Lord Delfont

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 10:08

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen ninety one.

Speaker 10:11

And the presenter was Sue Lawley.

Presenter0:31

My castaway this week is an impresario. Escaping the pogroms in the Ukraine, his family brought him to this country just before the First World War, and settled in the East End of London. At the age of twelve, he was expelled from school for running a sweepstake, and after a series of odd jobs he entered the world of entertainment as something called an eccentric dancer. His career has been anything but eccentric since. He staged the Follyberger, ran the talk of the town in its heyday, and managed stars such as Frankie Howard and Norman Wisdom. His biggest mistake, he says, was turning down a chance to manage the Beatles an unimportant slip, you might think, for a man who at the age of eighty two is president of his own leisure corporation worth four hundred fifty million pounds. He is Lord Delphont.

Presenter1:18

Shall we start with the big mistake, turning down the Beatles? How did that happen?

Lord Delfont1:23

Well, Brian Epstein came to the office one morning and I unfortunately I didn't see him, and he met one of the chaps who was working in the office at the time and suggested he'd like our organization to take over the Beatles.

Presenter1:35

This was what the early sixties

Lord Delfont1:36

Early yes, very early on. And they had a little reputation then, but not not of course what they did become eventually. And I think he asked something like seven hundred and fifty pounds a week for them. And now people just threw him out of the office.

Presenter1:48

Was that an outrageous amount at the time?

Lord Delfont1:50

No, it wasn't. It was there was a sort of normal study for top of the bill, but we never thought there would be a real top of the bill. So there you wow it was a mistake.

Presenter1:59

But have you ever sat down and worked out how many millions that cost you?

Lord Delfont2:03

No, it'd be a waste of time, wouldn't that?

Presenter2:06

What about other confessions of lost opportunities? Didn't you turn down the musical hair?

Lord Delfont2:06

What about

Lord Delfont2:10

Yes, I'd say no miserable hair because, you know, even then, some years ago, it must be, well, thirty years ago here, probably.

Lord Delfont2:18

Uh when I heard the record, there were so many four letter words in it, I thought this is not for me. And um I decided to turn it down, although unfortunately it finished up in my own theatre. I was running the shaft at the time, and it ran an awful long time, but I didn't want to present it. It was a mistake and uh well not a mistake in my mind, but I was you know, I always wanted to do really mostly family shows, what I thought wouldn't be offensive.

Presenter2:41

Patently, one of the secrets of your success, even if on those occasions uh it led to failure, is that you trust your own judgment, that if you like it, you'll go with it, and if you don't, you won't.

Lord Delfont2:51

Well, you have to be emotional. If you look at every production that you do purely with the object, will this make money or will it not make money, then I think you go wrong. You have to do things you believe in.

Presenter3:01

But now tell me about you, Music, and the Desert Island. Is is it going to be a compatible business?

Lord Delfont3:07

Uh yes, I would enjoy. I love music. I I'm afraid I can't sing very well. Well I've got everything in my in my head. I can always throw someone's off-key or whatever, but I have no voice at all. My wife stops me the moment I start singing, oh please keep quiet. Um yes, I would enjoy music and I enjoy thinking about music and I think music is really I mean I often wonder what would what would the world be like without music?

Presenter3:31

What's your first record?

Lord Delfont3:33

My first record I'd very much like would be

Lord Delfont3:36

My Heart and I are from Old Chelsea, which features my wife, actually, Carol Lynn and Richard Talbot, a great tenor of course.

Speaker 44:00

My darling is good and good.

Presenter4:15

My Heart and I, sung by Richard Tauber and Carol Lynn. It was Richard Tauber who in fact introduced you to Carol Lynn who became your wife, wasn't it?

