Minnie Driver Who Do You Think You Are?

Over the last 15 years,

Minnie Driver has become one of Britain's best known Hollywood actresses.

Born in London in 1970, she made her breakthrough

with films like Good Will Hunting, in the late '90s.

Now 43, she lives in Los Angeles as a single mother

with her four-year-old son, Henry.

Having a baby obviously changes everything

and Henry made me want to connect with who I really am, I suppose.

My dad died a year and three months after Henry was born,

and I'm so grateful that they had

even a little amount of time together

and...Dad just delighted in Henry.

My parents met in around 1962

and they were together for 13 years.

They broke up when I was six

and during that entire time, he, my dad was married to somebody else

and had another family.

I didn't know they weren't married until I was about 12 or 13.

My dad lived, I think, a very split life,

we just did not talk about where he came from.

He spoke very succinctly about his mum and his dad.

I never met either of my grandparents.

I never saw even a photograph of them together

and I always have wondered what they looked like.

'I want Henry to have a different experience than I had.'

Where I come from, there are these big gaps

and I would like to fill those gaps for him.

'I think it's powerful knowing where you come from.'

Minnie has decided to find out who her father, Ronnie,

really was and where he came from.

While he never talked to her about his background,

she does have one important document about his service with the RAF

during World War II.

This book was written in 1942 and a friend of ours,

quite randomly, was at a jumble sale in Kent and found it.

And it... In it is a story about my father

and a battle in which he fought

and I wanted to go to my mum's

and to see if he'd ever talked to her about it.

Minnie's mother, Gaynor, lives in west London.

-Hello.

-Darling.

She's always eager for news of her grandson, Henry.

Look, kickboxing with uncle Matthew.

Oh, I see. Oh, my.

-Look, and Matthew was holding the gloves.

-Heavens.

And then, that was them, look.

Oh, look at him.

-He's quite a personality, isn't he?

-So cute, isn't he?

Where does he get those blue eyes?

I know, well, you know, they run in the family.

-Look at that face.

-Dad had one.

-I know Dad did have one.

He had one brown and one blue.

THEY CHUCKLE

I found some old pictures, which are quite interesting.

-I mean, looking at them, it's so weird.

-I remember that album.

That's staying in, erm, Barbados.

God, I haven't seen that.

-That's a friend's house, where we stayed.

-He's so handsome.

-The playboy there, doesn't he?

-He's such a gangster!

-His Ray-Bans.

-Well, he is.

I love seeing the two of you together,

-I don't have any pictures of you together.

-I know.

Did it bother you that he was married?

Well, yes, because every day, we had,

"You are the love of my life,

"we are going to be together, it will all be fine."

I mean, it's the classic thing of the married man

telling the girlfriend it's all going to be all right

and just hang around. So I hung around for years.

Did you get the impression that he was hiding something or did you...?

Absolutely, but it wasn't anything I wanted to dig out,

because I could see it meant a lot to him to keep it hidden.

You don't usually, when you go out with somebody,

-you don't start quizzing them about where they were born and where they come from.

-I do.

But then, I'm unmarried at 43.

Go on, carry on.

Well, I don't know, it was just... It just didn't seem too appropriate

to dig around in his past and I could see immediately he clammed up.

I've got his birth certificate, got it in my bag.

Yeah.

So he was Welsh,

born in Swansea, 1921.

Charles Ronald, I wonder why he's called Ronnie and not Charles?

Oh, cos his dad was called Charles.

His dad was Charles Edmund Driver. Kelley, mother.

-So she was Mary Jessica Kelley.

-Oh!

Wait a minute, Charles Edmund Driver, father.

Kelley, mother, so they weren't, they weren't married.

I think we're keeping up the family tradition, look,

Charles Edmund Driver, father. Kelley, mother.

That's very interesting then.

So did you know much about his, about the Drivers,

-about his family?

-Very, very little.

He did talk a little bit about the war,

but there was never a punch line

and you never really knew what really happened.

Well, hold on, let's look in here.

That's a war hero book.

Yeah, there he is, there he is, look, with his funny tooth.

Oh! "Aircraftman C R Driver, who fought against overwhelming odds

"in the great air battle over Heligoland Bight.

"His superb courage won the second Distinguished Flying Medal

"to be awarded during the war."

Did he tell you anything about that?

I mean, this is like a story

-that I, I can't, I can't believe he wouldn't tell.

-Well...

I think because he felt that all acts of bravery

-were equal to his own and...

-Did you ever see a medal?

He actually told me that he'd thrown the medal in the Thames.

-You're kidding?

-Hm.

It's a strange thing to do, yeah.

-That's a really strange thing to do.

-Hm.

Why would he do that?

Well, he said he didn't deserve it, I think, that was the bottom line.

'I am astonished at how little my mum knew about my dad'

and this was the great love of her life.

Just the idea that someone can send a signal so strongly

that they do not want to talk about who they are.

'And I'm really interested in this medal

'that Mum said Dad threw into the Thames.'

Minnie's father was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal

after the Second World War air battle of Heligoland Bight.

