A Jobbing Actor

An Autobiography

by John Le Mesurier

Single-handed, John Le Mesurier has made more films watchable, even absorbing, than anyone else around,' writes Philip Oakes in the Sunday Times. John Le Mesurier's acting career spanned fifty years, from the days of Fay Compton's Studio of Dramatic Art to his phenomenal success as the ineffectual Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army and beyond. Here he reminisces about his life in films and television, and talks openly about his relationship with Hattie Jacques and the pressures on a marriage between two successful and busy actors, and about his third wife, Joan, her doomed relationship with Tony Hancock, and of their continuing happiness nearly twenty years later.

Pictorial laminated boards / No dust jacket

for a foretaste of Chapter One

Situation Comedy 2

Studio Scripts

Edited by David Self

A second collection from the best of situation comedy on television and radio. All the scripts are from immensely popular comedy series, specially selected for their usability in the classroom. Ideas for follow-up writing, discussion and drama work are given for every play.

The five scripts included in this publication are: Open All Hours | Only When I Laugh | Hancock's Half Hour | A Fine Romance | Yes Minister

The Bowmans is the featured script from the BBCtv series of Hancock's Half Hour

A Jobbing Actor

An Autobiography

by John Le Mesurier

'A nice little autobiography without a single line of self-importance, and that's a rare performance indeed' The Spectator

I must say I have to agree with the above quote. Another of my favourite and most treasured books. A really good read...

For a brief synopsis of this book go here

for a foretaste of Chapter One

The Golden Age of Radio - An Illustrated Companion

by Denis Gifford

Over 1600 entries make up this, the first-ever reference guide to the programmes, the entertainers, the dance bands, the comedy characters and the catchphrases that make up the Golden Age of Radio . . . or, perhaps, of the Wireless. Here, packed into one alphabetically arranged book, are all the well-remembered shows from Bandwaggon and ITMA to The Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour and I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. At last all those teasing queries can be answered in a flash: who played Colonel Chinstrap? What was Enoch's catchphrase? When did Take It From Here start? Finish? And just what did Ron say to Eth?

All the radio stars are here, too, from Big Hearted Arthur and Stinker Murdoch to the lad 'imself, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock the Third (just exactly what was his address?). Not forgotten are those favourite comedians now just a memory: Norman Long (A song, a smile and a piano), Gillie Potter of Hogsnorton, and Leonard Henry, the first man to blow a raspberry on Lord Reith's wireless. Then there are the series, the serials, and the signature tunes. What was the music that heralded Dick Barton - Special Agent? Paul Temple? Mrs Dale's Diary?. . .

Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine

Kindly Leave The Stage!

The Story Of Variety 1919 - 1960

by Roger Wilmut

During and after the Second World War the growing popularity of radio and later television provided the opportunity for a generation of stars to thrive both on stage and on the air: Robb Wilton, Arthur Askey, Tommy Handley, Harry Secombe, Jeanne de Casalis, Nat Mills and Bobbie, the Western Brothers, Peter Brough and Archie Andrews, Tony Hancock, Morecambe and Wise, Max Wall. But eventually the new media triumphed and stage Variety, as it had been, virtually ceased to exist . . . In telling the story of Variety Roger Wilmut draws on the memories of a wide range of people who worked both on stage and behind the scenes. He also quotes glorious extracts from many of the songs, sketches, monologues and cross-talk acts of the period.

Copiously illustrated, this book vividly evokes one of the most entertaining and exciting chapters of British theatre history.

Red boards / Gold inscribed spine

Double Take And Fade Away

Leslie Halliwell On Comedians

by Leslie Halliwell

Laurel and Hardy, Woody Allen, Jack Benny, Tony Hancock, Danny Kaye, Morecambe and Wise, Mae West, W. C. Fields, Sergeant Bilko and the Two Ronnies are just a few of the subjects in this wittily illustrated volume. Leslie Halliwell has delved into the history of stand-up comedy on stage and television as well as on the big screen. Every comedian the reader is likely to remember is represented, and there are brief but comprehensive accounts of cartoon humour, Ealing comedy and television sitcoms as well as a chapter on the origins in France and ancient Rome of what we laugh at today .

. . .For those intending further research, there is a useful index listing the best films and catchphrases of the major performers.

Yellow boards / Maroon inscribed spine

The Golden Age of Radio - An Illustrated Companion

by Denis Gifford

The Golden Age of...
...Radio Luxembourg (on the air from October 1933), Radio Fakenburg (a Tommy Handley parody), Radio Normandy (home of the Philco Slumber Hour), Radio Paris, Radio ate d'Azur, Radio Doctor, Radio Newsreel, the Home Service, the Palmolive Programme...
The Golden Age of...
...Arthur Askey, Billy Cotton, Henry Hall, Hattie Jacques, Vera Lynn, Al Read, Revnell and West, Anona Winn...
The Golden Age of... Radio
Announcers • Shows • Singers • Bandleaders • Comedians • Characters • Catchphrases • Radio Stations • Sponsors • 180 Illustrations • 1600 entries • from Ack-Ack Beer-Beer to The Zoo Man •

Denis Gifford, broadcaster, cartoonist and journalist, is the deviser and compiler of radio's Sounds Familiar and its television spinoff Looks Familiar. He has worked for Radio Luxembourg and the BBC, helping to celebrate the latter's Golden Jubilee by compiling a celebratory quiz The Radio Game. Denis Gifford writes and broadcasts extensively and is the self-confessed keeper of the nation’s nostalgia.

Lady Don't Fall Backwards

Dedicated to Tony Hancock and John Le Mesurier

by Joan Le Mesurier

This book is a remarkable portrait of two relationships. The intense one with Tony and the quietly enduring one with John who took her back after Hancock's death. Three people emerge as exceptional in this book: Tony Hancock - probably the most legendary comedian in British history; John Le Mesurier, whose kindly patience achieves a kind of epic status in Joan's account, and Joan herself, who emerges as a courageous and passionate woman who is able to confront her personal dramas with extraordinary insight and humour.

Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine

for this books Prologue

TV Laughtermakers

The Story of TV Comedy

by Anthony Davis

The fascinating story of TV comedy. Including . . . The impressionists Mike Yarwood, Bobby Davro, Rory Bremner, Les Dennis. The stand-up comics Dave Allen, Frankie Howerd, Jasper Carrott. The double-acts Morecambe and Wise, Hale and Pace, Little and Large. The outrageous Joan Rivers, Freddie Starr, Billy Connolly. The sit-com stars Penelope Keith, David Jason, June Whitfield. The new wave Rik Mayall, French and Saunders, Alexei Sayle and Loadsa Money himself, Harry Enfield.

Anthony Davis has been writing about TV programmes and personalities since the birth of ITV in 1955. He has been at different times, a feature writer, columnist and diary editor of TVTimes and was TV editor of Sunday, the News of the World colour magazine for six years. He has also contributed to TV trade magazines and is the author of several books on TV, including TV's Greatest Hits also published by Boxtree.