Lord Delfont4:22

Yes. We were casting Old Chelsea, which was the first big musical that Richard Talbot actually composed. In my opinion, he was a genius, a marvellous man. We got a wonderful association. And during the auditions, this little girl came on, and Richard Talbot immediately said to me, said, This is the girl I want. It happened to be Carol Lynn, who had previously been in Intimate Revue. And I thought the girl from Intimate Review would never do in a musical with Richard Talba. Anyway, she was a great success, and then eventually we used to go out together with Richard Talba, and she would always be there.

Lord Delfont4:56

And eventually we fell in love and got married. We've married for forty seven years nearly now.

Presenter5:02

Let's go back much earlier now than that though. Tell me about the name Delphonte, because you you were born Winnow Grant, weren't you?

Lord Delfont5:08

Yes, yes. Well, Delphine comes actually from rather strangely. You see, our real name, my brother Lou and my younger brother Lezyan Forsy died, we were our name was Winogretsky, which apparently is the the English translation of that from the Russian is good grapes. So basically my name is Good Grapes.

Lord Delfont5:30

When we arrived here and Lou went into the theatrical profession during the Charleston era craze, he took the middle part of his name, which was Winner Gretzky, and just took Grad, G-R-A-D. Somebody added it in it and he became Grade, Lou Grade, because in those days it was any name that had a ski in it or any foreign zone name wasn't as popular as they are today. And he called himself, he's formed an act which called Grade and Gold. And I followed, thinking it was an easier way to earn a living than being in the East End. I was earning seventy P a week as an office boy at the time. And I started an act called Grade and Saturn.

Lord Delfont6:09

And then there was confusion between both had similar acts I suppose. And my agent said to me one day, you're not getting much work. I said, no, we're very depressed about it. He said, because she said it's confusion between Grade and Gold, Graydon Sutton. I said, what do you suggest? He said, well, change your name. And he started twiddling his and suddenly it came up with a name, he says, call yourself the Delphon Boys. And it stuck over surface. It's just like that. It could have been any other name.

Presenter6:31

He just plucked it out of here.

Presenter6:34

But you lived in the family lived in Brick Lane. Yes, Father uh did a few tailoring jobs, I think.

Lord Delfont6:37

Yeah, but it is improved by the

Lord Delfont6:40

Yes, he well, he he came first. He was here for about six months, went to night school, learnt English very rapidly, and then he sent for my mother and Lou and I arrived. Lou remembers it slightly, I don't.

Presenter6:52

What did you live in? How did you live?

Lord Delfont6:55

Well, we were it was very hard, but I didn't feel underprivileged. You know, if one didn't know anything better, you know, if I had an extra piece of bread and jam at lunchtime, it would be marvellous. And I had a farthing, spending money to buy a bar of chocolate, that was great. So I didn't didn't feel underprivileged or anything like that. I never said, Oh, I am sort of living in poverty. One doesn't feel like that if you don't know anything better.

Presenter7:17

And was there any clue at all there in that early life that that you and your brothers and Leslie was born in Brickley, wasn't he? that you would, all three of you, make your living out of showbiz?

Lord Delfont7:28

No. The only clue we might have had was that my mother and father were very big in amateur theatricals in Russia and in London. When they arrived, in fact there was a place called the Whitechapel Pavilion, and they would appear as guest artists, you know, as amateurs. And they appeared a lot in Russia. So they were singers, lovely singers. And on the Friday night, which is traditional sort of Jewish evening to have dinner, we would

Speaker 47:46

Yeah.

Lord Delfont7:55

Have a dinner, and then after that, my mother and father sang duets to us, and it was rather wonderful.

Presenter8:00

Shall we have your second record?

Lord Delfont8:02

Yes. Um well, I would like to hear

Lord Delfont8:06

Because I've been a little bit of a gambler, not not terrific, I'm not a compulsive gambler, but I like to hear Kenny Rogers in the gambler.

Speaker 48:13

You got to know when the whole

Speaker 48:17

Know when to fall down

Speaker 48:20

No wind to walk away

Speaker 48:23

Know when to run, you never count your money.