On 18th December 1939,

24 Wellingtons, from three different RAF squadrons,

left airfields in East Anglia

on one of the first major bombing raids of the war.

Ronnie Driver was just 18 years old

when he and 128 other British airmen

launched their attack on the German naval base

at Wilhelmshaven, across the North Sea.

They flew in broad daylight, without a fighter escort,

in the belief that the Wellington,

with its electrically-operated machine-gun turrets,

would always get through to its target,

no matter what opposition it faced.

It was a catastrophic misjudgment by the RAF.

Minnie has come to Brooklands Museum, in Surrey,

to meet historian Robin Holmes.

-Hi, Robin.

-Good morning, Minnie.

-Good morning.

-Very nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you. Please.

-OK, great.

Robin and his team spent eight years salvaging, and partially restoring,

the only surviving aircraft

to have taken part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

It's called a Wellington bomber.

That, the big one there?

Your father flew in an absolutely identical plane to that one,

the biggest raid in history up till then.

Very beginning of the war.

He was in a very prominent position.

-He was right at the very front of it in the gun turret.

-Wow!

The Wellingtons reached the German naval base unopposed

and launched their attack.

This is a photograph that was taken on the raid

as your father flew across the harbour.

This aircraft here dropped three 500-pound bombs

-on these German ships.

-OK.

And another plane, but we don't know which one it was,

it could have been your father's plane,

also dropped bombs on those ships.

-And then, that's when the Luftwaffe...

-Oh, my goodness.

-..hit them like a ton of bricks.

-Did they know what was coming at them?

-Not really, no.

The Germans were using their new Messerschmitts...

That's the BF 109D, very fast.

-Very fast, deadly.

-350 miles an hour.

That was the very latest fighter that the Germans had.

The bombers were defending themselves with these.

That's a 303 rifle bullet

and that's what your father was defending the aircraft with,

what the Germans were attacking them with were these.

Oh!

Now, that's a 20-millimetre cannon shell.

And the German fighters were equipped with those,

so you can see the disparity there.

This is their ammunition

-and this is our ammunition?

-Yes.

Actually, there was an account of this whole battle

and that was published at the time for sixpence.

-Epics Of The RAF.

-Yes.

There we go.

"Another Wellington forced out of its formation

"was swooped on by a swarm of German fighters,

"which swept over it continuously spraying it with machine-gun fire.

"The bottom of the front gun turret had been blown away

"and the turret set on fire.

"Later I heard from the lips of the pilot himself

"the story of that nightmare journey home.

"'My gunner was very prompt with the fire

"'and beat it out with his gloved hands.'" That's Dad!

That's your father, yes.

"'But for him, the aircraft would have been well alight in a few seconds.

"'His quick action saved our lives.'"

And for his actions he got the DFM,

a medal, which he truly deserved.

-I've got to read this next bit, cos it's good.

-Please.

"'When the bottom of the gun turret was blown away, the gunner found

"'that his leg was dangling in the air over the water,

"'but his huddled position kept him

"'from falling through the hole into the sea.'"

Oh, that's probably because he was so big as well.

-Will you show me where the...erm?

-Yes.

So.

-None of this was here?

-No.

This was all shot away.

So this is what they're saying where his leg was dangling down?

That's right, all the Perspex had been shot away from the turret.

I think it would be rather nice

if you were to see where your father actually sat in the plane.

-Yeah.

-Right. Can you manage?

-Yeah.

Oh. Oh, my God.

Now, if you go up and stand on the little platform.

So stand?

Up there. OK.

Holy cow!

Can you look forward?

-Oh, my God.

-Look forward into the gun turret, can you get along?

Yeah.

You've got to be kidding me.

-No.

-My dad was huge, I can't believe...

And he had all his flying gear on as well, cos it was very, very cold.

I can't believe how tiny it is in there.

How you're completely and utterly unprotected.

-Nothing between you...

-Nothing protecting you except...

Nothing between you apart from Perspex.

His very best friend was called Lilley, Aircraftsman Lilley,

and he was in the rear gun turret,

and sadly, he did not survive the battle.

Your dad actually lost his best friend

on the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

Ronnie Driver and his best friend, Walter Lilley,

both belonged to RAF Nine Squadron.

While most of their contemporaries have passed away,

one man who served alongside them is still alive.

Minnie, I would like to introduce Mr Derek Alloway.

Hello.

-Hello, Minnie.

-Hello, Derek.

Very proud to meet you.

Now 93, Derek Alloway is the last surviving RAF veteran

to have been involved in the Battle of Heligoland Bight,

and remembers Ronnie Driver well.

So how exactly did you know my dad?

Ronnie used to be a mechanic working like I was working,

looking after the aircraft.

I think he joined the...the squadron just...a little time after me.

We did see each other quite a bit roundabout in the hangar

or in the NAAFI or in the Honiton Fox having a little drinky-drink.

Having a little drinky-drink, that doesn't surprise me.

Was he a happy young fellow?

He was very happy, very happy, he was one of us, one of us.

