Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2014 | Page 13
INTERVIEW
Memories on the wall of Melvyn's office
Melvyn (above) with a signed photo of Al Jolson.
Below, as an ugly sister in panto
appearing in dramas on stage. He
said: “I had a variety of roles. I think
I am the only actor to play young
Frankenstein and Tarzan. It was only
when I read the script I realised I had
been cast as a ‘camp’ Tarzan. Peter
Cushing and Oliver Read were also in
the film, but I never saw it.”
Along with ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’
Melvyn is perhaps best remembered
for his role in films with Cliff Richard
– initially ‘The Young Ones’ followed
by ‘Summer Holiday’ and ‘Wonderful
Life’. He said: “The Young Ones was
a smash hit, but I decided I wasn’t
going to do Summer Holiday because
they wouldn’t guarantee me any
billing on the advertising posters. I
changed my mind about a month
before filming started.”
He continued: “Making the films
with Cliff was great fun because we
were just a bunch of kids having a
good time. With Summer Holiday
suddenly there I was in Athens
thinking ‘what am I doing here?’ and
then we went to the Canary Islands
for Wonderful Life.”
As we laughed about the good
times, Melvyn had a quick coughing
fit. With a typical one-liner, he joked:
“Sorry I will try not to die on you!”
Coughing over, he continued: “When
we were on location for the ‘Cliff ’
films we could order any food we
liked. Instead, we would sneak into
the restaurant at lunchtime and
pinch oranges, apples and a bottle
of wine and take then to our room
so we could sit and play records. We
could have picked up the phone and
ordered room service, but we never
thought of that.
“Cliff liked this banana liqueur
drink that was there, and said he
was taking some home with him. He
opened his suitcase and it was full of
the stuff. I told him he would have to
pay duty on it, and he just nodded –
of course he would pay the duty. But
there I was, clutching my half bottle
of brandy to take back; I wasn’t going
to pay duty!”
“Cliff and I got on well. I once
told him that every time I was
interviewed I said he was a great
guy, but he never said anything nice
about me. He replied ‘that’s because
you are not a nice guy’. I warned him
that the next time I would have a go
at him, and I jokingly told the New
Musical Express magazine he was a
right b****** who couldn’t care less
about anyone. I told the girl who
interviewed me I was only joking, but
the whole article was published.
“I rang Cliff to ask him if he had
seen the NME and he replied ‘I don’t
read comics any more’. I told him
about the story, and he said he knew
one day I would stitch him up. He
was always a very private person,
who couldn’t dance or act in the
beginning, but he worked very hard
at it. We are still great friends. I saw
him at Buckingham Palace only last
year at a garden party.”
In the next edition: Melvyn talks
about ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’; why
the BBC refuse to show it again, and
his role of parent and foster parent.
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