Speaker 48:27

When you're sitting at the table, there'll be time enough for counting.

Speaker 48:34

When the deal is done

Presenter8:36

The Gambler, sung by Kenny Rogers. So it was gambling, Lord Delphant, that got you expelled from school. What exactly did you get up to?

Lord Delfont8:42

I ran a file in sweep actually and during the playtime I would sell this was sort of ten minute interval during the morning session and I started sending the other little kids into school. I must have I was only about oh I suppose ten or eleven.

Lord Delfont8:58

And charging them a farthing each for these football slips. And one occasion the headmaster, when we lined up actually to go back, we all had a whistle and elderly line up. He said, What have you got in your hands? I said, Nothing, sir. He said, Open them up, and open them up, and of course he pulled out these cheese and won it's Tottenham Otsburm, Manchester United. And that was it. And I was expelled not expelled, I just didn't go back. And of course, nobody bothered to come for me. And I used to help my mother in the housework for a year or so.

Presenter9:29

Didn't she mind that you've been kicked out?

Lord Delfont9:31

No, I didn't mind at all. I hated school after that. I was never really good at school though.

Presenter9:34

Didn't didn't your mother mine?

Lord Delfont9:36

Well

Lord Delfont9:38

I thought she needed some help at the time, and I was rather useful around the house. I think today.

Presenter9:42

Can't remember

Presenter9:43

Tell me about your mother, Mamma Winogradsky. What kind of woman was she?

Lord Delfont9:46

Oh, she was a marvellous woman. She was very, very strong in principles. She guided us in the right way. You know, she told us what was wrong and right, although, of course, what is wrong and right, I suppose, comes naturally to some people. You could automatically feel what is wrong and what is right, I suppose. But you can be guided. And I misbehaved as a young boy. I did some rather naughty little things.

Speaker 110:07

Such as

Lord Delfont10:09

stealing a few pennies from my uncle's pocket, then my father gave me a jolly good flashing, which I think did me a lot of good at the time, taught me not to do it again.

Lord Delfont10:17

So and she was very strict. My father was a happy-go-lucky person. He loved his gambling, he loved going uh roller skating and all that sort of thing, whereas mother wa was a down to earth person.

Presenter10:29

And she was the dominant force.

Lord Delfont10:30

She was actually the dominant force.

Presenter10:32

Were you frightened of her?

Lord Delfont10:33

No, no, not at all. But we we respected that, let's move it that way, you know, with

Presenter10:39

She she lived to a grand old age, didn't she?

Lord Delfont10:41

Yes, she lived till ninety four.

Presenter10:43

Did she, therefore, live to see, she must have done, her two sons, Lou and Yu, both knighted and ennobled?

Lord Delfont10:50

Yes, she did. You know, I don't think it meant very much to her, but she was I think she used to well, she was very she was, you know, sh if she if she went to a town, I would send her for a week holiday perhaps to Bournemouth or Brighton or whatever. If she thought that Lou was better known there, she would call herself Mrs. Grade. And if she went to another town where I hadn't had some shows on, she called herself Mrs. Delphant, you see. And if she wasn't sure, she would call herself Mrs. Gray Delphonte.

Presenter10:53

Didn't you?

Lord Delfont11:15

And of course she was, you know, she used to love talking about the children. Obviously, she was she was proud of them, obviously.

Presenter11:22

Record number three.

Lord Delfont11:24

Well, I'm

Lord Delfont11:25

I particularly like jazz, so I'd like to hear Yehudi Menu and Stephan Grappelli playing Lullaby of Birdland.

Presenter12:31

Yehudi Menuin and Stephan Grappelli playing Lullaby of Birdland, conducted by Max Harris. So you wouldn't do business with Hair because you didn't approve of the content, but by your own admission in your autobiography you began your performing career in in a live sex show, didn't you?