Were you there on the day of the Battle of Heligoland, that...?

-I was there on the day.

-That December.

-I was there on the day when he took off.

I don't suppose you remember how he was feeling on that morning, do you?

The last time I saw him, he was taking stuff from his pocket,

giving them to a, a friend of his, like his personal stuff.

-Yeah.

-You know cos the, er...

-You didn't know if you were coming back?

-That's right.

That's when I, when I last really saw him.

And it wasn't until the next morning that we found out

that Ronnie was one of the aircraft what had ditched in the North Sea.

You might care to read the official report

of what actually happened to his aircraft.

"Aircraftman Driver subsequently succeeded in launching the dinghy

"and assisted in saving the remainder of the crew,

"some of whom were wounded.

"It was largely due to his exertions

"that the crew of this aircraft were brought to safety."

That's right, that's right.

That is right, he had to get the dinghy first,

he made sure that the dinghy was out

and they got the dinghy out and then, he got the crew,

eventually got all the crew out except the, his friend,

Lilley, who was, he was dead, he was in the back of the aircraft.

They, they got him out of the turret, laid him on the floor

and poor Lilley went down with the airplane.

That was it.

'Some of the RAF airmen

'who took part in the recent engagement over Heligoland Bight

'are here seen at their base. There's only...'

Walter Lilley was one of 61 airmen

who failed to return from the battle -

almost half of those who set out.

The raid was a disaster for the RAF.

Of the 24 Wellingtons that took off that morning,

12 were lost in action.

And like many survivors of Heligoland,

18-year-old gunner Ronnie Driver had not returned unscathed.

Did you see Dad again, did...?

No, I never saw your dad again, no.

I understood that a couple of crew were in hospital with their injuries

and I think Ronnie was a bit shaken up and he had,

he had a bit of a problem with his health after that for, for a bit.

That's about all I can tell you, really.

That's when I last saw Ronnie - that morning,

when he took off on that particular mission.

I've never met anyone in my life that knew my father

when he was 18 years old.

And to sort of hear, that's really who he was,

he was a good bloke and a good friend.

That's a really, really good feeling.

It was quite shocking hearing that Dad was unwell

at the end of that battle.

And...I really want to know what happened to him next because...

..that's, that's as much as I know.

Minnie has come to the RAF Museum at Hendon,

to see if she can discover what happened to her father

after the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Are you Peter?

-I'm Peter, welcome to the Royal Air Force Museum.

-Thank you.

-Shall we go to the archive?

-Yes.

She's arranged to meet curator Peter Devitt,

who has been researching RAF documents from that time.

This is one of the original copies of...

Air Ministry Bulletin number 324.

And they're press releases.

They're written by the Air Ministry and then they're given to the press to print.

-You see several airmen had been decorated...

-Yes.

..for their part in the battle.

And there you see a little bit about your father,

but there's a long interview with him,

and he's the only one in the battle, as far as we know,

who was singled out in this way.

"Aircraftman Driver began life in Swansea but he is not Welsh.

-"His mother is Scottish and his father is a Yorkshireman."

-Uh-huh.

"He appears to have inherited the tough qualities

"of both Scotland and Yorkshire.

"His father is a wool buyer, and his occupation meant

"that Drivers were seldom in one town for more than a few years."

That's why he was born in Wales!

"On leaving school, he became a clerk in his father's firm

"hoping to learn the wool business."

-There's a lot of information about his background, his roots.

-Yeah!

And he comes from very humble beginnings.

But why would they do that?

-They want to stress that he's ordinary, he's not a superman.

-Right.

So that they can encourage other ordinary young men and women.

To be heroes.

And also, maintain public confidence

in the way the Royal Air Force is conducting the war.

Get them to focus on the upside as opposed to the fact

-that it was a fairly bloody defeat.

-It is, exactly that.

-Wow!

-But it also...

-appears on The Times.

-Sunday Times.

The Sunday Times, December 24th 1939.

This is the national press now, you see,

they're talking about a young gunner.

"This young gunner expressed

"the greatest admiration for his sergeant pilot.

"'We shall never know how the pilot managed to control his aircraft

"'through such difficulties,' he said."

You can see he's very modest, he wants to talk about his pilot,

-but his story is being, if you like, managed.

-Right.

As, as a means of turning this in, into a sort of a victory.

Right, right.

-He is now firmly established as a hero.

-Right.

What happened to him after the Battle of Heligoland?

Well, if we look at his service record, you'll see...

His home address - Stockton-on-Tees...

-County Durham.

-County Durham.

And we know he went back there, because...

..he appears in the local press.

This is the Stockton and Teesside Weekly Herald,

Saturday December 30th 1939.

And there's a reference here to his mother.

Oh, where?

-Oh!

-There she is, talking to your father.

That is the first picture I have ever seen of my grandmother.

Wow, look at that.

"Air Gunner Charles R Driver, the Stockton RAF hero, photographed at his home.

"He was showing his mother the gloves, which protected his hands

"when he beat out the flames in the bomber during the Heligoland raid."

