Geronimo

I worked with Dora in the same Alan Ayckbourn play mentioned above (re. Robert Flemyng). I smiled when you (Moor Larkin) mentioned that you thought they were having trouble getting her away from the microphone. Much to the irritation of the rest of the cast, at the end of the curtain call with the play finished Dora would do a 20 minute stand-up spot. Robert Flemyng, Simon Williams and Phyllida Nash would have to sit on stage, on the set, until she had finished. Her spot was always longest up north at places like Darlington. She would tell jokes/stories like the time she was called to her son's school because he had pee'd in the swimming pool. Protesting that all children did this the headmaster retorted "Yes. But not from the top diving board!". I had to release her dog from the wings halfway through which prompted a "what do you think of it so far? Rrrrough.". Her fellow actors gracefully allowed her to do this providing she didn't refer to them personally in any way.

Dora was very kind to me. During a show she would come to my position in the wings and ask me if I wanted a drink - I said Yes once and she brought me a pint glass half full of wine. When we toured to Brighton, knowing she and her husband Bill Lawton (former Lancashire cricketer) had a hotel on the front, I asked if there was any chance of a deal for the week. I was on £30 a week and digs and meals cost about £20). Dora said I would have to ask Bill. Bill was brilliant. He gave me a first floor suite with a veranda overlooking the prom. He said the room was free and if I wanted sandwiches at any time (even early in the morning) there would be no charge. He said I could get up and have breakfast with him or have breakfast sent to my room for free. the only thing I had to pay for was any alcoholic drinks. I was so grateful for that generosity. Bill was a lovely man (I understand his is ill with Alzheimer's now).

Dora always did her best to look after us too. We would normally go out for dinner after the show and Dora, even though she wouldn't be joining us, would always come to the restaurant and say "These are my friends so please look after them well."

On stage Dora was spell binding. She once played an entire scene to me in the wings and the audience didn't miss a particle of the humour. She would have the audience in tears just by playing with a bit of tissue in the back of her shoe. She is the finest comedienne I have ever seen on stage.

The Theatre Royal, Brighton, had an extremely old lighting system with large wheels to turn. I can't recall the detail of the reasoning but I finished the week with the reputation that Dora Bryan's dog could work the lights better than I could!

I thoroughly enjoyed my weeks with Dora and Bill. The memories are very good.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

Geronimo

Hell driver asked "what was Jean Heywood like to work with?"

I worked with Jean at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch, in 1974 in Alan Bennet's "Getting On". I had been 6th citizen in an Ibsen play and was asked to take the juvenile lead in the Bennet play. I was 22 years old and only two years out of Drama College - in other words.. terrified. Jean was brilliant. Exactly the gentle, guiding soul I needed. I used to drink a glass of wine to calm my nerves as I made up for each show. I would then drink a few more glases during the show. Jean took me aside one day and told me to knock off the wine. She said that I might not realise it (and I didn't) but that I was just a little "slow" with my dialogue and the humour. She was right and I was lucky to have such a person to deal with it as kindly and thoughtfully as she did. She taught me a lesson. We used to travel on the tube together from central/south London and we kept in touch for some years. I have a vague memory that I went to dinner at her house once. She was lovely and a great actress. Like you I have always admired her work.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

Marky B

Very interesting stories,Geronimo
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

wearysloth

14 August 1938
Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Date of death (details)
5 December 1992
Selbourne, England, UK. (cancer)

Hell_driver

Just as I've always imagined she would be.

Thanks for that Geronimo, lovely anecdotes, hope you give us the heads up if/when any of your work is being screened.

lovegod

Sad to hear that Hilary Tindall has died, I did nt know that.
She was such a big part of 'the Brothers ' TV success

'The Brothers' was quality TV Hilary was so sexy as the spoilt wife of one of the directors.
It would nt hurt to run that series again and give 'Big Brother ' a rest.

Did nt know Ted Rogers had gone too, he was Brilliant in 3 2 1 with his mate Dusty Bin.
It was a fab game show and Ted loved hosting the show, but I always felt sorry for the contestants, those clues Ted gave them were impossible to solve!
Caroline Munro was in it every week too .......mmm

Dora Bryan must be in her 80s now yet I think she is still
working in the theatre ( think I read somewhere .)

Dora was gorgeous in The Great St Trinians Train Robbery 1966. Those soft, blue eyes, that sexy voice.
She was so sexy, yet she was age 42 at the time !
Shes made so many cameo appearances in films, maybe she
should have done a lot more on TV with her own series and become a big TV star like Pen Keith.

Geronimo

I had a card from Dora last week. She is 84 now. Sadly, her husband has Alzheimers. She says she doesn't work now unless from home (i.e. radio or the odd concert).

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

Hackett

She was in a great Radio 4 play with Bernard Cribbins and Roy Barraclough. It was set on a cruise ship and they all played variety artiste.

Harleybloke

When I was a kid I fancied her something rotten! Hilary & Gabrille Drake, in 'The Brothers' made Sundays (I think!) bearable...........I have a small photo of her but as a 'Rookie' I don't know how to attach it....................?

Steve Crook

Photos must be on a publicly available web site (like Image Shack or Photo Bucket)
Then you can click on the icon in the form where you add the message here and give the address of your picture in the image hosting site.

Steve

Harleybloke

.......................now if I can only remember the site I got it from...........

Harleybloke

Sad she's no longer with us, scratch another link to happy childhood days!

Princess Mia

Geronimo, I was really touched by this story. My name is Mia and I live in Sweden. Only recently, I found that The Brothers, which has only once been aired on Swedish television, had been released on dvd in Britain, well - series 1, anyway. My reason for buying a copy is Hilary Tindall alone. I was only a little girl when it aired and yet Hilary made an enormous impact on me with her sophistication and beauty.

In 1979, she visited Sweden to do a mini tv series (6 eps) for Swedish television. Sadly, this has never been re-screened or released on dvd or VHS, so obtaining a copy is out. In -86 I had the opportunity to meet Hilary when she performed in the play "Rebecka" opposite Tamsin Olivier at a theatre in (unless I am very much mistaken) Greenwich. I will never forget how sweet and gracious Hilary was to me at that meeting, and I will always think the world of her for that. Needless to say, I was shocked to hear she'd died (what kind of cancer...? I always wondered if she was a smoker since she always smoked in The Brothers) so prematurely.

In Swedish interviews from 1979 she speaks of her happy marriage - but maybe this wasn't really true considering what you said of her husband? How did Mr Lowe's aggressiveness and boorishness manifest itself? Swedish tabloids (true to form, I guess) hinted at a "romance" between Hilary and her Swedish leading man, something which Hilary contradicted.

I hope BBC will release series 2 of The Brothers as soon as possible, now that I have "rediscovered" Hilary. I would also have loved to see her in Tropic, Nice Work and Some Kind of Loving, but it seems these mini-series have never yet been released. But, as they say - we live in hope...

Geronimo, I am sorry to bombard you with all these questions, so bear with me if you would, please....I was just so enormously touched by what you wrote about Hilary.