington Steele and The Avengers - to name a few.

When I left England he came to my 'leaving do' and offered some words of wisdom while my co-worker Tim went around videotaping all of the locals. "David and I have spent many long afternoons together discussing his problems... of which there are many." Funny stuff. But actually I spent the majority of my time trying to keep the pub landlord from killing Tom - as he would hit on his wife incessantly. Tom is nearly 70 years old and still chasing tail like a drunken teenager. Quite effectively, I might add. I hope to go back to Bray some day soon, and when I do I'll look him up. Or should I say, I'll walk into The Hind's.