Ian Bond was born in the city of Bath in 1949 but lived most of his life in the county of Devon. Ian developed an interest in theatre at an early age and well remembers being take to his first pantomime at the age of 4. Ian developed an interest in classical music and, in particular, opera and operetta, during his teens, and between the years of 1967 and 1973 whilst living in Sevenoaks (Kent) Ian balanced a daytime job against professional voice training and appearances in various operatic productions.

Ian played his first principal role at the age of 20 in 1970. He has, and still continues to sing and produce (direct for our American cousins) opera and operetta both for amateur and professional companies. Ian's lyrical theatre tastes are wide ranging from the operas of Verdi, Rossini and Donizetti, through the operettas of the mid to late 19th century and on through the operas and musicals of the 20th. Ian also maintains a very lively interest in classical ballet.

Ian's partner, Barry Hughes is a native of Somerset. Barry works as an Approved Mental Health Social Worker in a Community Mental Health team. Barry maintains a lively interest in the musical theatre having himself appeared in a number of productions in West Somerset, including CHICAGO, CABARET in which his interpretation of the Emcee was nominated for the Best Actor of the Year award for the Somerset Phoebe Rees Competition, and also THE BOYFRIEND staring Sandy Wilson himself. Barry also has a keen interest in tennis, his idol being Steffi Graf.

Ian and Barry first saw Leigh Zimmerman in a performance of CHICAGO at the Adelphi Theatre, London on the 22nd September 2001. Between then and Leigh's final performance on the 16th March 2002 they witnessed no less than seven performances and gradually became friends with Leigh and her husband Domenick Allen. It was during this time that Leigh agreed that Ian and Barry should establish and maintain The Official Leigh Zimmerman Website.

Leigh's move to Contact has only served to reinforce our conviction that here is a star of the first calibre - a woman of elegance, charisma and devastating sex appeal, who deserves to be a star of the first order. Most of all we are proud to be able to count Leigh and her husband as friends.

Thank you for visiting our webpage.

Barry and Ian