Background
Sarne was born Michael Scheuer at Street Mary"s Hospital, Paddington, London.
Sarne was born Michael Scheuer at Street Mary"s Hospital, Paddington, London.
University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
He is of Czechoslovakian descent. Active in the 1960s as singer, he is best known for his 1962 United Kingdom novelty chart topper, "Come Outside" (produced by Joe Meek), which featured vocal interjections by Wendy Richard. He had three more releases which made the United Kingdom Singles chart: "Will I What?", in 1962, which featured Billie Davis.
"Just for Kicks", in 1963.
And "Code of Love", also in 1963. In the mid-1960s Sarne introduced the Independent Television children"s quiz series Junior Criss Cross Quiz.
As an actor he has appeared on television, in British series including The Avengers, Manitoba in a Suitcase, Jonathan Creek and The Bill. Sarne also appeared in an episode of Minder as Billy Beesley, an amateur safe blower.
His film credits include a starring role in the 1963 film A Place to Go with Rita Tushingham, directed by Basil Dearden, and he also appeared in Invasion Quartet (1961), Every Day"s a Holiday (1965), Two Weeks in September (1967), Moonlighting (1982) and Success Is the Best Revenge (1984) for Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, and the Hercule Poirot film Appointment with Death (1988).
He later appeared in The Fourth Angel (2001), as Valery in the crime thriller Eastern Promises (2007), and in 2011 he was the voice of Karla in the spy film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Films he has directed include Joanna (1968) and, most notably, Myra Breckinridge (1970), an adaptation of Gore Vidal"s book of the same name, starring Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, Mae West and Farrah Fawcett in her first big screen role. Joanna broke even at the box office, but Myra Breckinridge was a major box office flop and drew such critical hostility, his career never recovered.
A more recent film is The Punk and the Princess (1994), an adaptation of Gideon Sams" young adult novel The Punk, about the romance between a teenage punk rocker and a Sloane Ranger girl.
He also directed a documentary about the Glastonbury Music Festival in 1995.