Engelbert Humperdinck, 90, has spoken out about enduring unwanted advances from male talent agents while trying to launch his music career in late-1950s London.
The British singer made the revelations on a recent episode of “The Engelbert Humperdinck Show,” his own program, where he traced the pattern of harassment back to his earliest trips from Leicester to the capital. He was in his early twenties at the time, scraping together enough money from his older sister for single nights in hotels while he pursued representation.
Those visits quickly turned into a gauntlet of propositions rather than professional meetings. “In those days, you know, a lot of the agencies were…the men that fancied men,” Humperdinck said. “I had to go through a lot because I got chased a lot by agents.”
The singer, who would later become known for hits like “Release Me,” described the dynamic in blunt industry terms. “Casting couch, it’s called the casting couch, right?” he said. “Not in a Hollywood way, but in an agent’s way, you know.” He found the experience so pervasive that he could generalize across his entire search: “Every agent I went to was the same thing.”
Through it all, Humperdinck maintained he held his ground. “I was true to myself then,” he continued. “And I avoided all that, but I went through hell with that sort of thing.”
The relentless pattern broke when he connected with Sydney Myers, a married agent who offered something genuinely professional. Myers invited the aspiring singer to stay at his Maida Vale apartment for six months, introducing him to the industry and helping cover his living expenses. Myers’s wife welcomed him too. “She treated me very well. I ate very well during that six months, you know,” Humperdinck recalled. “And he was a meticulous man. I liked him very much.”
That stability proved transformative. Myers helped Humperdinck land a 42-week run on the British variety series “Song Parade,” where he performed under his birth name Gerry Dorsey. The television exposure established him as a household name and generated more work, setting the stage for the stage name that would make him famous.
Behind the scenes, Humperdinck drew strength from Patricia, his longtime girlfriend whom he had met at a Leicester dance hall in 1956, shortly after completing his military service. She had encouraged him to pursue music before he found fame. The couple dated for seven years before marrying in 1964, three years before “Release Me” catapulted him to international stardom. They remained together for 56 years, raising four children, until her death in 2021.
