Tricky Tringham has got
me down on this to play a
1st A.D. and he’s
giving me all the star
treatment of a caravan
and has got the boys to
sir me off.
We filmed it at Butlers
Wharf Shad Thames.
I decided that if Tricky
wanted to take the Mick
out of me I would play
the 1st A.D. as Tricky
does it for real.
‘’Make/up over
here, Wardrobe stand by
on set
please’’.
As it happens it worked
out real fine and all the
stand/ins told Tricky I
was taking the piss out
of him. David (Tricky)
and I still laugh about
it today.
THE
HOLCROFT COVENANT…
Director:
John Frankenheimer
Writers:
Robert Ludlum (novel)
George Axelrod
(screenplay) ...
Cast
Michael Caine ... Noel
Holcroft
Anthony Andrews ...
Johann von Tiebolt /
Jonathan Tennyson
Victoria Tennant ...
Helden von Tiebolt /
Helden Tennyson
Lilli Palmer ... Althene
Holcroft
Mario Adorf ... Erich
Kessler / Jürgen Mass
Michael Lonsdale ...
Ernst Manfredi
Bernard Hepton ...
Commander Leighton
Richard Münch ... Oberst
(as Richard Munch)
Carl Rigg ... Anthony
Beaumont
André Penvern ...
Frederick Leger (as Andre
Penvern)
Andy Bradford ... Hartman
(as Andrew Bradford)
Shane Rimmer ... Lt.
Miles
Alexander Kerst ... Gen.
Heinrich Clausen
Michael Wolf ... Gen.
Erich Kessler
Hugo Bower ... Gen.
Wilhelm
Filming in
Trafalgar Square with
about a hundred
Supporting Artists and
five hundred tourists is
not the easiest thing to
do..
Jerry Judge, myself and
another handful of the
boys were doing our
public liaison work.
Jerry was down in the
Square keeping his eye on
the camera crew and
trying to keep the rubber
necks from peering down
the lens..
I was keeping my eye on
Michael who was sitting
up the steps of a church
behind a pillar reading
his script..
It was going all right
until after lunch and the
pubs turned out then a
few Jack the lads decided
they wanted to be in the
film. Jerry and the boys
handled them ok but I saw
one heading to where
Michael was sitting and
decided to talk to him.
It went a bit like
this... Me:
"Hello mate,
where’re you
going?" Him:
"I’m gonna talk
to my mate Micky
Caine" Me:
"I’m sorry but
he’s busy at the
moment learning his
script" Him:
"But I only want a
chat with him, I’ve
seen all his films" Me:
"Could you come back
later when he’s not
so busy?" Him:
"No I f***ing
can’t and you can
tell him from me I said
b*****ks to his
film" Me:
"Thank you very much
Sir, I’ll tell him
when he’s not too
busy".
With that, he slopes away
and that’s the last
we saw of him.
I don’t think
Michael ever saw the
incident but if you ever
read this Michael
I’ve got a message
from a punter in
Trafalgar Square to pass
onto you.. (And give my
regards to the Hackney
Lizard).
DECEPTIONS…Director
Melville
Shavelson…Pinewood…
Cast Inc…Barry
Bostwick…Stefanie
Powers…Gina
Lollobrigida…
Playing a plain clothes
cop and had plenty of
fast driving to do..
Chris Webb was the stunt
double for the bad guy
and had to be chucked off
Tower Bridge. (Rather him
than me!)
Gina looked really lovely
and was as bright as a
button.
(I was in love with her
years ago but I forgot to
tell her)
GIRLS
ON TOP…Director
Paul Jackson…
Cast Inc…Dawn
French…Jennifer
Saunders…Ruby
Wax…
I WAS GLAD AT THE
END OF THE DAY AND THE
SCAR PEELED OFF
Skip
forward to around 7
minutes 10 seconds!
This was a
quickie job for Paul
Jackson my friend from
the Two Ronnie’s
days.
Ron Tarr and myself
travelled up to
Nottingham overnight and
came back the next day.
We were to play Bouncers
1 and 2.
We didn’t have a lot
to do, just try and stop
some girls from gate
crashing a club.
I had known Ron for many
years from the days when
he and his wife Hazel
used to come to a pub in
Islington to hear me
sing.. (He was a glutton
for punishment)
He became quite famous as
‘’BIG
RON’’ in
EastEnders and was there
for over ten years until
his untimely death from
cancer in the late 90s..
Ron and I spent many a
long day having a swift
half in the bar at
Elstree.
IN
SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH…Director
Roger
Race…BBCTV…
A couple of day’s
rehearsal for this and
then an audience show.
Roger Race I had worked
for many times and had
always got on well with
him.
Nice to see John Challis
again especially as he
was now doing
‘’Fools And
Horses’’.
I had worked on the show
before a couple of times
but only as a Supporting
Artist.
It was then called
‘’Till Death Us
Do Part’’.
Thanks Roger Race I send
my best wishes…
THE
PICKWICK PAPERS…Director
Brian
Lighthill…BBCTV…
Filming as a Supporting
Artist around the London
docks area to get that
Dickens feel and then
some days up at the
Pebble Mill studios in
Birmingham for the
interiors. Nice to work
with Brian again but
haven’t seen him for
a long time.
