From Rags to Rags

Well It Took Along Time To Write I Hope You Think It'S Worth It. What'S It About? A Good Question I Wish I Knew. You Could Read It To Find Out. Basically It'S About My Career In Show Business As A Thespian. Well They Can'T Touch You For It. I Come From A Working Class Family Who Had No Roots In Show Business. My Interest Began At An Early Age. My Father Often Took Me To Our Local Theatre Where We Would Sit In The Gallery To See The Shows. I Just Loved It And Wanted To Be Part Of It. But How To Do It That Was The Question. When At First You Don'T Succeed Pack It In. Not Me I Ignored That Completely. I Was Given A Book One Christmas On How To Become A Comedian. I'Ve Been Trying Ever Since. After That I Went Into A Local Concert Party And At Last I Had My Feet On The Ladder Of Success But I Had A Long Way To Go Before I Turned Professional. I Was In The Ra.F. 1951/53 Doing My National Service Where I Did Shows With Professional Entertainer Johnny Leeson And Guest Artist Dennis Spicer (A Ventriloquist) And Terry Seabrooke (A Comedy Magician) Who Became A Lifelong Friend. Can You Believe It I Was Defending My Country. God Knows What Would Have Happened If We Had Been At War. We Would Have Thrown Jokes At The Enemy Not Bombs. After Leaving The R.A.F. In July 1953 I Joined Another Concert Party Called The Barnstormers. I Was Also Doing The Working Men'S Clubs For The Enormous Fee When I Say Enormous I Was On £5 Per Night And For That I Did 4 Spots. Well You Have To Start Somewhere. In August 1960 I Married My Wife Jan. We'Ve Now Been Married For Over 50 Years. Not A Bad Run For Show Business. Is It? In 1963 I Turned Professional When I Was Offered My First Summer Season On The Isle Of Wight. In 1965 I Did My First Pantomime Aladdin At My Local Rep. This Was The Start Of Many Years Doing Weekly Repertory Theatre Up And Down The Country And In 1971 I Was Offered A National Tour Appearing In Agatha Chr