'You Dirty Old Man!' (eBook)

Acknowledgements

The assistance and willingness of almost everybody I approached to be in this book to share their memories of Wilfrid Brambell made this one of the most enjoyable biographies I have ever written. It could easily read like the end credits to the movie Star Wars, and I have a terrible fear that I will forget one or two people – and if I do, I promise to correct my oversight in any future editions.

I will begin with Mark Beynon at The History Press, first and foremost, for agreeing that Wilfrid Brambell would make a fascinating biography subject. I’ve worked with Mark on The Richard Beckinsale Story and Basil Rathbone: The Curse of Sherlock Holmes and hope to work on many more with him.

I began this journey in 2011 and was privileged to meet and interview Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in a large, rambling mansion in London. I was also fortunate to interview Wilfrid’s agent of many years, Joan Reddin, but as the project gathered pace, so the accusation surfaced regarding Wilfrid and an alleged incident in Jersey back in the early 1970s. I’ll return to that towards the end of this book, but at the time, it meant my publisher indefinitely shelved the life story of Wilfrid Brambell.

In the years between then and now, my recordings of both Ray and Alan, plus the two-hour chat with Joan, were lost on a corrupted voice recorder. Lost forever, I thought. Somehow, a data retrieval specialist – Dr John C. Reid of Bramhall, Cheshire – recovered the Galton and Simpson interview for me, but Joan’s was one of the ones he couldn’t save. Every interview I do now is transcribed immediately and copies are created and sent for safety.

I couldn’t have interviewed Ray and Alan without the help and organisation of their long-time agent, Tessa Le Bars. Tessa made it all happen and I couldn’t have seriously contemplated this book without the men who helped make Wilfrid a household name. Sadly, we have lost both Ray and Alan since that interview – I’m just privileged I had the chance to meet them both and have their own words and thoughts throughout the pages that follow.

Meeting Joan was also a pleasure, so to lose the two-hour chat with her at her delightful cottage over tea and biscuits was a huge blow. Joan has also passed away since, and the loss of her thoughts, memories and observations is my one major regret in this biography. That corrupted dictaphone has much to answer for …

Dublin-based Malcolm Brambell was Wilfrid’s nephew and, along with his wife, Mariette, shared their memories and gave me permission to proceed under the description ‘authorised’ biography. They have been supportive and their insights invaluable, and I am only sad Malcolm’s passing in 2020 means I won’t be able to present him with a copy of the book, though I shall ensure Mariette gets a copy.

While attempting to trace the surviving Brambells, I wrote to the Irish Times, who kindly published my letter enquiring if anybody knew or were aware of any of Wilfrid’s relatives in the Dublin area. As a result, a lady called Noreen O’Leary made contact and then supplied me with a number of documents and articles that were above and beyond anything I could have expected. Noreen is yet another valued contributor who we have since lost, passing away peacefully in 2019.

Gerry Cummins also took the time to respond to my letter and provided useful information on the Brambell family and some very handy links and tips.

Earlier, I mentioned that I had lost an interview with Joan Reddin – also lost on the same device were chats with Anna Karen, Phil Davis, Eric Chappell and Nicky Henson. Nicky was a lovely guy and famously played undercover policeman ‘Mr Johnson’ in the classic ‘The Psychiatrist’ episode of Fawlty Towers – a role he claimed he would be most remembered for, despite an impressive body of work on TV and stage. Nicky sent me a recording of Wilfrid singing on stage in Canterbury Tales and several theatre programmes, and was a genuinely lovely man who lost his long battle with cancer in 2019.

I had initially wanted to write Harry H. Corbett’s biography as well, and I would like to think my attempts to convince his daughter Susannah to allow me to do so resulted in her finally writing her own biography on her father – which is, of course, hard to top.

My enquiries led me to meet Simon and Malcolm Blott. Malcolm is the brother of Maureen Corbett, who was married to Harry. Simon is Malcolm’s son. It was Simon who helped me contact Susannah and then Malcolm, the latter recounting an invaluable view from the Corbett family, particularly Harry’s thoughts on his on-screen father and Malcolm’s own observations and occasional first-hand experience of meeting with Wilfrid at events or after filming episodes of Steptoe & Son.