Lord Delfont12:48

Ah, that was yes. I happened to be in Amsterdam and with without any work at all. I was doing a solo act at the time, yeah. And uh stayed a little pension on the Amstel. And um one day a young lady arrived and

Lord Delfont13:03

kept looking at me. I thought, well, I hope she thinks I'm attractive. I felt rather flattered. I was only about, what, twenty three I suppose at the time, twenty two and um one day she said to me, Would you come and have dinner with my aunt?

Lord Delfont13:17

And she we got in the tram, jogged a long hamster in the tram.

Lord Delfont13:22

And um see not this sort of

Lord Delfont13:26

house in the suburbs of Amsterdam and a little old lady came out with a stick and thought I was very naive at the time, I didn't quite realize what I was in for, and uh introduced me as her aunt. And we sat down and had some dinner and just as soon as I finished the soup, the first course, she said to me, Well, I must make love with you I was rather startled, thought it was rather strange dinner conversation and took me into this other room and of course I had to do whatever one does in those sort of circumstances. And we came back and uh another twenty minutes passed and she said the same thing again. I had to go back again and I got rather exhausted, but anyway I got back to the to the pension and when I woke up next morning

Lord Delfont14:09

Um I said, where is uh her name was Jo's Josan, I think.

Lord Delfont14:15

And um

Lord Delfont14:17

They said all she's left, and I spoke to one of the chaps who I know she'd sort of been friendly with in the Penteon.

Lord Delfont14:23

He said, Well, did you do the same thing to this taking her aunt? I said, Yes. He said, You were the victim of a peep show. There must have been holes all the way round the wall. So I was really, really duped.

Presenter14:34

So you'd really been performing?

Lord Delfont14:35

Yes. I thought it was terrible because I thought you'd generally fall in love with me.

Lord Delfont14:40

It was a great blow to my pride.

Presenter14:42

I was bad. But but those kind of amorous adventures apart, uh were you when you were touring Europe at that time, and as we said it was in the thirties, were were you very much aware a as a young Jewish boy of the political tensions in Europe?

Lord Delfont14:54

No, only when I went to Germany.

Lord Delfont14:57

It was about nineteen twenty five or twenty six, I think.

Lord Delfont15:02

But we'll probably might have been nineteen twenty nine.

Lord Delfont15:05

And um

Lord Delfont15:08

We played the Winter Gardens Berlin. That was with it when I was with the Dolphin boys. And I heard rumours about the chap called Hitler. And.

Lord Delfont15:17

That was that. I didn't think very much of it, but I was just told that there could be a danger of Jewish people. And then unfortunately, we went to Hamburg,

Lord Delfont15:27

And uh I made friends with a German boy who we got on very well, did the usual things that boys do, you know, looking for girls after the show and having a drink or two.

Lord Delfont15:36

And um one evening we were having a drink after the show, and I said to him, Are you Jewish? He said, Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all.

Lord Delfont15:44

I said thought you were I said because I am.

Lord Delfont15:47

And he said and then I was rather surprised when he said to me, Well, now that you've told me, he said, I am too. Well, I dropped him immediately after that. I thought it was dreadful. And um then I knew that things were going to be difficult there, and I was very glad to get out of Germany.

Presenter16:03

Should we have your next record?

Lord Delfont16:05

Well my next record I'd like to hear Sammy David sing What Kind of Fool, which is the show that

Lord Delfont16:11

Um very small show really, but it was a big worldwide success from Stop the World I Want to Get Off by Andrew New Lee.

Lord Delfont16:20

But like Sammy Davis to sing it.

Presenter16:21

Why do you want Sammy and not Anna?

Lord Delfont16:23

Well Sammy David is a great friend of mine and he came to this country about five or six times under my management and we were great friends. He was a lovely man.

Speaker 416:32

What kind of fool am I?

Speaker 416:38

Who never fell in love?

Speaker 416:44

It seems that I'm the only one.

