Michael Kinsey (born 5 December 1943) is an English former actor and politician. He is best known for portraying Gunner "Nosher" Evans in the comedy series It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Kinsey was the councillor in the ward of Greenhill in the London Borough of Harrow from 2002 to 2006.

Early life Kinsey was born in Bilston and was raised in Birmingham.Stuart McGugan interview: "... Mike was from Birmingham" (9:00) He attended Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art for three years and from 1969 to 1972 was involved with musical theatre.

Acting

Television His first television work was as a fisherman in a 1971 episode of Coopers End. In 1973, he was in an episode of the anthology series Love Story and was a barman in the television movie, Achilles Heel.

Kinsey's break out role came in 1974 when, through his agent, he met Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who auditioned him for the part of Gunner 'Nosher' Evans in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which ran for eight series from 1974 to 1981. In the show, soldiers in the concert party all had nicknames that fit with their personality, but according to Kinsey in a 2021 interview, Gunner Evans originally did not have a nickname however when show co-creator David Croft saw him eating pie and chips during break he looked at Kinsey and said "I know the name for you now; Nosher"; Kinsey said in the same interview that he didn't normally have lunch on set and that the one time he ate on set which gave his character the name was "most unfortunate" as every one of his lines from then onwards was spoken by Mike with food stuffed in his mouth, jokingly saying that he "regetted it to this day".

Amongst other roles, he has also played a reporter in the 1975 drama Nightmare for a Nightingale. He appeared as a guest in two episodes of This Is Your Life, appearing with all of his It Ain't Half Hot Mum co-stars for Windsor Davies' episode in 1976 and appearing with Kenneth MacDonald, Michael Knowles and Don Estelle for George Layton's episode in 1999.

Kinsey acted as a farmer in an episode of Dangerfield in 1997. He returned to acting in 2016 to shoot the independent film My Day, as elderly man Frank, which was released in 2019.Twitter account made for the film shows still images of filming, featuring Kinsey, dating back to January 2016

Theatre Kinsey's theatre debut was in the stage show "Beware of the Dog", which ran at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 11—29 June 1968. A stage show of It Ain't Half Hot Mum featuring most of the shows cast ran from 1982 to 1983, however did not feature Mike in the ensemble. Kinsey was in a production of Once a Catholic at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham from 3—8 September 1984.Theatre Royal Hanley History Kinsey was also in a production of Cinderella, starring Sally Thomsett, the first show to be played out at the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill, Surrey from December 1986 to January 1987.

Politics Kinsey started working as a businessman in London and became more involved in politics in the late 1980s. He was a governor for St Theresa's Catholic school in Finchley until before 2002.PDF, 21 September 2000 In the 2002 Harrow London Borough Council election, Kinsey was elected as a Labour Party councillor in the ward of Greenhill in the London Borough of Harrow; he won the election on 2 May 2002, with a total of 908 votes and served four years, taking over from Anastasia Altiki, during which he was present at twenty-four meetings.Mike Kinsey - Attendance Record - 2002-2006Former members of Council He stood down from Greenhill at the 2006 local elections on 4 May 2006. His role was succeeded by Golam Chowdhury.

Personal life Kinsey is married and has two children. He was a member of Transport and General Workers' Union. Kinsey is 5 ft 9in (175 cm).

In 2021, Kinsey criticised the casting of black actor Jodie Turner-Smith as the white Anne Boleyn in the titular miniseries but the refusal of airing It Ain't Half Hot Mum due to white actor Michael Bates portraying Rangi Ram in brownface, on his twitter account: "Channel 5s New series Ann Boleyn has black actress playing white queen that's okay. Yet BBC TV refuses to show the series It Aint Half Hot Mum with White actor playing an Indian character?"Mike Kinsey on X: "Channel 5s New series Ann Boleyn has black actress playing white queen that's okay. Yet BBC TV refuses to show the series It Aint Half Hot Mum with White actor playing an Indian character?" Tweeted 5:04pm, 28 May 2021

Filmography

Film YearTitleRole2019My DayFrank

Television YearTitleRoleNotes1971Coopers EndFishermanOne episode1973Love StoryWarrenOne episodeAchilles Heel1st barmanTV Movie1974—1981It Ain't Half Hot MumGunner "Nosher" EvansFifty-six episodes1975A Little Bit of WisdomBurgularOne episodeThe BrothersLorry driverOne episodePlay for TodayVan driverOne episode (Brassneck)ThrillerSecond reporterOne episode1976, 1999This is Your LifeHimselfTwo episodes1977Happy Ever AfterPolicemanOne episode1978Play of the MonthThompsonOne episode1997DangerfieldFarmerOne episode2007Comedy ConnectionsHimselfDocumentary

Stage YearDatesVenuesShowRole196811 — 29 June 1968Birmingham Repertory TheatreBeware of the Dogunknown19843 — 8 September 1984Theatre Royal, NottinghamOnce a Catholicunknown1986—19876 December 1986 — 10 January 1987Harlequin Theatre, RedhillCinderellaunknown

Discography YearTitleNotes1975It Ain't Half Hot Mum - Featuring The Artists From The Popular BBC-TV SeriesSoundtrack from It Ain't Half Hot Mum

References

External links