Many thanks to both Simon and Malcolm who didn’t have to help me but were only too happy to.

One thing that has astounded me during the writing of this book is the number of people who didn’t just give their time but went out of their way to help me find other people associated with Wilfrid. I’ll begin with director Tony Palmer, who worked with Wilfrid on the BBC production of Alice in Wonderland, A Hard Day’s Night and 200 Motels – Tony’s recollections were priceless, but the fact he also introduced (and arranged an interview with) legendary movie director Richard Lester really is more than I could have hoped for. Richard’s memory of A Hard Day’s Night is lucid and fascinating, and it was a pleasure to speak to him.

Graham McCann is a brilliant author and documenter of British comedy and his meticulously researched article on Wilfrid’s 1961 courtroom appearance and the difficulties he faced at that time is quite superb. Generously, Graham was happy for me to use quotes from the original feature he wrote on comedy.co.uk. Many thanks, Graham.

Then, there is the quite brilliant John Lloyd, producer and creator of some of Britain’s best comedy shows, including the legendary Not the Nine O’Clock News, Blackadder, QI and a long list of many other fantastic programmes. John worked briefly with Wilfrid, but his memory of that short time is fantastic, and he helped me acquire quotes from Richard Curtis and Vernon Lawrence as well. John is a very busy man and didn’t have to help but was only too happy to.

When I was restarting this biography after a nine-year hiatus, the first response to an interview request I had was from Joanna Lumley, whose memory of appearing on Steptoe & Son was delightful. It put the wind in my sails at exactly the right moment.

Another beautiful actress proved difficult to track down, but eventually I managed to get hold of Carolyn Seymour, who played Zita, Harry’s stripper wife in the first Steptoe & Son movie. Carolyn’s recollections of filming are quite harrowing, and she reveals her thoughts on what she describes as an ‘awful’ experience. Find out why later in this book.

Continuing the theme, Anita Gillette is a Hollywood movie star who has appeared with anyone who is anyone. She sang with Barbra Streisand, made pictures with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez (among many, many others) and appeared in the ill-fated Broadway musical Kelly. Anita gives a Stateside perspective of Wilfrid’s time in America, as well as the reasons Kelly flopped in such grand style.

The list goes on.

John Lydon – if I could have had an icon of punk and British music for so long introduce this book, it would have been a genuine thrill for me – and the fact that he would perhaps have been the unlikeliest writer of a foreword imaginable would have made it all the more satisfying. For several weeks, it looked likely to happen, but an exhausting UK tour and his wife’s ill-health meant that the timings just weren’t right.

Anne-Marie Mallik (now Anne-Marie Huxstep) was cast alongside Wilfrid in the BBC Christmas interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. I have Tony Palmer (again) and LinkedIn to thank for tracing an actress who appeared just the once on screen, more than fifty years ago.

Popular character actor Perry Benson has been in a load of great movies and TV shows. He remembered the filming of Adventure Island in great detail, as well as a few hilarious lines uttered by a particularly mischievous Mr Brambell during filming!

Karen Dotrice, Keith Drinkel, Ian Ogilvy and the wonderful Sydonie Platt also offered snapshots of their experiences with Wilfrid on stage and TV. Former Bond Girl (x2) Valerie Leon was in the same movie as Wilfrid – Carry On Again Doctor – but their paths never crossed and there went my opportunity to speak with the woman from the famous Hai Karate aftershave ads of my childhood.

Sixties icon Jess Conrad was only too happy to share his recollections of the time he spent with Wilfrid on the 1962 movie The Boys, not to mention a hilarious account of the first time he met Matt Monro, but that, hopefully, I will save for another book.

Tony Robinson allowed me to use a quote from his autobiography too, so thank you, Baldrick!

And Melvyn Hayes was yet another actor from my childhood years who was a delight to speak with. One of the stars of the long-running sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, his recollections of working with Wilfrid were both hilarious and vivid. And at 86, he sounds younger and fitter than I am! What a...