P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.

[4] His father was an affluent banker;[4] at nine, his parents divorced and as part of the custody deal, Proby was sent to military school.

By the time Proby left school, he had already wanted a career "in the movies" and moved to California to become an actor and recording artist.

[5] Given the stage name Jett Powers by Hollywood agents Gabey, Lutz, Heller, and Loeb,[6] he took acting and singing lessons and played small roles in films.

[5] After a number of unsuccessful singles, in 1962 Proby began writing songs and recording demos for artists such as Elvis Presley, Bobby Vee, and Johnny Burnette, who had his final UK chart success with the song "Clown Shoes", credited to Proby's real name.

Proby is remembered for an incident in January 1965, when his trousers split across the knees during a show in Croydon, London.

As a result, Proby was banned in every major theatre in Britain, plus appearing on the BBC and ITV television channels.

[4] The incident scandalised the British press and public, causing Proby's career to lose momentum.

[9][10] Minor hits in 1966 were followed by flops, and in March 1968, "It's Your Day Today", gave Proby his last UK chart entry for nearly 30 years.

[citation needed] In 1967 Proby scored his only Billboard Hot 100 top forty hit with "Niki Hoeky".

[13] The pair got the singer to record covers of various songs for their label Savoy Records, including "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, "Anarchy in the UK" by The Sex Pistols, "Sign o' the Times" by Prince, and "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

[citation needed] In the early 1990s, Proby reappeared on stage as himself in the musical Good Rockin' Tonight, followed by playing Roy Orbison in Only The Lonely.

[19] In 1997, Proby toured with The Who in the United States and Europe, performing as 'The Godfather' in the road production of Quadrophenia.

[24] Proby collaborated with Savoy Books, reading for a 1999 audiobook of David Britton's formerly banned novel Lord Horror.

This featured his singles, eight rarities that debuted on the CD format, and two unreleased recordings (Les Reed and Barry Mason's "Delilah"; and Jim Ford's "I'm Ahead If I Can Quit While I'm Behind").

In another interview, he mentioned that he had not been in a relationship for over twenty years due to him knowing that his preference on underage girls is illegal.