British teen heartthrob Chesney Hawkes scored one of the U.K.'s biggest hits in 1991 — the pop single "I Am the One and Only," which topped the charts for five straight weeks — only to vanish as quickly as he had arrived. Born on September 22, 1971, Hawkes had the right pedigree for show business. His father, Len "Chip" Hawkes, played bass for the Tremeloes, a ‘60s U.K. outfit that narrowly missed the Top Ten in the States with their cover of "Silence Is Golden," while his mother, Carol Hawkes, was a British television hostess and actress. With a wealth of industry connections at his disposal, Hawkes made his public debut at 19 years old, when he portrayed Buddy Holly in the 1990 movie Buddy's Song alongside the Who's Roger Daltrey. The movie was a flop, but its soundtrack proved to be quite popular in Europe, with the Nik Kershaw-penned "I Am the One and Only" scaling the charts and remaining in the top position for more than a month. Later that year, the track managed to crack the Top Ten in America following its inclusion in the Michael J. Fox comedy Doc Hollywood.