Speaker 416:51

That I have been thinking of

Speaker 416:56

What kind of man is this?

Presenter17:02

What kind of fool am I? sung by Sammy Davis to you. I suppose, Lord Delphon, looking back across your professional life, the first big commercial break for you was when you put on the Folibergere at the Hippodrome in the fifties, wasn't it?

Lord Delfont17:15

Yes, yes. It was very helpful at the time because although I had many shows in the road, many of them were making money and many of them were losing more than I was making. And that came as a big surprise. I always thought that the British public would like to see the Folly Berger, and we opened with it at the Hippodrome, which is now, of course, a disco. And it was a great success.

Presenter17:36

But what did they do? Because they couldn't move, could they?

Lord Delfont17:38

No, we weren't the news were not allowed to move and one sneeze and we were in trouble. But it was really very good and we had the people like the early days first appearance in the West End of Tommy Cooper, Diggy Henderson, Michael Benteen. And it was a it was a lovely spectacular entertainment.

Presenter17:57

Tell me about the talk of the town, because you you ran that from nineteen fifty eight onwards, didn't you, in its heyday. What did it cost in those early days, and what did people get for their money?

Lord Delfont18:02

Yeah.

Lord Delfont18:06

Well, the talk of the town, I'd always thought that London needed a place. I was really copying the Lido in Paris, which of course is the most outstanding place in Europe, even today. And I thought something like that would be very successful in England. We opened up with two sort of sides, an hour and two hours of one hour, and then an interval and another hour of very great spectacular shows. But the British public, although they like spectacle, they want to see some talent as well. And that didn't do so well for the first year. Then I suddenly decided, why not do just one long show of an hour with Spectacle and then have an artist. Then we started with Arthur Kitt, and that followed on with Diana Ross, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Tom Jones, all the arts you can mention. It became a prestigious place. Well, I started off straight enough at 27 and 6pence.

Presenter18:53

So what a prestigious place.

Presenter18:59

They got dinner for the money.

Lord Delfont19:00

We got dinner for that, yes. Then we went up and I think time we finished was about or might have been about ten fifty.

Presenter19:05

But d do you do you rue its passing?'Cause that's your kind of instinct.

Lord Delfont19:09

Yes, yes, I do. I loved it very, very much. I just enjoyed going there on the opening nights. There were some wonderful opening nights there. Eliza Mineli, when she came along, there, Unknown.

Lord Delfont19:18

Uh lots of and sort of tragedy as well, unfortunately, with Judy Garland.

Presenter19:23

She was one of the last stars you put on there.

Lord Delfont19:25

Yes, she was pretty good on the opening night, you know, got a tremendous ovation. And then after a few days I was people came to me ringing me and saying, Oh, you know, we had to wait a half an hour before she came on. She was tottering all over the stage.

Lord Delfont19:38

And I went and saw her that night and uh she really gave a a pretty poor performance. She was obviously under the influence of something or other. And I went back and said, I'm sorry, Judy, I can't let you go on, you're not well unless you give me a death certificate She said, I'm fine Well, she looked a very little old lady actually.

Lord Delfont19:55

And four seats came along and

Lord Delfont19:58

Much to my surprise, Miss Doctor Steve said she was fit to go on, so I had no alternative to go on.

Lord Delfont20:03

Well, three weeks later, or two weeks later, she died unfortunately. It was a great tragedy. A wonderful artist is a great, great tragedy. One of the great tragedies.

Presenter20:12

Record number five.

Lord Delfont20:14

I'd like the Edith Piaf in La Vian Rose because it's rather similar story to Judy Garland actually. I remember seeing her in Paris.

Lord Delfont20:22

And she was vibrant on stage and when I went backstage, because I had the idea of bringing her to London, I saw a very little frail old lady.

Lord Delfont20:31

Uh but she was wonderful when she sang on stage, and that's why I'd like to hear Either Piafun.