So he's gone back home and he's in uniform,

how long did he stay there?

I mean what, was he discharged, was he, what was the...?

If we return to his service record...

..you'll see he receives the medal in March 1940.

And then, the next entry we have is this.

What is that?

-That's the discharge.

-Discharged.

From the RAF Hospital at Matlock.

Oh, no.

So what is the RAF Hospital at Matlock?

It was a psychiatric hospital.

Poor Dad.

CRYING: Does it say how long he was there for?

We just know he was, he was discharged.

Well, that's good, he got out.

I mean it, it reads like a movie script.

You wouldn't believe it if you read,

I mean, it would seem unbelievable what he did at 18.

Being shot down, putting out a fire, saving his pilot.

That then being used as propaganda

and how, how it must have looked to his friends, to other aircraftman.

He was somehow being singled out.

I know what it's like to be singled out when you've asked for it,

and to have a lot of media attention when you've asked for it.

When you haven't asked for it, erm...

..and you are not used to it

and you don't know what to do with it, erm...

I, I can only, I'm not surprised he, he ended up in hospital.

Minnie has decided to travel north, to Derbyshire,

where her father was sent for treatment

following the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

You lionise your parents, you know,

and I think seeing the frailty and the fragility,

being reminded of that, it's not a bad thing at all.

That's why I couldn't sleep the other night,

cos I was thinking about being young and being overwhelmed.

And what that does to you

and when you don't have family around you to ground you and to help you.

I've never known how to connect with that young part of my father

and I feel very close to a part of him that I never knew.

Ronnie Driver arrived in the Peak District town of Matlock in early 1940.

He was treated at Rockside Hall, a former spa hotel,

which the RAF had converted into a specialist psychiatric hospital.

It is now a block of luxury flats.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Are you Edgar?

-Yes.

-Hello.

-Very nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Welcome to Rockside Hall. Would you like...?

Professor Edgar Jones is an expert in the study of military psychiatry

and has been looking into Ronnie Driver's convalescence at Matlock.

What kind of treatment would he have received here?

Your father was given a diagnosis of anxiety state.

So I think the treatment would have been very much some sedatives

to help him sleep at night, because he probably had nightmares.

A little bit of exercise in the grounds here,

and general encouragement with the view that he would get better on his own,

if he was left alone with time to recuperate.

I don't think they really understood

the effect of the traumatic experience

on men like your father, what it did to their minds.

Flying stress, as a result of air combat,

was a condition that had been studied during World War I.

But the RAF were unprepared for the psychological impact

of the huge casualty rates suffered by bomber crews in World War II.

Of the 125,000 airmen who served in Bomber Command during the war,

more than 55,000 died in action.

And surviving crew members suffered much higher rates of mental breakdown than expected.

The intense bonds that formed between members of the same crew

gave them determination, confidence,

the ability to go on in extreme hazard.

But it was a double-edged sword,

because if one member of the crew was killed,

it was devastating for the others.

So Dad's best friend, who was the rear gunner,

was killed during this battle.

Would that have had a sort of, of an accelerated impact?

If they did try to get Walter Lilley out of the rear gun turret,

then your father would have seen his dead body,

and we know from experience just how traumatic it is

to see a corpse in such a situation.

Had to know that you couldn't get him out.

We found this document here,

which tells us a little bit about Walter Lilley.

"Leading Aircraftman Walter Lilley, late of Helena Street, Kippax,

"was killed in action, it is assumed on the 18th of December.

"He was home on leave recently,

"and was a well-known ambulance man, respected by all who knew him.

"He celebrated his 21st birthday anniversary in August."

He was a very skilled air gunner

and he's credited with two kills at the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

Is he?

Why wasn't he decorated also?

Which may be a question that your father had asked himself.

Did you know what happened to my father after he left Matlock?

If we come down here to December 1940,

which is almost the anniversary of the Battle of Heligoland Bight,

you can see that he's in hospital again.

He's discharged and he's in hospital again.

He's been at RAF Littleport, which is near Ely,

and that's another psychiatric unit.

So it looks as though his treatment here at Matlock was incomplete.

The interesting thing is he doesn't give up -

in November 1943, he's commissioned

as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force.

He's been promoted?

So he's been recognised, he's been trusted with more responsibility.

There's no sense that he's been flawed by his traumatic experience.

In June 1944, he's promoted to Flying Officer

and we've got a photograph of him, taken a few months after that,

in September, here, where he's wearing his officer's uniform.

My God, wow!

He looks so lovely.

I've never seen it,

but this is my dad on his wedding day

to Ann Wilshaw, who was his wife.

They look so young and so sweet.

It not only shows him getting married,

but moving up in social status,

because Ann Wilshaw's father was obviously Sir Edward Wilshaw...

-Yeah.

-..who was the Chairman of Cable & Wireless.

And it's interesting that in the picture you can see

he's wearing his best uniform.

But the thing that seems to be missing is his decoration,

he's not wearing his Distinguished Flying Medal.

Yeah. No medal.

I just understand him so much better because of this.

