- Tracy Hyde
. She learnt ballet at the age of four, did junior modelling for an agency and auditioned for a pickle advertisement. [ [http://swalk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/eprofile.html Tracy Hyde profile ] ]
Writer/director
Andrew Birkin (brother of actress Jane Birkin) saw photographs of the young Tracy and persuaded her mother Maureen to audition her for the title role of Melody Perkins. Birkin also recommended Tracy to director Waris Hussein, writerAlan Parker and producer David Puttnam. After screen tests and auditions, Tracy finally won the role. [ [http://swalk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/eprofile.html Tracy Hyde profile ] ]After Melody, Tracy appeared in a few TV appearances in the U.K. Trial (
BBC , 1971),ITV Playhouse : The Greeks And Their Gifts (Anglia , 1972) and Love Story: Home For The Holidays (Associated Television , 1973).Due to the success of Melody inJapan , Tracy was invited over in 1972 for plans to make a film with her in the lead role. Unfortunately, due to budget restrictions, the film was never made. [ [http://swalk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/eprofile.html Tracy Hyde profile ] ]Tracy continued with her education and studied at a secretarial college, after leaving she was employed as a legal secretary for a law firm. Meanwhile, she appeared in Japanese magazines and calendars and visited Japan for the second time in 1977, when she was declared "Favourite actress" in Roadshow magazine. [ [http://swalk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/eprofile.html Tracy Hyde profile ] ]
In the 1980s, Tracy made her film comeback in Dead End For Belinda (1980), The Orchard End Murder (1981) and "Alice" (1981) where she was re-united with her Melody co-star,
Jack Wild .Numerous TV appearances including Sorry! (BBC , 1981-1982),Kinvig (LWT , 1981),The Gentle Touch (LWT , 1982), Now And Then (LWT , 1983-1984),Dempsey & Makepeace (LWT , 1985) andThe Bill (Thames Television , 1988).By the end of the decade, Tracy had disappeared from the limelight and married property master Allen J. Polley. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0405028/bio Tracy Hyde - Biography ] ]
In 1994, Japanese TV sought out Tracy and sent one of their reporters to go to the U.K. to find her.
Mark Lester was contacted and when it was found that Tracy had moved to France, Mark and the reporter both went over there to search for her. She had moved there with her husband and her three sons. In 1999, Mark and Tracy were reunited again in another Japanese TV special. Tracy has since re-married and has returned home to London where she now manages the family business ,a kennel boarding service. [ [http://www.tracyhyde.net/reunion.htm Melody Reunion DVD ] ] [ [http://www.8thman.com/8store/classtv.html Tee Vee Classics ] ]Darjan Sahanaja from the The Wondermints', an American retro-pop group wrote, sang and recorded a tribute track, "Tracy Hide". [ [http://www.tracyhyde.net/Wondermints.htm Wondermints ] ]
References
Links
* [http://www.tracyhyde.net/ "Melody" fan site]
* [http://home.blarg.net/~stevenk/ "Tracy Hyde" tribute site]
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