Lord Delfont20:36

Lavianos.

Speaker 420:38

Ila pado eto munca ila pau de bona nove pora pona meri pour moi moi pour ido avi i la maladi quari ré la vi

Speaker 421:04

When I go the lumber small

Presenter21:08

Edith Pieff singing La Vien Rose

Presenter21:11

By nineteen sixty, Lord Delphon, you had a house in Hampstead, which you've called since the pinnacle of respectability and a foretaste of heaven.

Presenter21:20

Did it really mean that much to you?

Lord Delfont21:20

Did it really

Lord Delfont21:22

Yes, I suppose so. We as I say we lived in the East End, then we moved to, I think, uh

Lord Delfont21:30

Streatham. From Streatham we went to Cricklewood and then eventually went to Harrison.

Presenter21:36

Do you still feel that a bit? Do you still look back and think, My goodness, I've come a long way?

Lord Delfont21:40

No.

Lord Delfont21:41

No. I I don't look back. In fact, I I've just done a job of work. That's all I consider. I've enjoyed it. I'm just doing the best I can. I love entertaining the public, but I haven't sort of looked back at it all.

Lord Delfont21:54

That uh I don't believe it actually.

Presenter21:57

You don't believe what?

Lord Delfont21:58

I just accept everything as it comes. I don't say, oh, well, look what I've accomplished, or what other people tell me. I get lots of.

Lord Delfont22:05

Praise, and of course, we had lots of criticism as well. And um

Lord Delfont22:10

And an old saying, Nothing's as dead as Jester's newspaper.

Presenter22:14

You say you like entertaining the public. Tell me about the Royal Variety performance which you organized for twenty-five years. Is it a nightmare to put it in the

Lord Delfont22:19

Yeah.

Lord Delfont22:21

It is a nightmare. I've often described it as being in a motor car accident and coming out with shock only, you know. That's how I describe it. Because the artists arrived late and of course we used to have to do it in on just a one day's rehearsal. Nowadays the television companies are responsible for it, although I try and influence as much as I can, but unfortunately not with great success the last few years.

Presenter22:43

Some artists, presumably, no matter what you tell them beforehand, when they get on the stage and they think it's going well, they just go on and on and on.

Lord Delfont22:49

Yes, but one of the problems I've had with the Royal Fan, and they're quite right, so is the length of the show. You say to, I remember saying to Tony Bennett or Perry Coma, well, Perry Coma is okay, some of the star singers, they just say, oh, we only do three songs and we do not talk in between. I said, that's fine. And we time that rehearsal, they sing three songs, nine and a half minutes, they're fine, leave it like that. Then they come on and they start saying how wonderful it is to be here. And they go on between each song how wonderful it is to be and how much they love the British audiences and all this sort of nonsense. And then by the time they finish, it's 16 minutes.

Presenter23:24

And have the have the royal family ever said anything to you, said

Lord Delfont23:27

No, no, no. The only complaint I've ever had in the Royal Family is the length of the show, and I must agree with them. They've always been very complimentary sometimes.

Presenter23:35

But do but have they said to you, would you make it a bit shorter?

Lord Delfont23:38

Oh yes, yes, oh very often. Would you try and keep it short? And I've always said yes. Unfortunately I've never been able to succeed.

Presenter23:44

But what do you think perhaps two separate questions? What do you think the Queen and the Queen Mother really think about the Royal Variety performance?

Lord Delfont23:55

I suppose they think it's a sort of duty. They attended, they are patrons of our fund. And

Lord Delfont24:02

Probably the brother didn't have to attend.

Lord Delfont24:06

I would think, I don't know. But they seem to enjoy it, but you can't tell. That was very complimentary at the end of it. Only on one occasion when uh I remember we were standing on the steps of the plane about one o'clock in the morning, and in those days the Parliament would open the next day. And the Queen Mother said to me, looked at me rather sternly, with a little twinkle in her eye though, and said, Mr Delpha, I should have to open Parliament in this dress. All I could manage to say was, well, it's a very pretty dressmaid.

