Phil Collins

A moody, introspective loner, Phil Collins has been plagued since his childhood by dreams unrealized. All he ever wanted to be was a movie star. 'Ever since his first film, he's had the acting bug,' says his mother. 'Ach, Calamity,' she sighs. Indeed, 'Calamity the Cow,' Phil's first and only starring role, proved to have a prophetic title. Phil argued passionately with the director of the film about the direction it should take, and some of his best, improvised scenes were cut from the final version of the film by wicked movie executives. Even now, it's hard for Phil to talk about those days. 'It set the course of my life,' he offers. His friends swept him up into the music industry to try to assuage his deep-seated disappointment after his part in the Beatles film 'A Hard Day's Night' was cut down to one split-second scene in which he appears as the seventeenth maniacal fan from the left, in the back row. All of his years in Genesis could not make him forget his one true passion, nor stop him from yearning for something more--real fame, the adoration of millions. In 1996, plagued by rueful memories, Phil left the band and dropped out of the public eye. No one knows what has happened to him since.

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