Tom Dunne: Spinal Tap and the bittersweet truth about touring America
Tony Hendra and Christopher Guest in This Is Spinal Tap.
The actor, Tony Hendra, who played the enigmatic Tour Manager in Spinal Tap, passed away this week. Sadly his life was more complicated than one that can be neatly encapsulated in a brief ‘fitting tribute'. But what can be said, what must be said, is that the character he played in that film, Ian Faith, was the of the great comic creations.
Ian’s was essentially the straight character in a world gone mad. He was all that stood between miniature Stonehenge monuments, dancing dwarfs, exploding drummers and the alternative: real craziness. He approached this world armed with a cricket bat, a good stout piece of wood, as any sane man would.