He had this extraordinary experience in the Battle of Heligoland Bight,

and it almost broke him.

He healed by going back and carrying on, he healed by continuing,

by not being broken, and I see that's what drove him.

And I really understand him throwing his medal into the river.

I understand the significance,

the symbolism of chucking it into a body of water, you know,

that swallowed up his lovely friend and so many other men.

Minnie never met her father's parents.

And having seen a photograph of her grandmother for the first time,

she's decided to travel north, to Stockton-on-Tees,

where the Driver family were living during the war.

It was pretty fantastic seeing a picture of my granny and my dad.

But I've never seen a photograph of my grandfather.

I remember my, my father said that he died quite young.

That's all I ever heard about him.

I'm very interested in the fact

that, clearly, my grandparents weren't married,

so I would love to know a bit more about him.

I would love that for me and I would love that for my son.

Minnie has come to the Family History Centre,

at Stockton Central Library.

Genealogist Eileen Butcher has agreed to help her find out more

about her father's parents.

I know they weren't married.

-No, cos they've got different names.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

But that would have been her,

-McGregor would have been her maiden name, right?

-That's right.

-And Kelley, who...someone she was married to?

-Yes.

Before or previously or something.

That's right and that's her maiden name and then, her married name.

Right, what we're going to do is we're going to do a search on here

to see if we can find a marriage.

-Yeah.

-Because they might have got married at a later date.

-So if you put Charles Edmund in there.

-OK.

Where it says "Spouse", we'll put the surname of Kelley in there.

OK.

-And that will pick up the right marriage, if there is one.

-OK.

-OK.

They did get married. In 1936.

-It looks like it, yes.

-Ah!

So they weren't married when Dad was born in 1921,

-but they were married in '36.

-Hm.

That would have been extraordinarily unusual and unconventional

to not be married, to be having babies in 1921?

-Yeah, pretty shameful, really.

-Pretty shameful, huh?

-Yeah.

I don't mean to wash my dirty linen in Stockton-on-Tees Library.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Best place for it.

-Sins of the father, et cetera.

Well, I think we need to get the marriage certificate to actually...

-To be able to...

-..to get some more information from it.

So is there any way of getting that?

-We can't get that online...

-OK.

-..any, any further information, we'd have to order that...

-Right.

..from the Middlesbrough Registry Office

-and that'll take a few days to get that.

-OK.

While Minnie waits for the marriage certificate,

Eileen Butcher has offered to help her find out more about the Driver family.

She's found a reference for Minnie's grandfather,

Charles Edmund Driver, on the 1891 census,

when he was 11 years old.

I can't read any of these, I've got...oh, Charles E.

So he was one of one, two, three, four, one of five children.

So, can I find out who my relatives would be from this census?

Cos I've never met any family from that side of the family.

-Nothing at all?

-Nothing.

The best way to do that would be going from the youngest child,

Maud, OK, who's five, and we'll see

if she perhaps got married and had children,

and whether any of those are alive.

Maud Driver, er, born 1886, from Bradford.

She married Fred Thistlethwaite.

That's a good Yorkshire name.

It really is.

She was 19.

He was 32!

His ship came sailing in.

So Fred Thistlethwaite and Maud Thistlethwaite

and John Thistlethwaite and Dorothy Thistlethwaite.

So Dorothy is two and John is five in 1911.

Minnie is now one step away

from tracing a living relative of her father for the first time.

If her great-aunt Maud's youngest child, Dorothy,

married and had children,

then, they would be of the same generation as her.

We can see exactly who she married by,

if you click on "Find Spouse" at the bottom.

Nathaniel Cranson.

They got married in 1928.

What we can do is we can go and look

to see if Dorothy and Nathaniel had any children.

This is so cool.

So Jean Cranson was born in 1929.

Yeah, now what we're going to do,

-we're going to go to this marriage index here.

-This one?

-Yeah.

She married a Wiper.

Jean Cranson married a Wiper.

In Darlington. In 1950.

She might be alive?

Minnie has managed to trace forward from her great-aunt Maud

to find Jean Wiper,

who was married not far from Stockton-on-Tees, 63 years ago.

If she is still alive,

Minnie may be able to find her on the local electoral register.

There she is. Oh, she's 84.

Wow! I'm so glad she's still alive.

That's great, thank you so much.

-That's all right.

-That's brilliant, really brilliant.

Using directory enquiries,

Minnie has found a contact number for Jean Wiper, her second cousin.

Jean?

You're known as Eileen.

-Hello, Eileen, my name's Minnie Driver and erm...

-'Hello.'

Hello. And I...

'Nice to speak to you.'

It's so nice to speak to you.

Your granny was my grandpa's sister.

You're the first relative of my father's

that I've ever even known about,

much less spoken to, so I'm thrilled.

Do you think I could come and meet you?

'I...I would love to meet you.'

Would you?!

Jean Wiper lives in the town of Darlington,

12 miles from Stockton-on-Tees.

She prefers to be known by her middle name, Eileen.

-Hello.

-Hello, Eileen. Hello!