Presenter24:35

Next record.

Lord Delfont24:37

The next record, I'm not terribly fond of the operas because on one occasion, well about 40 years ago, I happened to see the magic flute at the opera house in Paris and I must say I was completely bored and utterly desponded and then it falls off, well opera is not for me, but I do like popular operas, so I'd like to hear Maria Callas singing the Aria Viggi Date.

Speaker 425:37

I'm a beautiful.

Presenter25:44

Maria Callas singing part of the Aria Vissidate from Puccini's Tosca with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Georges Pretre.

Presenter25:53

So, Bernard Delphonte, your company today, First Leisure Corporation, controls several London theatres, the Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens and countless bowling alleys and dance halls across the country.

Presenter26:05

What brings in the biggest money?

Lord Delfont26:08

Um

Lord Delfont26:09

I suppose the Blackpool brings in the biggest the biggest money, but overall it's um

Lord Delfont26:16

It's entertainment for the public. The Bowling Galley revival has been quite extraordinary, and I think we do them in an unusual style.

Lord Delfont26:24

Uh of course my first love was always the theatres.

Lord Delfont26:27

Um

Lord Delfont26:29

And I like the theater business best of all, but obviously I'd have to look after the whole company.

Presenter26:33

What do you actually do these days? I mean, you're eighty-two, but I mean, you work as hard as ever by the sound of it.

Lord Delfont26:36

Yeah

Lord Delfont26:40

Yes, and I don't want to retire. I've heard an old expression everybody knows about at school. I don't want to be in God's waiting room.

Lord Delfont26:47

Uh no, I don't want to retire. I don't know what I'd do. Uh my wife would like me to take things easier. I do take things easier. I like my holidays. I go to France quite a lot, the south of France. I like February in Barbados with the family. And uh we have a house in the country, so I do take pretty

Lord Delfont27:04

Good time off. I'm not stuck with this.

Presenter27:05

Do you keep fit? I mean, you you look very fit. You're slim.

Lord Delfont27:10

I look fit, but yes, but about strange enough, about thirty-five years ago I had a bad heart attack.

Lord Delfont27:16

And it left me with sort of just difficulty in walking long distances, but otherwise I'm fine, you know, I have no real problems.

Presenter27:23

But avoiding God's waiting room apart, w what's in it for you going into the office every day? What what's the buzz for you?

Lord Delfont27:25

But

Lord Delfont27:30

Well, I suppose the excitement of knowing the the figures for last night. The first thing I look at is what the theatres took last night. So that's in my blood. And uh it's excitement in a way, you know, even other people's first nights I go to is exciting.

Presenter27:44

Do you still get excited by meeting the stars, or are you immune to all of that?

Lord Delfont27:49

Well, I suppose I am pretty immune, but I still get excited at meeting some of them, you know. I remember when I was um starting dealing with most of the music hall artists who are considered the lowest uh of the of the art world and meeting some of the jit people like Laura Solivia and those sort of people and um when I did it was quite as they were just as vulgar in so many ways as the music hall artists.

Presenter28:15

But for you the turn on i i is hearing the reaction of the audience, is it? And hearing the

Lord Delfont28:18

And the audience is it and hearing.

Presenter28:20

The applause.

Lord Delfont28:21

And I would I would hope that perhaps before I eventually go somewhere else I will perhaps do another show or two.

Presenter28:28

Record number seven.

Lord Delfont28:32

I'd like to hear Barbara Strice and singing people from Funny Girl, which is a show I did some years ago which was very successful.

Speaker 428:46

People who need people

Speaker 428:53

Are the luckiest people in the

Speaker 429:03

Uh

Presenter29:09

Barber Streisen singing People

Presenter29:11

We said early on that you have to have a belief in yourself and your own judgment to be a successful impresario. Do you also have to be a touch ruthless?

