Third Man

My favourites were pretty much determined quite obviously by my age until recently when I received my Kind Hearts and Coronets Criterion 2 disc edition which has the most charming and I presume rare interview with Sir Alec Guinness this was actually the high light of the Dvd as I had never seen him interviwed on TV ever-------also I got a chance to view the famous Jacob Brownowski interview he was the man who did the superb documentary series The Ascent of Man on BBC. So two people who I had only heard about being interviewd by Parkinson have now been seen by myself and they were both absolutely brilliant.

Simon

faginsgirl

Mohammad Ali.

xx

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edward G

Howdy Faginsgirl,
Yep. The Muhammad Ali interviews (3 in all?) on Parkinson are still hugely engaging all these years later. Ali's youth and vigour, his brash and cheeky confidence, easy charm and larger than life personality just fill the screen. Parkinson did the proper interviewers job of allowing his guest to shine (Jonathan Ross, take note).
Given Ali's physical decline since, these are showcases to remind us of the force of nature that Ali was.

I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

charliekane

Think Parkinson should have packed it in years ago, to be honest (how many times can you 'interview' Billy Connolly for heavens' sake ?). The older he got, the more hopelessly out of touch he got with his guests - grovelling to the likes of George Michael - while believing all the hype about how he was 'the guv'nor'.
That said, he did hold some cracking shows many years ago, with the likes of James Cagney, Fred Astaire, yes Alec Guinness, Deborah Kerr, John Mills ?

billy bentley

I'd have to say Ali, but I also remember Peter Sellers doing a terrific Michael Caine impersonation (must have been Parkinson) no ?

Steve Crook

Was it on Parkinson that Peter Sellers first did the "Not a lot of people know that" impersonation of Michael Caine in public? That then became the standard way to impersonate Caine although people were really impersonating Sellers impersonating Caine

Steve

Chevyman

+1


Parky did look a bit fraught when Muhammad tore up his prompt notes

Sellers too. Best forget about Ollie Reed's "bad night"

If I wasn't meant to drive that fast, the pedal would stop half way!!

Rob Compton

I'd love to see the Bronowski interview - where did you see it, Simon?

rgds
Rob

Third Man

A friend had it on DVD-r downloaded from the net he's a Parky nut, he's from NY and always goes on about the Meg Ryan interview and how it was such an embarrassment.

Simon

billy bentley

You are correct about Sellers. It went something like "Did you know a man in a Harris teeed jacket takes approximately 3.3 seconds to hit the ground when falling from the top of Big Ben ? Not a lot of people know that". Or something to that effect.

eurohawk

the ali one for me ali lost the plot lol

kristensdad

with emu - never ceases to make me smile

GRAEME

There are so many!

Does anybody else remember Steve Martin - when he was still a "wild and crazy guy" - just taking over the show? I just ached with laughter.

Fred Astaire was another hugely memorable guest.

Richard Harris baring his soul.

MP telling off George Best (you'd never see such a thing in a celeb interview today!)

Anytime Kenny Williams or Milligan was on. David Niven's anecdotes (lies mostly!)

Desmond Morris on the same show as ex-girlfriend Diana Dors...

The list is endless. I wish they repeat endless seasons of original episodes - not clips.

All men leak.

bhowells

One of the first guests in the first Parkinson series in 1971 was John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but I am sure that I read that this has show has been wiped by the BBC.

There were many memorable shows, the Morecambe and Wise interview sticks out in my mind, Glenda Jackson guested also and she mentioned that she worked at one time for BOOTS the chemistg, Eric pulled her leg mercilessly about this throught the interview.

Lord Lucan

I always remember Steve Martin pulling a pair of scissors from his pocket and cutting Parkies tie off in mid interview.