-Hello.

How are you?

Oh, it's so nice to meet you.

Here, I'll shut the door, it's chilly.

I've bought these for you.

Oh, how lovely. Thank you.

I don't know what colour they're going to be, but they are pretty.

-Oh, I love...

-And I bought you some, I've bought you some biscuits too.

-I'll eat all of them for you.

-Sit down.

All right, I will. Ah, look at your lovely house.

-Where shall I sit, here?

-Yes.

-OK.

-That's lovely.

-Look...

-Oh, my goodness.

-Well, this is a surprise.

How lovely to meet you.

You know when I, I've seen you on television,

I wondered about the name and, and I thought,

I wonder, "Is there some, you know, relation there?"

And then I thought, "No, no, no."

-That's funny.

-Yeah.

-And did you ever meet Charles?

-Yes.

-You did?

-I did.

-That's my grandpa.

That was your grandpa, yes.

Yes, I met him, he was a lovely, lovely gentleman, he really was.

-Was he?

-Yes.

Did you meet my granny?

Yes, I call her Jessie.

-Jessie, right.

-Jessie.

-Jessie.

-Aunt Jessie, yes.

Oh, yes, she was an outgoing, fun person.

-Was she?

-Yes, yes.

But uncle Charles was very reserved, very quiet,

-a gentleman, actually, yeah.

-Yeah.

You know, yes. Oh, yes.

But his wife was a, was, was, was a bit sparky?

-Well, yes, you know, yes, yeah.

-My dad was like that.

-Yeah, was he?

-And I'm a bit like that.

-Bit like it.

THEY LAUGH

And did... So they lived in, they lived in Stockton?

In Stockton when I met them, yes,

we spent the weekend, a friend and I spent the weekend with them

and they were really lovely and charming.

I mean, I, I couldn't believe there were so many photos

of your dad in his uniform and they were so proud of him.

-They were, right.

-So proud of him.

I knew from my dad's birth certificate

that...they weren't actually,

that, that your uncle Charles and auntie Jessie weren't married when he was born

and they, they got married in 1936.

And I wondered if you knew anything about that?

-Nothing at all.

-No?

-No.

-No, whatever it was, was kept secret from the family.

-Yeah.

In those days, people didn't talk about things like that.

Did you remember seeing pictures of my granny and grandpa,

of erm, of your uncle Charles and auntie Jessie?

Did you see pictures of them ever, were there any in the house?

-No, I don't remember see any.

-No?

-No.

-A shame, isn't it?

-Do you know, it is, it's a real shame.

Let's see.

Eileen does have one family photograph

that she wants to show Minnie.

Oh, look.

That is Maud, that's my grandmother.

-That's Maud, so that's my grandpa's sister.

-Yes.

Wasn't she 19 when she got married?

-She was 18.

-18?

-And my grandfather was 32.

-I know, I noticed that.

I don't think the family liked that.

I've made you a copy of this.

That's fantastic. Oh, look.

Oh, my goodness, thank you, I love it.

Minnie may not have found a photograph of her grandfather,

Charles Edmund Driver, but she does now have one of her great-aunt Maud.

And she has met a member of her father's family for the first time.

You and I are actually the same generation, we're the same,

by birth, we are the same generation.

-Uh-huh.

-I think largely because my, Charles had children later...

-Later.

-..and Maud had them so young.

-Young, yes, that's right, yes, yes.

That's why I become 84 and you're only young.

And I'm only young, let's leave it at that, shall we?

I love Eileen, she's fantastic.

There's a funny familiarity about her,

even though I've never met her before.

I wish that she'd had a picture of her uncle Charles,

who was my grandfather.

It does still seem a little mysterious

about my grandfather and my grandmother not being married.

I'm convinced that there was some sort of something going on

and I, I'd really like to know what that is.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Have you got a package for Minnie Driver?

-I do, yes.

-Oh, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

The marriage certificate for Minnie's grandparents,

that she ordered at Stockton Library,

has been delivered to her hotel.

Right.

Charles Edmund Driver

and Mary Jessica Kelley.

He was 56 and she was 41, she was a widow.

Oh, and so is he!

Wow! They both had whole other lives.

The residence at the time of marriage,

Southfield Road, Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough is separated from Stockton by the River Tees.

When her grandparents were married there in 1936,

the Tees Transporter Bridge had already been in operation for 25 years.

It is now one of the few remaining transporter bridges in the world.

And it still ferries cars and passengers between the two towns.

Minnie has come to Middlesbrough Central Library

to see if she can finally find out why her grandparents weren't married

at the time of her father's birth, in 1921.

-Hi.

-Hello, Minnie.

-Hello, Mike.

-Very pleased to meet you.

Genealogist Mike Tringham has uncovered a certificate

for the first marriage of Minnie's grandmother, Mary Jessie.

Robert Campbell Kelley...

..and Mary Jessie Maggie McGregor.

-Yes, married in Liverpool.

-Wow!

On 15th April 1917.

She must have met my grandfather quite quickly afterwards.

I mean, if my dad was born in 1921.

