Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Entertainer, agent and film and television mogul at the centre of British show business.
On the island
Eight records
Lo! Here the Gentle LarkFavourite
I fell in love with her and with the song. And that's been one of my favourites ever since.
Well, in December nineteen twenty six, I entered the World's Charleston Championship at the Royal Albert Hall, and to my surprise I won it.
When I first heard her I thought she was superb, and I booked her in England.
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Django Reinhardt, in my opinion, was the best the world had ever known. I was astounded.
Remember the road to Morocco.
I did a tremendous programme at the Cobben Garden called the Golden Hour. and I had an excerpt of Maria Callas singing Tosca.
When we were running Sunday night at a palladium, we had a fallout, Giuseppe DiStefano. and we then got a virtually unknown single. called Luciano Pavarotti.
With a Little Help from My Friends
I've had a very close relationship with the Beatles.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:59Am I right in thinking that you really do hate holidays?
I loathe them. ... work is my holiday. I mean to sit in the sun and burn is crazy.
Presenter asks
1:41What is it that keeps you going in this way? It can't be the money, can it?
It's certainly not the money, it's the love of the business. When you see things gel and get together, you get such a ... great feeling of satisfaction That's not money money doesn't count.
Presenter asks
5:00What do you remember about those early days [in the East End of London]?
Very difficult and very rough. We had no money. But we managed. ... I found it very interesting. There were people ... all became friends. It didn't matter what denomination you were, and there were many mixed denominations and peoples of all creeds and colours. Made no difference. They were all friends.
Presenter asks
The keepsakes
The book
Sir Walter Scott
The book I would choose would be the book that was given me by my school as a prize, called The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott. It was the most boring book I'd ever started to read. I never could finish it.
The luxury
How difficult was it in the forties and fifties to bring across an American star like Bob Hope?
Well, I romance his agent. for over a year, and his agent kept saying to me Bob's too tied up with films and his radio appearances. ... He can't come to England and he doesn't want to go. ... It took exactly not even two minutes to get Bob Hope. No contract was signed, no piece of paper.
Presenter asks
17:42Did you see the full potential of television back in those early days?
I had no thoughts of going into television. I was a booker for television. ... And through a friend of mine, he said to me, Why don't you go into commercial television here? I said, where am I going to get three million pounds? Anyway, eventually we got the money together and we formed a consortium.
“I couldn't speak a word of English. When I arrived here at five and a half years of age, and the first thing I had alone was Jewish, I couldn't go to school till I was eight, by which time I'd mastered enough English.”
“I have a photographic memory and I'm almost a sight reader. That's why even now I read a couple of books in the morning and a script or whatever it is.”
“I said, well, I haven't finished reading the script yet. That is absolutely true.”