Joseph McManners (born 3 December 1992) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor.
Personal life McManners is the son of musician and writer Hugh McManners and Deborah McManners.Interview from the Limited Edition Japanese DVD release of "In Dreams".
Singing career At the age of eight, McManners heard the song "My Heart Will Go On" from the 1997 film Titanic.EXCLUSIVE: RISE AND RISE OF THE SMALL BOY WITH THE BIG VOICE , Mirror.co.uk (accessed 8 July 2007)
Shortly after he sang the song at a family gathering, he realized that singing was what he wanted to do.
He plays the violin and the piano and is learning to play the guitar. At that age, he sang 'In Dreams', though it is not the version which is featured in The Lord of the Rings with Howard Shore as the composer.
McManners auditioned for the lead role in the BBC's operatic version of "The Little Prince" directed by Francesca Zambello and was chosen from 25000 others to play the part.
During filming for "The Little Prince", he was spotted by executives from Sony BMG, which led to a £2 million STG 4-album record deal.sound generator – Joseph McManners – In Dreams review (accessed 28 August 2006).
McManners went to Prague with his producer Nick Patrick in 2005 to record the music for his first album, In Dreams. Most of the music was performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and McManners' brother plays violin on "Where is Love". The album was released on 5 December 2005.
His debut album release reached number five in the classical charts within a few days.Silver screen beckons for teenage singing sensation from Kent newspaper Kent on Sunday (accessed 19 December 2005). The album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards and the release of "Bright Eyes" from the same album debuted at number one in Asian airplay.The BPI Unveils Nominees for The Classical BRIT Awards 2006 (published 11 April 2006; accessed 28 August 2006).Number 1 Airplay at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed 28 August 2006).
In 2006, McManners was a guest singer at Liam Lawton's live concert held at the Dublin docklands, an event attended by almost 5,000 people. The orchestral arrangements were done by composer and arranger Nick Ingman.Liam Lawton – Biography at www.windowsmedia.com (accessed 14 May 2008)Liam Lawton – CURRENT BIOGRAPHY 2007, Liamlawton.com (accessed 14 May 2008)
Acting career In 2004, McManners starred as Oliver Twist in a local production of the play at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre opposite Ron Moody who played Fagin in the 1968 film adaptation of the famous novel. He reprised his role as Oliver Twist two years later in the BBC's "Celebrate 'Oliver!'" presented by Shane RichieCelebrate 'Oliver!' at the Internet Movie Database. on 26 December 2005,"Celebrate Oliver!" to be screened on Boxing Day at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed 28 August 2006). and he appeared in an episode of BBC's The Sound of Musicals on 4 February 2006 (filmed in 2005).
McManners made his feature film acting debut in Hot Fuzz. He played the part of Gabriel who is described as being an 'angelic schoolboy'.Singing star Joseph even hotter stuff from Canterbury Gazette newspaper (accessed 15 February 2007). The back-story and sub-plot surrounding his character was cut from the final version and can be found in the bonus material of the DVD.Joseph McManners 'Hot Fuzz' scenes cut at www.josephmcmanners.com (accessed 21 October 2007) One reporter noted shortly after the film's release in early 2007 that because of McManners' age, he was unable to legally view the film until his 15th birthday later that year.Joe's too young for own film from Kent newspaper Saturday Observer (accessed 17 February 2007).
It was also reported that McManners had turned down an earlier offer in 2005 to star as the young Hannibal Lecter in the Hollywood film about the serial killer's childhood called Hannibal Rising due to school and other commitments."Schoolboy star turns down killer role" by Chris Britcher, Saturday Observer (published 17 September 2006; accessed 17 November 2006) (details in PDF version)
McManners is now doing a YouTube channel called Climate Action News with Joe McManners.
Discography
Albums
In Dreams (2005)
See also The Little Prince (opera) Hot Fuzz
References
External links
Official Joe McManners website
Joseph McManners' MySpace