[Deathwatch] Adam Faith, British pop star, 62

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Pop star Adam Faith dies at 62
Saturday, March 8, 2003 Posted: 6:27 AM EST (1127 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/08/faith.obit.ap/index.html

LONDON, England (AP) -- Adam Faith, a square-jawed British singer who
was briefly a Cockney challenger to Elvis Presley's rock 'n' roll
crown, died Saturday at the age of 62. 

Faith suffered a heart attack in Stoke-on-Trent in central England,
where he was appearing in a play, his agent said. 

Agent Alan Field said Faith, who had a history of heart trouble, fell
ill after Friday's performance and died later in a local hospital. 

Born Terry Nelhams in west London in 1940, Faith was a handsome
teenager playing with a skiffle group in Soho coffee shops when he was
spotted by producers of a British Broadcasting Corp. music program. 

Adopting the stage name Adam Faith, he became -- alongside Cliff
Richard, Tommy Steele and Billy Fury -- one of a crop of slick but
unthreatening British pop stars of the pre-Beatles era. 

"He came through in the pioneering days of pop music and he really was
a big icon along with Cliff Richard -- they were the first wave of the
British version of the pop music world," Field said. 

Developing a hiccuping delivery reminiscent of Buddy Holly, Faith had
more than 20 British hits, including the chart-topping "What Do You
Want?" and "Poor Me." 

Faith also was a versatile actor, appearing on-screen in films
including "Beat Girl," "Mix Me A Person," and 1975's "Stardust"
opposite David Essex. In the 1970s he played a Cockney ex-con in the TV
series "Budgie." 

In the 1980s Faith forged a new career as a financial adviser, writing
a column for a national newspaper. 

But his 1999 bid to launch a financial television channel ended in
disaster -- The Money Channel shut down after two years and last year
Faith was declared bankrupt. 

He is survived by his wife Jackie and daughter Katya. Funeral details
were not immediately announced.