" Claims to fame"

[icomefromalanddownunder]

An actor whose name I can't remember (one of the Hatty Jacques, Eric Sykes, Norman Wisdom brigade) lived on the same road as our family, and we would often see him as we walked home from school (spent two years at day school for A levels).

One of my cousins played for Fulham, and one of his brothers (John Barrett), so also one of my cousins, is John Barrett of the John Barrett tapes (he was a recording technician at Apple and found some tapes in the basement). Now, if Alex joins the thread, she will seriously outclass this pathetic claim.

Oh, and Kate Bush was at John's funeral (he refused treatment for Hodgkin's Disease because he didn't want his hair to fall out - this was back in the, um, can't remember whether it was 70s or 80s, so his hair almost certainly would have fallen out).

When working at The Festival Hall I served coffee to Alan Price (except I'm not sure if that's the correct name - singer, same era as The Animals. Grumpy git), and I know a waiter that went out with Judith Durham (Seekers).

Oh, what am I doing????????????????????????? Although this and a cup of coffee are helping exorcise a particularly nasty email that I received from my brother yesterday, so ..............................................

I worked with someone who went out with Elle MacPherson's sister, Mimi - a television presenter, but not quite as, er, gobsmacking as Big Sis.

Enough already. Time to head off for a Vet appointment.

xx

Ooooh, ooooooh - I've remembered the name of the actor who lived on the same street as us. Derek Guyler (? spelling).

[sejintenej]

People seem to be getting into the spirit of it!!

I trained in the same gym ...............

That'll do for now. This is one of those threads where things can come to mind and you can add them.

Too true. After a series of back injuries (starting with two complete accidents at CH) it was Al Murray, coach to the UK weightlifting team in 1948, who got me able to walk again without pain; it took about two years work at his gym.

[Jo]

Ooooh, ooooooh - I've remembered the name of the actor who lived on the same street as us. Derek Guyler (? spelling).

Wasn't he the bossy inspector in On the Buses?

Just remembered another one - a distant cousin of my Dad's lived in "Heartbeat Country" on the North Yorkshire Moors and her house featured in one of the episodes.

<sounds of barrel being scraped>

[Katharine]

I taught David Essex's daughter in the 80s, he was a conscientious parent and came to parents' evenings etc, when he would fix me with a stare from those blue blue eyes as if his daughter was absolutely the MOST important person in the world. (Great thing for any father to think, but not all fathers are like that).

At the same school was Anthony Andrews' daughter (and this wasn't long after Brideshead on the TV) - I saw him swan in to something wearing a morning suit which was not the expected get up.

And now for something completely different, we had Fred Dibnah driving one of our engines at the Ffestiniog shortly before he died - everyone loved him and his cap!

[englishangel]

Ooooh, ooooooh - I've remembered the name of the actor who lived on the same street as us. Derek Guyler (? spelling).

Wasn't he the bossy inspector in On the Buses?

Just remembered another one - a distant cousin of my Dad's lived in "Heartbeat Country" on the North Yorkshire Moors and her house featured in one of the episodes.

<sounds of barrel being scraped>

No, that was Stephen Lewis who is now in "Last of the Summer Wine". Deryck Guyler was the school janitor (Norman Potter)in "Please Sir" with John Alderton, and also as Caroline said he was also in a number of things with Eric Sykes.

Is it a sign of getting old when you can remember all this stuff?

[jhopgood]

In 1970 when I was a student in Nottingham, Norman Fowler came round canvassing for the General Elections. We invited him in, sat him on the mattress on the floor in the living room, as we didn't have a sofa, gave him coffee, chatted to him about things for about half an hour. When he got up to go, and asked for our vote, we told him that we weren't registered to vote in Nottingham, and that as poor students, we doubted that his party would get our vote.
He must have seen it coming.

[Angela Woodford]

After leaving CH I had a temporary job at Peter Jones, Sloane Square, prior to starting nursing. One day, an enormous Irishman tottered in, glazed, incoherent, obviously having imbibed well and not too wisely. He wanted table mats. It took me some time to help him to choose the right ones - were they the right ones? - and I enfolded them in tissue paper, as he would never have managed any sort of wrapping up himself. After all this, he suddenly writhed, rolled his eyes, muttered a few imprecations, said he'd changed his mind, and disappeared. It was Richard Harris. But there was something endearing about him.

[englishangel]

In 1990 the children and I were staying with my parents in Rye (near Peasmarsh where Paul McCartney lives). Paul and Linda were the public faces of the "Save the cottage hospital" campaign and led a march in which I took part with my twins in their buggy.

18 months later (in the US) I queued for 2 hours for tickets to a Wings concert, however on the night my babysitter was double booked and my husband gave my ticket to the wife of a friend while I babysat her child. He did however kindly bring me the $10 concert programme and there on the inside front page was a photo of the march with me slap-bang in the middle. You needed a magnifying glass to see my face but the double buggy gave me away. So I didn't make it to the concert but I was in the programme.

[ben ashton]

^^^Peter Jones this Christmas, I go there at least once a year, very shiny, used to be able to use my Waitrose staff discount there

Towed a news presenter's boat while sailing back from the Isle of Wight, (possibly sandy gall?).

My mum knows the presenter of Banzai (Channel 4)

[cj]

Love the Christmas decs above.

This is quite exciting so I'm going to use capitals and colour -
TODAY I SAW A WELL-KNOWN TV FACE IN THE PANNIER MARKET!!!!!! However, her name isn't that well-known to me, but she was in Green Wing and she was also the wife of the manager of the Sports Centre in that cr@ppy comedy.

This one is a bit better. The godmother Aunt who is friends with Orlando Bloom's mum (see earlier post) used to live next door to the mother of Sid Vicious in Alma Street, Canterbury. There used to be lots of loud parties apparently and one night a mattress was dragged out into the street. I don't think the godmother Aunt was ever invited though.

[Jo]

Love the Christmas decs above.

This is quite exciting so I'm going to use capitals and colour -
TODAY I SAW A WELL-KNOWN TV FACE IN THE PANNIER MARKET!!!!!! However, her name isn't that well-known to me, but she was in Green Wing and she was also the wife of the manager of the Sports Centre in that cr@ppy comedy.

Pippa Heywood - and the cr*ppy comedy was The Brittas Empire.

Green Wing was the best thing on TV for years
Oh, that reminds me, one of the hospitals where it was filmed (Northwick Park, in north west London) was in my patch and I used to visit it regularly a couple of years ago. Sadly, never while they were filming though.

[michael scuffil]

Why isn't this thread called "name-dropping"?

Anyway, my brother's first mother-in-law was Pat (eggs is loverly) Hayes.

At CH I must have shared a trough with John Snow on numerous occasions.

I once spoke to Peter Ustinov on the phone in a professional capacity.

[michael scuffil]

And I forgot to say that at CH I was friends with the great and good Martin Linton, honourable member for Battersea. (He probably owed his selection to the fact that his very distinguished predecessor was Marcus Lipton, and they didn't have to change too much.)

[Jo]

Oh dear.... this thread has still got its hold on me

My mother-in-law was at Oxford with one Margaret Hilda Roberts, who apparently still had a distinct Lincolnshire accent in those days

[englishangel]

As a student nurse I shared a flat with a girl who at university had shared a flat with Carol Thatcher....erm, that's it.