There is a tragedy here, this is...

-His death certificate.

-..his death certificate.

He died in France.

-He was serving King and country, he was one of the...

-Wow!

..the deaths that took place at the worst possible time,

at the end of the war.

So your grandmother was widowed

about a year after her marriage.

-He didn't even die at home.

-No.

So what about my, my grandfather's wife, who was he married to?

Well, I've got some information for you about your grandfather.

I'll show you this next document.

-Another marriage certificate.

-If you'd like to, yes.

Ada. Oh! Ada Wood Stancliffe.

She was 30 and he was 21,

-and they were married in 1901.

-1901.

And he married again in 1936.

But he was with my grandmother before that, so...

BOTH: What happened to Ada?

Well, I can tell you what happened to Ada.

So this is her death certificate.

The 12th December 1932...

is when she died.

Wait a minute.

-They were still definitely married.

-They were still married,

which meant that he had fallen in love my grandmother

and had my dad while he was still married.

-Oh, the tangled web we weave.

-Hm.

Wait a minute - he had a son.

-Dad had a brother. Leslie.

-Yes.

Leslie Driver.

Minnie has discovered that her grandfather, Charles,

and his first wife, Ada Wood Stancliffe,

had a son called Leslie -

a half-brother to her father, Ronnie.

-Did your father ever mention him?

-No.

Do you think he knew about him?

Probably.

-My dad was full of secrets.

-Hm.

I came across a marriage for him.

Oh, my God! He was an actor!

Ah, yes.

And she was a variety artist!

I wondered when you'd notice.

I'm so happy. Finally, there's someone else who does...

-Yes.

-..does the same thing... ridiculous profession as me.

It's in the genes.

That is just brilliant!

So, here we have a programme.

Oh, look.

-What do you make of that?

-The Hippodrome, St Petersgate, Stockport.

This was in 1944, this particular production.

He was part of the Frank H Fortescue's Repertory Players,

-which was quite a reputable...

-Was it?

..and well-thought-of repertory company.

Oh, he went by Leslie Stancliffe.

He didn't go by Leslie Driver.

Oh, I wonder if that's because he was angry with his dad.

Oh! Wait. Stancliffe...

Stancliffe's HER maiden name.

Ada Wood Stancliffe.

-That's his mother's maiden name.

-So that's what he went by.

Wow!

Thank you so much.

It's been my pleasure.

Thanks.

Minnie is on the trail of her half-uncle, Leslie,

who worked as an actor during the 1940s

in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

I've been trying to figure out why it tickles me so much

that my uncle Leslie was an actor.

Cos I've always been a bit of a freak in my family.

I think I announced when I was about five, that that's what I was...

that I wanted to do music and acting.

The first and only time that I think my parents took it seriously

was when we arrived at the Oscars when I was nominated,

and you walk in and I was holding my dad's hand and he leant over

and he said, "You're probably not going to win."

SHE CHUCKLES

I was like, "I know!"

Minnie has come to the Stockport Plaza

to meet Associate Professor James Moran,

an expert on the repertory theatre movement.

Here we are.

Isn't it beautiful?

Oh, look at that.

This is the Stockport Plaza.

It's one of the surviving grand theatres

from the period when your uncle was in Stockport.

Now, he performed certainly at the Stockport Hippodrome,

which is about 150 yards away from here.

Is that still surviving?

I'm afraid not. That's been burnt down. That doesn't exist any more.

But you have some sense of the kind of place that he was performing in.

How beautiful.

By the 1930s, local repertory theatre companies,

offering audiences a new play every week,

had become one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Britain.

While often derided by serious theatre critics,

the popularity of commercial rep was to have a significant impact

on the development of British culture.

Stars such as Ronnie Barker and Eric Sykes,

and the casts of popular shows like Dad's Army,

all started their careers in the commercial repertory system.

-I've got a programme from the Hippodrome...

-Great.

..that my... Well, the play that my uncle Leslie was in.

This is a comedy, Spring Cleaning, about a man who was worried

that his wife is mixing with some disreputable people

and he's worried that she might have an affair, so...

-Was my uncle one of the disreputable characters in...

-He was, yes.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

He could do comic parts like this,

but he could also play leading men,

he could play old men, with talcum powder in his hair,

he could play butlers, he often did that.

He could do a range of accents. He could do Manchester accents,

London accents, New York accents,

and the thing that really makes his name,

that makes him famous in the Fortescue Players,

is a performance in 1944 of a play called Peg O' My Heart.

-If you look at the review...

-So exciting.

..you'll see what happens in performance.

"Two quick changes at short notice

"were necessary at the beginning of the week.

"Mr T Mostoll Willey takes the part of Jerry,

"intended for Mr Alan Caesar,

"and Mr Leslie Stancliffe takes the part of Alaric Chichester."

It's so successful, that part, that the following week

the Stockport Express newspaper carries a special profile...

-Let me see that.

-..of Leslie Stancliffe.

Oh, look at him.

"Leslie Stancliffe has considerably widened his circle of admirers.