Lord Delfont29:22

Yes, in certain instances. In other words, you if you happen to unfortunately miscast a person who's completely wrong in the show, you have to be ruthless. On the other hand, you're doing the right thing because if you allowed it to go on, that person's career could have suffered badly by being in the wrong part. So though you're ruthless, you do it with the best intentions.

Presenter29:42

Would you describe yourself as tough?

Lord Delfont29:45

Well it's very difficult to tell what you like, you know, you know, but it's very able to get the conception of other people's views of you.

Lord Delfont29:53

I don't think I'm tough. I think I've I've been rather fortunate. I think I seem to be reasonably well liked by my contemporary people. Not my contemporaries, I'm the young and precise, so they all seem to respect me. So basically

Lord Delfont30:10

All I've ever wanted to be a respected member of my chosen profession.

Presenter30:15

So the formula is good judgment, determination, hard work, and so on, but there must also be a a very large dollop of luck there.

Lord Delfont30:23

Absolutely, there's no doubt about it. Luck has played an enormous part in my career.

Presenter30:28

But it it must be more than a coincidence that the Winner Gradsky boys all actually did rather well for themselves.

Lord Delfont30:34

Yes, well, I suppose so, but uh we don't look at one that way. I think we all just do the best we can to entertain the public and um I have no regrets about anything I've ever done.

Lord Delfont30:46

Lose and lose some, you win some, as Kenny Rogers just saying.

Lord Delfont30:54

I think um

Lord Delfont30:55

I'm quite happy the way things have worked out.

Presenter30:58

Last record.

Lord Delfont31:00

The last record, I'd like to hear Nat Kinkole sing a September song for a special reason that in 1946, I think it was, immediately after the war, I went to New York, I was in New York and I went to a midnight charity show. And Walter Houston came on stage, dressing as an old man and one leg with a very pretty 18 or 19 year old girl, lovely looking girl, and he sang a September song to her, just standing still. And it was really a wonderful moment. And as I get older, this song means more and more to me.

Lord Delfont31:34

So that's what I'd like to hear.

Speaker 431:37

Wits a long, long while.

Speaker 431:45

From May to December

Speaker 431:53

But the days grow short.

Speaker 432:00

When you reach September

Presenter32:08

Natkin Coal and September Song and Happy Memories for Bernard Delphont.

Presenter32:13

Which of the eight records, Lord Delphont, is the one that you would have to have more than any of the others? What's the special one of the eight?

Lord Delfont32:21

Well it'll be a choice between

Lord Delfont32:23

My heart and I and

Lord Delfont32:25

September song. And I suppose in the end it'll have to be

Lord Delfont32:30

My heart's an honour.

Presenter32:31

Sung by your wife, Carol Lynn, with Richard Talber.

Lord Delfont32:32

Yeah.

Presenter32:34

And your book. You've got the Bible and you've got the complete works of Shakespeare waiting for you.

Lord Delfont32:38

Well I'd like to have the British Musical Theatre, Volume Two, nineteen fifteen to nineteen eighty five. It's a tremendously big volume and every time it mentions every British musical that's ever been done in all those years and every time I'd pick up a page it would remind me of all the lovely shows and some of the songs would all come flooding back. So I'd like that to be my book.

Presenter32:59

And you could sing along with nobody to complain.

Lord Delfont33:00

Absolutely.

Presenter33:01

And your luxury.

Lord Delfont33:03

Well, the luxury's rather difficult. I suppose I would only ask for a s box of cigars, and would I be allowed any matches?

Presenter33:10

I think you'd have to, as long as you only used them to light the cigar.

Lord Delfont33:12

Yes, of course.

Presenter33:13

Lord Delphont, thank you very much indeed for letting us hear your desert island discs.

Lord Delfont33:18

Thank you very much indeed.

Speaker 133:27

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists Archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.