Hope all is well…
OLIVER
TWIST…Director
Gareth
Davies…BBCTV…
I’m back on another
Dickens work and this
time I’m going to
give young Oliver a slap.
I play a character called
Big Man and I have to
stop Oliver from running
away.
I did another Oliver
Twist a couple of years
back Staring George C.
Scott at E.M.I..
BY
THE SWORD DIVIDED…Director
Brian
Farnham…Producer
Jonathan
Alwyn…BBCTV…
Episode title…Cruel
Necessity…
This time I’m saying
some words for Brian as a
Pot man in the year of
1649…
Plenty of buxom wenches
floating about and plenty
of shouting and fighting
in the tavern. (Reminds
me of that pub in South
London that I played in
the 50s).
WYNNE
AND PENKOVSKY…Director
Paul
Seed…BBCTV…
Cast Inc…David
Calder…Christopher
Rozycki…Frederick
Treves…
The last time I worked
with Paul Seed he was an
actor and now I get a
phone call from his
office asking me would I
like to play a character
called Red Face.
My job was to help our
agents get the truth out
of Greville Wynne who was
accused of spying..
David Calder who was
playing Wynne was
stripped naked for the
interrogation scenes and
every time we thought he
told us a lie I would
have to punch him in the
ribs.
David told me to make the
punches look real and I
would just make a slight
contact with his body on
every punch.
(Now don’t forget
that as well as taking
the punches David was
keeping his hands on his
wedding tackle).
On one of the last takes
David leans backwards
just as I threw the
punch.
It caught him fair and
square and he dropped to
the floor.
I’m sorry David but
it did look good on
camera…Best
wishes…
EASTENDERS…Producer
Julia
Smith…BBCTV…
Cast Inc…Wendy
Richard…Peter
Dean…Leslie
Grantham…Bill
Treacher…
About fifty Supporting
Artists turned up on the
first day of this unknown
shoot.
Julia Smith was running
around getting us all
into positions that we
would keep if selected
for the run of the show.
Some stallholders, some
passer bys and others
just mingling.
A man I had known for
many years (Johnnie
Clayton) told me he got a
part in it.
He was to play a
character called Reg Cox
and was killed off in the
first episode.
(Now I don’t need
luck like that. It’s
hard enough getting parts
but to be killed off in
the first episode of a
series that has run for
nearly twenty years with
no chance of doing a days
crowd work is about the
same odds as winning the
Lotto).
Peter Dean I had known
for many years because he
lived in Islington and
we’d had a few
glasses of ale together..
Bill I knew from other
jobs.
This seemed like an ideal
job for me and I got on
well with the cast and
crew.
But it came to pass that
you were not going to
work every week so
it’s all right when
you’re working but
on your weeks off there
was no money coming in.
I’d go back to what
I’d been doing for
the last eighteen years
and, if I was free to do
EastEnders, so be it.
HIDEAWAY…Director
Michael
Briant…BBCTV…
I got a phone call from a
production manager I met
on Beau Geste asking me
to meet him in a pub in
Camden Town.. (Chris
D’oyly John)
Now it seems the series
they are filming has been
plagued by drunks living
in the Camden Town
district and could I help
them out with a bit of
public liaison work.
It would be for two or
three days perhaps a bit
longer.
I meet up with Chris and
he introduces me to
Michael Brayshaw 1st A.D.
and Penny Bloomfield 2nd
A.D. and we sit down and
discuss tactics.
I come up with plan of
using my friends (all
Equity members) when
they’re filming on
the streets and they need
some passers by. They
will do their job as well
as keeping an eye on the
cast and crew.. We never
had any more trouble with
the drunks.
Mind you I did have the
best in the business at
that time and we all used
the same opening line of
‘’Excuse me
Sir’’ BBC
policy.
I’d like to thank
some of them, Jerry
Judge, Gypsy Dave Cooper,
Bruce Greenfield, Alan
Talbot, Charlie Appleby
and for those I’ve
forgotten I’m sorry.
The job lasted a lot
longer for me and I even
ended up in Derbyshire
for a few weeks but,
after sixteen weeks of
filming, we came in two
hours in front of
schedule. (not bad)
Pennie, Mike and Chris
are still friends to this
day and I wish them well.
I found
out today (28/10/09) from
his wife Pennie that
Chris D'oyly John has
died.
My thoughts are with
Pennie and all the family
at the passing of such a
nice guy..
SUN
NEWSPAPER COMMERCIAL…
Gypsy Dave and I are
booked to do a days work
on this job.
We are dressed as
security guards and I
have to wheel a Page
Three Girl across the set
in a wheelbarrow and on a
cue she throws £20,000
up in the air and has to
shout out "Big
Money" (It
ain’t hard!).
After every take of the
twenty we did the real
security guards that were
keeping their eye on the
real money picked it all
up and counted it to make
sure none was missing.
(As if!)
The trouble was the Page
Three Girl was throwing
it too soon or too late
and the camera kept
missing it so we had to
do another take.
We filmed this at
Stockwell and I popped
into my 1950s pub at
lunchtime but there was
still no old faces
about.. (Where are you
all)
