Mim lives and works in this little house in the shadow of Mount Leinster with his wife Janie, five dogs, and some of his son Fred's future event horses.
Born in London in 1940, Mim Scala attended St Augustine's School and Hammersmith and Chelsea Art School at Manresa Rd, Chelsea. He grew up in the North End Road, Fulham, before moving to the Kings Road. He then travelled extensively before settling down to work as a theatrical agent. In 1963 he founded the theatrical agency Scala Brown Associates with Sir William Pigott-Brown. The agency was known for representing actors, directors and musicians, including Richard Harris, Cat Stevens, Ben Carruthers and Jim Browne.
Although not a film producer, in 1965 Scala bought the rights to the comic strip character Modesty Blaise with the intention of casting Barbara Steele as the eponymous heroine in a feature-length production, before ultimately selling the rights to produce the film to Joseph Janni (who brought in the fashionable Italian actress Monica Vitti to play Modesty instead). Scala also packaged Jean-Luc Godard's film Sympathy for the Devil/One Plus One on behalf of Michael Cowdray's Cupid Productions.
In the late 1960s Scala took off to live in Spanish Sahara, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Switzerland, painting and recording ethnic music, including that of the Dervish Ganoua sect from Tangiers. He returned to England in 1972 to work as head of promotion for Island Records. Scala produced the first direct-to-disc album Needle Time for the band Warsaw Pakt, before founding ESP Music and Management, in 1980 an agency which represented Eric Burden and record producers Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones), Stuart Levine (Simply Red) and B.B. King.
Mim retired from the music business in the late 80's to pursue his own creativity, moving from London to County Carlow, Ireland. The result has been three books, Diary of a Teddy Boy, The Luckiest Man in The World, and Bibi.
Horses are big in the Scala family with son Fred a member of the Irish Three Day eventing squad. It was not until the age of seventy six that Mim was to discover his true calling. After a spell in hospital he sat convalescing in the stable yard watching his son exercising a very frisky horse. The shape and action struck a chord with Mim and he decided to model it. With no previous knowledge he fashioned a wire armature and produced his first sculpture. Remarkably, within a year, Mim had his first London solo exhibition at Belgravia's Eleven Gallery.
Now at the age of eighty two, Mim is happy to make his sculptures, write, paint, play his guitar, look after his garden with his wife Janie, and keep an eye on their son Fred's riding exploits for the Irish team.
Born in London in 1940, Mim Scala attended St Augustine's School and Hammersmith and Chelsea Art School at Manresa Rd, Chelsea. He grew up in the North End Road, Fulham, before moving to the Kings Road. He then travelled extensively before settling down to work as a theatrical agent. In 1963 he founded the theatrical agency Scala Brown Associates with Sir William Pigott-Brown. The agency was known for representing actors, directors and musicians, including Richard Harris, Cat Stevens, Ben Carruthers and Jim Browne.
Although not a film producer, in 1965 Scala bought the rights to the comic strip character Modesty Blaise with the intention of casting Barbara Steele as the eponymous heroine in a feature-length production, before ultimately selling the rights to produce the film to Joseph Janni (who brought in the fashionable Italian actress Monica Vitti to play Modesty instead). Scala also packaged Jean-Luc Godard's film Sympathy for the Devil/One Plus One on behalf of Michael Cowdray's Cupid Productions.
In the late 1960s Scala took off to live in Spanish Sahara, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Switzerland, painting and recording ethnic music, including that of the Dervish Ganoua sect from Tangiers. He returned to England in 1972 to work as head of promotion for Island Records. Scala produced the first direct-to-disc album Needle Time for the band Warsaw Pakt, before founding ESP Music and Management, in 1980 an agency which represented Eric Burden and record producers Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones), Stuart Levine (Simply Red) and B.B. King.
Mim retired from the music business in the late 80's to pursue his own creativity, moving from London to County Carlow, Ireland. The result has been three books, Diary of a Teddy Boy, The Luckiest Man in The World, and Bibi.
Horses are big in the Scala family with son Fred a member of the Irish Three Day eventing squad. It was not until the age of seventy six that Mim was to discover his true calling. After a spell in hospital he sat convalescing in the stable yard watching his son exercising a very frisky horse. The shape and action struck a chord with Mim and he decided to model it. With no previous knowledge he fashioned a wire armature and produced his first sculpture. Remarkably, within a year, Mim had his first London solo exhibition at Belgravia's Eleven Gallery.
Now at the age of eighty two, Mim is happy to make his sculptures, write, paint, play his guitar, look after his garden with his wife Janie, and keep an eye on their son Fred's riding exploits for the Irish team.
