Likeable autobigraphy of a sixties icon
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When people talk about icons of the Sixties the names usually mentioned are the likes of Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richard and Bob Dylan. As a boy growing up then I maintain that you should add to that list the names Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Leslie Phillips. As much as anything the saucy postcard humour of the Carry On and Doctor films defined the era. Back in the fifties British comedy films tended to be on the tame side but the Carry On and Doctor films changed all that.
Even today these films are often repeated on TV and remain popular. That is why even though Leslie Phillips as carved out an impressive career as a serious actor I for one will always think of him in is comedy persona - that of the upper-class, slightly lecherous, predatory male. To a degree, in this book Leslie Phillips writes a little like that too, as too many times his descriptions of the women he as worked come across as being a bit over lascivious. That is my only complaint about this book though, as I found it very entertaining and would highly recommend it.
Of particular interest to me were chapters about his early life in Tottenham, where because (or maybe despite) money was short his mother enrolled him at the Italia Conti stage school, and his days in the army during the war, where after qualifying to become an officer he was invalided out on health grounds.
As theatrical autobiographies go this book is very good.
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Recommended
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An entertaining read from the old smoothie. Leslie Phillips has had a very long career in the acting business, and it's a measure of his talent that he was able to switch from light comic roles to straight drama at a relatively late age. Leslie has an eloquent writing style, and his descriptions of his travels abroad, particularly to his holiday home in Ibiza, make one rather envious of his lifestyle.
Not surprisingly, there are also some amusing anecdotes in the book, and in my opinion (although Leslie wasn't greatly pleased by it), by far the funniest story was when someone left unwanted 'little presents' at a theatre he was working at. The theatre management eventually called in the Old Bill, who advised that the management should lock the theatre doors (at this point, one of the theatre staff really should've said "No s**t, Sherlock").
The outcome was that a member of staff was sacked and there were no more 'gifts', although when the fired employee started work at another theatre, the present-giving didn't restart, hence the Mystery of the Brown Bombers was never solved. All in all, the book is an excellent piece of work from a British comedy legend.
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Disappointing
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I liked Leslie Phillips until I read this book. There are very few anecdotes in the book, and what there is, tend to peter out or be terribly pointless. He's met and worked with so many great people, I expected to read more detail about them. However, it's all very much about him (yes, I realise it's an autobiography). There are numerous mentions of the great people he has met, yet no depth or interest. Virtually everyone he mentions was a good friend/marvellous/lovely person etc. - very much in the luvvie mould. Yet most merely get name-checked. If someone has been a tremendous friend, I'd expect to read a little more about the relationship. He's travelled to some fantastic places but somehow manages to avoid painting a mental picture. It's almost vacuous. As regards his first wife Penny, and his affair that led to their divorce, he seems more concerned with the fact that his wife's best friend told Penny about the affair. One is left with the impression that the friend was in the wrong. He's so often sanctimonious about the affairs he could have had, but didn't, yet he still did the dirty on his wife and mother of his children. More than once he mentions how hard he had to work to provide for his family, but I was left with the impression that it was less like work, and more like having a fantastic time away from the family. Most of the writing is quite pedestrian, seeming mostly to be a list of plays, dates and people, but lacking much substance. I've read a lot of similar books and wouldn't recommend this one at all.
In future I'll stick to biographies written by professional writers.
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enjoyable remeniscences
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Leslie Phillips provides a very diverting collection of remeniscences which proved an enjoyable and undemanding Christmas read. However, several of the anecdotes do tend to fizzle out rather, some of the encounters with fascinating characters are left hanging in the air (whatever became of the delightful Scottish landlady?) and I would particularly have loved to have heard more about the wonderful James Robertson Justice. Leslie does hint that he could have filled another book with memories, so perhaps he will!
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Ding Dong
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Highly entertaining and wonderful to hear Leslie read it. Recommend it to any fan, casual or dedicated. Its not hugely informative, but on 4 CD's you cant put detail of that life into that short s time. Loved it and the man.
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