"He had his first taste of acting as a junior in silent films.

"Leslie is becoming known to the theatre-going public of Stockport

"as the man with the funny laugh."

SHE LAUGHS

I know where I get it from, then!

That is a good thing to be known for, Leslie.

I can't get over how he looks like my dad.

"He joined Cissie Langley in a sketch on the variety stage."

That must be where he met, um, Grace McKie.

It absolutely was. His wife was known on stage...

Ohh! You've only got a picture of her. Oh, let me see!

-There you go.

-Oh, my gosh! She's gorgeous.

Oh, look, she has such a lively face.

And if you want, I have a better image of your uncle there.

Oh, my God, he's so handsome.

Oh, goodness me, look at them.

So he's dedicated that, you can see, to my darling Billie,

and Billie McKie was Grace's stage name.

Oh, it was?

It was her stage name when she was performing on the variety stage.

What happened to them, do you know?

After the war, he left the Fortescue Players

and I have a different programme here for the Popular Players

near Blackpool, playing at St-Anne's-on-Sea.

This piece is called Daddy Long-Legs.

Oh, look, he had the lead. He had the lead role.

-What year is this, sorry?

-This is 1945.

-OK.

-And then the trail goes a bit cold

and I just have one more document relating to Leslie.

This is from The Stage, the theatrical newspaper.

"Loving memories of Leslie, died March 6th 1947.

"The rest is yours, dear, the loneliness ours - Billie.

"God bless my darling daddy - Jean."

Oh, dear. He died so young.

He was 38, I think.

Oh... But he had a daughter.

Yeah, he did have a daughter. The interesting thing is,

if you look at the last programme that I showed you,

of Daddy Long-Legs,

I don't know if you notice anything familiar about the list

of orphan children who are on stage?

Jean Stancliffe. Oh, my gosh!

So his little girl was in it.

Now, I do have a contact number for Jean.

-Oh, God.

-She's still alive.

-Oh, my God.

-And she would be happy to...

-Oh, my God.

-..to speak to you.

Minnie's cousin, Jean Driver, does not want to appear on camera,

but she has agreed to speak to Minnie on the phone.

-'2677.'

-Jean?

-'Hello.'

-Hello, Jean?

-'Yes.'

-Hello, it's Minnie Driver.

'Oh, hello.'

Would you be happy to talk to me about your dad and your mum?

-'Yes, of course, yes.'

-Oh.

-'That would be lovely.'

I saw that you were in a play with him?

'Yes, when they did a production of Daddy Long-Legs

-'at the Ashton Pavilion.'

-Right.

'And I played one of the orphans.'

Oh, I love that you were on stage with your dad! That's so great.

-'I don't really remember very well, but...'

-Oh!

-'Yes.'

Did you know that your dad had a half-brother?

-'Yes, I did.'

-You did?

-'Yes.'

So, did they ever meet, do you know?

-'No, no.'

-They never did?

'Certainly from my parents marrying,

'I don't think my father went home,

'but my mother and I went maybe a year after Father had died.

'Obviously, I met my grandfather and his wife.'

It's so funny that we share a grandfather.

-'It is, yes.'

-Isn't it?

-'Yes.'

Do you have any memories of him at all?

'Unfortunately not. I wish I did.'

-Ah!

-'But I do have a photograph.'

-You don't?

-'Just one.'

-Oh, I'm going to cry.

That is absolutely fantastic news.

I've been longing to see a picture of him.

Yeah, I would absolutely love to have your address

-and maybe we could stay in contact.

-'Yes. That would be great.'

-I've got a son who's four called Henry.

-'Oh!'

And he's ever so sweet, and I could maybe send you a picture?

'Oh, that would... That would be great.'

Yeah, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot.

'It's been lovely to speak to you.'

-Oh, well, I...

-'Wonderful.'

It's been really nice talking to you. Thank you, Jean.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-'It's a pleasure.'

-All right.

-'Yeah.'

-Bye-bye.

-'Bye-bye.'

-Bye.

A package from England has arrived at Minnie's house

in the Hollywood hills.

Hen!

Coming.

Look at this.

OK, you pull it out really, really gently.

Oh, wow!

Look, it's Granny and Grandpa.

That's my dad's dad, and that's my dad's mum.

Oh, my goodness.

And this is your great-grandpa and your great-grandma.

-You're their great-grandson.

-I think they look handsome.

You think they look handsome?

-I think you look handsome.

-I think you look handsome.

Thanks so much!

I wanted to be able to tell Henry more than I knew myself.

I didn't want it to just be a bunch of question marks.

When you don't know anything about a certain part of your life,

finding out some things is both amazing,

but also incredibly difficult,

because it's like pulling the thread on a blanket -

it just begins all of these other questions.

And it's definitely made me wonder so much about my father

and why he chose to keep everything so secret.

Not just for us, but for him, to carry that around.

It would have been nice to talk to him about it all.

But I'm glad I can fill in the blanks for Henry, um,

with some really wonderful stories.

It will be a great thing for him to have

and for us to look back on over time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd