Stan Stennett Great Lives

HOOTER HONKS

Well...

-Hello, butties! AUDIENCE:

-Hello, butty!

Actor, comedian, musician, impresario -

Stan Stennett is one of the most original and talented performers ever to appear on a Welsh stage.

# He heard them bawl

# We want no small... #

-ROY HUDD:

-Stan Stennett loves the business and the business loves him.

It's a drug, you can't get rid of it.

He loves his audiences, and his audiences love him.

Why should he pack it in?

In a career spanning almost 70 years,

he has performed for generations of audiences throughout the world

and won the affection of millions.

When I think of Stan, I think of someone who probably gave

my father and Ernie the opportunity to become great.

I think that that's not putting too big a spin on it, because Eric said that to me.

When you think of all the skills -

he does pantomime, songs, music, comedian.

All those things - he's got all those strings to his bow.

But on top of all that, he is a showman,

and once a showman... always a showman.

Stan's lifetime as an entertainer has taken him all over the world,

but he's always been a fiercely proud Welshman with firmly fixed roots.

Stan, how are you?

Hello, butty. How are you? Come in. Enteronto!

A bit of Welsh there.

Inside there, lovely. That's it.

You must have just come from a funeral.

'His wit and humour is as sharp as ever,

'and the Cardiff home he shares with Betty,

'his wife of over 60 years,

'is crammed with souvenirs from an amazing life that began in Glamorgan in the mid-1920s.'

Stan, can I ask you first of all about your early childhood?

Tell me about, erm...

the circumstances you were born in, where it was, how you were raised.

Yeah. Well, I was raised in Mid Glamorgan,

down in a little place called Rhiwceiliog

near Heol-y-Cyw and near Brynna, a little farm called Ty Robert.

But I was born out of wedlock, you see?

And my mother was, erm... a kennel maid.

She worked on the farm, looking after the hounds.

But then I immediately was adopted by my grandmother,

because things like that were, in those days, a stigma.

I didn't know who my father was, and I didn't want to know.

And funnily enough, right up until this week, when my cousin went,

bless her, she was about the last one alive who knew who he was.

And I was going to...

I was going to sort of relent and say,

"Well, I think I'll try and find out who he was,"

but I missed out on it, because this week she went as well, bless her.

When did showbiz start for you, then? Was it very, very early?

I was only about eight, eight and a half. I was able to buy a guitar.

It was only about three quid or something like that.

I learned enough to be part of a local band, sing a few comedy songs and bits and pieces.

So the beginnings of the comedy were there, right, at a very early age.

'By the time the war started, Stan and his grandmother had moved to Cardiff,

'where he was already performing with various amateur musical groups.'

Can you remember the war starting?

Well, aye, it was in all the papers. I remember the war starting.

I was a van boy for Pickfords when the war broke out, but I very quickly became a driver.

I mean, I had my test in the morning, and in the afternoon I delivered five ton of peas. You see?

'He combined his van-driving with a fierce ambition to perform -

'an ambition that saw Stan, still only 17,

'auditioning at Cardiff's New Theatre for the comedian Tommy Trinder.'

He told me he liked it, but he said, "Trouble is, you look too much like me,"

because I had a bit of a lantern jaw,

like Forsyth and things like that.

He said, "I'll tell you what, if you go in the business, I'll look out for you.

"If I can help you out any time, come and see me, but I've got nothing at the moment."

So I didn't really get anything. I just went back to work, driving and doing evening jobs and so on.

But it was on the stage, and I sang this song.

# Oh, what a wonderful party

# Lots of joy and fun

# But if I miss the last bus home

I'll get absolutely done

# Oh, I mustn't miss the last bus home... #

Even being drafted into the army in 1943 couldn't keep Stan from performing.

When I went into the army, I mean, I went in as a recruit, that was it.

And right away, I mean, I was looking for ways and means of getting out of guard duty, like we all did.

So I became an entertainer in the army, and they used to always advertise for anyone who could do

any entertaining, you know, "Report to so-and-so."

And you became a member of the concert party.

And I came out of the army a couple of years later. Well, I was only 22, I think, when I came out.

I was brought back for demob to Newport,

and it was whilst I was in Newport in Gwent that I entered

a talent competition called the Royal Gwent Talent Contest.

And I was lucky enough to came first, and I got...

Well, all the army stationed in Newport came along to support me.

I couldn't well go wrong, really.

Stan's prize for his success was a guest spot on the national radio comedy series Welsh Rarebit,

alongside fellow comedian Harry Secombe.

Oh, Harry and I became the resident comics, right?

He'd be on one week, I'd be on another week.

I accept no further responsibility. Ladies and gentlemen, Stan Stennett!

# An old coal worker riding out one dark and windy day

# He rested as he went along his way

# When coming from Treorchy some miners he did see

# Digging at the seam of coal

# Just for the NCB... #

So you'd got a name, Stan, as a musician

who could be picked up to play with touring bands and groups and so on.

Yeah, and I had a group called the Harmaniacs.

Well, like, it was three boys, and we all had three wives, right?

One each.

So when we went away, we went as six people.

And Stan's new bride, Betty, wanted to be by his side on tour.

Well, I had to make up my mind, really, whether I was just going to stay home here,

which I'm sure is no good in show business.

If one is there and one is there,

and knowing showgirls, as I do,

it wouldn't have lasted, you see.

So I decided, well, to just travel with him, so we bought a caravan.

During the time that we were on tour, my eldest son was born, Roger,

and that was 61 years ago - gosh.

I was a week old when I was in my very first theatre,

and for virtually all of the '50s and well into the '60s,

my life was lived in dressing rooms.

I was the original born-in-a-trunk kid,

and I would go from week to week with my mum and my dad

from one provincial theatre to another to another.

And it wasn't until I was...

I think it's seven I was when the authorities caught up with me

and said, "This boy must have an education."

Now, a husband is...is what's left of a man...

..after the nerve has been removed.

Whilst the Harmaniacs were on the road, Stan was spotted as a potential star in his own right.

He grasped the opportunity with both hands and soon became quite a hit on the variety circuit.

I met Stan as everyone should meet a terrific comic, from the other side

of the footlights, in the audience

at the Croydon Empire.

My gran used to take me along every Tuesday night.

I immediately took to him as a kid, because he looked funny.

He wore a funny hat, he crossed his eyes, he did funny noises.

The gag I can remember him doing, the very first time I saw it,

it was, "She was a beautiful redhead - no hair, just a red head!"

And then he did his funny voices and his music.

Variety was a bit of everything,

and the people that worked in it,

they all had what they call "bill matter" underneath your name.

And mine was, "Certified insanely funny."

The variety really means a variety of skills.

That's what it really means, a variety of skills.

So on a variety bill,

you'd get about 12 different acts, but they'd all be different.

You'd have jugglers, ventriloquists, singers, dancers, oh, all sorts of acts, a variety of skills.

By the late-1940s, Stan was making quite an impact on the variety scene, and the pace was relentless.

You used to do a pantomime, then you had a couple of weeks off,

then you'd do the spring show, which was about four weeks or something in Coventry at the Hippodrome,

then you did a couple of weeks off, you had a quick holiday,

then you did a summer show of about 12 to 14 weeks.

Then you had a week or something off while you went away and got a bit of your breath back,

then you did an autumn two weeks somewhere, and then you were into pantomime, you see?

So that's how it went, you knew exactly where you were.

Pantomime, spring show, summer show, pantomime.

# Dainty feet like plates of meat... #

As the 1950s arrived, Stan, with Betty and his young family in tow,

was amongst the legions of variety acts criss-crossing the country to perform seven days a week.

# Railway strikes, weekend hikes Cups of tea at Crewe... #

Crewe station, Crewe, which is sort of the centre of all the different

railway companies' journeys,

Sunday morning at Crewe was like a variety artists' clubrooms.

People used to meet at Crewe, even if it was only out the window

at a train going north. "Where are you going? Glasgow?

"I'm off to the Palladium!" This used to happen regularly.

# Memories of you... #

This huge variety hall circuit,

you must have been running into famous people constantly.

I mean, it was the '50s, early '50s

that I met my great friends Eric and Ernie, Morecambe and Wise.

And we met in pantomime, and we hit it off right away.

We had something in common right from the start.

From the very morning we met at rehearsal,

there was some chemistry about it that made it work for us.

At that time, Eric and Ernie were just a jobbing double-act,

going around the country, doing anything they could.

And they ended up in Sheffield, on Stan's bill,

and they hadn't met when they got to rehearsals, that was the first time that they met,

and apparently, according to Stan - and Eric and Ernie - they just hit it off immediately,

they were gagging all the time together, so there was this great friendship immediately.

And then what happened, which was amazing, is that then went into the production,

so that then they were trying to outdo each other on the ad-libs

all the way through the show.

And then, as it was reviewed at the time, they got fantastic reviews,

this is why it was so good was because they were ad-libbing so much,

and where do the ad-libs stop and the script begin?

And then that led to maybe three, four, five years further in the '50s of doing these shows.

With reaching the next destination always providing a challenge,

Stan found a new and somewhat unusual mode of transport

to get him from A to B.

You did something that very, very few people did.

You taught yourself to fly.

That's right. Yeah, I got over 4,000 hours in.

So you of all of the entertainers, Stan, in lots of ways,

-you were the most mobile, the most available.

-I was, yeah.

I wasn't the funniest, but I was the most available.

I sort of collared the market in my time,

because when I had the aircraft, I formed the Welsh Air Force.

We called it the Berks Air Force, anyone who flew with me was a berk.

They must have been. And I had Tommy Cooper,

he was a berk, Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, there was Shirley Bassey.

You name them, all the people in show business around that time

joined the Berks Air Force, and they were all in my gang.

I remember flying over...

I think we took off from Cardiff,

looking down and seeing Cardiff, and Stan was saying, "Yes..."

I said, "Just you keep your hand on the wheel."

I put the wind up a few in my time, because they always felt...

take them up, just do a few sharp turns, put a few Gs on.

After that, I think it just...

"No, no, no, no, Doddy, no, terra firma, terra firma.

"More firmer, less terror."

Stan still flies today and can look back over 50 years

of unconventional commuting.

We used to fly, when I was going away on a summer season,

we used to fly with the whole family.

And boy, what a family. I had a wife, right? I also had two sons.

We used to take a dog, we had a lovely dog called Scamp.

And then we used to take the budgie, we had a budgie, because he was like part of the family.

And we also had a goldfish. I had one son at the front in the right-hand seat,

and being a dual control, like this, you know, he was able to take over and I was able to steady anything.

There was one classic journey where all the electrics

on the plane failed,

including all the electrics that were connected with direction-finding.

So the only option we had was to drop very low.

This is kind of echoes of Second World War hedge-hopping really.

And follow railway tracks from A to B.

But there was the classic problem at the other end there, which was

that the button to put the wheels down was also electrically operated.

So I clearly remember us cranking this big handle, which allegedly put the wheels down.

So as we came into land, we were staring out to see

if there was a shadow on the runway below us that showed we had our wheels down.

It was like a prequel to the film Airplane, really,

as we flew from A to B to C.

In 1959, Stan was to get his biggest break to date as the compere

of the top-rated show on BBC television.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's The Black And White Minstrel Show!

Though its blacked-up performers and dance routines may seem strange to today,

The Black And White Minstrel Show was a TV phenomenon in its day,

regularly attracting over 18 million viewers.

'I was working in Dublin in the Theatre Royal and George Inns, who was the producer,

'he was a radio producer as well, actually flew in to Dublin'

to watch the show and watch me work.

He sort of booked me there and then after he had seen the show to appear in The Black And White Minstrel Show.

'I was with the show for nine years.

'When you see The Black And White Minstrel Show,

'you see the regimentation which the girls danced in,

'the movements and the pleasure that it brought to the people that listened,

'because if you sat and watched people looking at the show, they were getting pleasure from the show.'

'Black and White Minstrel Show did reflect variety at that time,

'because you're back to singing, dancing and gagging'

and people dressing up. OK, they're making up heavily

with black paint and the rest,

but that's not dissimilar to what was happening on the tours, on the stages,

and in pantomime particularly.

'The whole thing was a show, a proper show, and that required much, much dressing up.'

Stan did have a terrific break with the Black and White Minstrels,

which we were all delighted about.

In effect it was almost like a permanent job.

'All he did really was his act and he did some stuff

'with the minstrels and being a musical sort of guy, that was fine.

'He worked with people like George Chisholm and Leslie Crowther

'and people like that, but basically Stan did his act.'

Performing his own routines in between the Minstrels' medleys, Stan was soon a household name.

-Hey, Ma?

-Aha?

-How about scratching my foot, Ma?

Sure!

Ha-ha-ha-ha!

-Thank you kindly, Ma.

-It's OK.

Now we're here, how about singing one or two love songs for the folks?

-Sure.

-Are you ready?

-Aha.

-Yeah.

Fire on the mountain, wind's a-blowing,

we're going nowhere, let's get going.

# Shine on, shine on harvest moon... #

Would you like to come in for a cup of tea and that?

Well, I don't want any tea, but I'll come in.

Woo-hoo!

But Stan wasn't content with being a TV personality.

He left the Minstrels to stake his future on his own business, Stennett Productions,

returning to South Wales to take over the running of the Grand Pavilion Theatre, Porthcawl.

I had been in the business long enough to realise that there is a market in South Wales,

and especially a seaside resort, for a show of this kind.

We're doing a big Minstrel feature in the show.

We've got the Currie's Waterfall, which is a terrific spectacle in itself.

We're doing quite a few different big scenes in the show

and we've got all these gorgeous girls, so what more do you want?

I don't care if I do lose.

I think Stan was very clever

getting involved in the production side and running everything,

because it gives you control.

That's been one of the hard things for comedians, particularly those who came out of

'the music hall and variety eras, they had very little control.

'So I think Stan was very clever from the beginning, taking over.'

'I think he was his own man. He is very much his own man.

'He knows what he wants'

and he won't be...he won't be told that he's got to go a certain way.

Once Stennett Productions service his passion for live performance,

the attraction of television never disappeared.

Stan more than held his own with some serious straight acting roles,

including a number of memorable performances in the BBC's peak-time drama series, Play For Today.

So hold our heads up high with dignity.

CROWD CHEERS

And be treated as people,

instead of units of production.

'He was a very good actor, Stan.

'He did Play For Today, he did all these various things and came up with the goods.

'He was a good actor

and people often say was variety a sort of inspiration or a help

as far as straight acting is concerned.

Well, it is in a way, because it make you fire out the front,

it makes you over the top, if you like.

If you've got the right character it's terrific.

You know as well as I do,

politics is the art of the attainable.

Throughout the 1970s, Stan continued to combine his theatre work

with frequent appearances on camera as a jobbing actor.

So in 1982, when the Crossroads producers

were looking for a new lead character, Stan was happy to oblige.

They were talking about a new character going into

'the Crossroads Motel garage. My name was Sid Hooper.'

What we don't want and what we're not going to have is people saying we're taking advantage.

OK, so we may be using your money for starters,

but I want it entered in here and now, right,

that all the money it's going to cost to get this baby off the ground,

we are going to have on paper split three ways and me and Mack are going to pay it back out of profits.

Chancer Sid Hooper soon became one of the most popular characters in the show.

-People used to stop you in the street, didn't they?

-They did.

And say, you know, "Why are you so horrible to Benny?"

'I used to try and borrow money off him, see,

'and then the following week I'd be getting letters from people'

saying, "Sid, you leave Benny's money alone, right?

"We know where you park your car."

And all this, threats, real.

But it was Sid's relationship with screen wife Mavis

that captured the viewers' imagination.

And in 1986, millions tuned in to watch her dramatic exit from the much-loved soap.

Tell me about the famous scene with Mavis, when Mavis is dying.

Well, it was very sad, Kim, you know, we'd been married for many years,

according to the script, and there was one time where we'd fallen out and we couldn't make up

'and eventually on her death bed she sort of brought this up.

'And I was so sorry that I'd been...

'goading her, if you know what I'm saying.'

Do you remember...

how you walked out one day and left me?

Remember?

How you didn't come back for a long, long time.

Sid?

'I had to try and get myself into the mood for that.

'And I was just trying to think of someone'

that I had lost, you know, and everything.

So that's the way I would have felt at the time.

Do you know what, I...

I nearly didn't have enough courage to ask you to marry me,

do you know that?

I had to pinch myself

and bring myself to asking.

What do you think of that, Mave?

Mave. Mave...

Stan spent the 1980s combining soap opera stardom with managing a string of theatres.

And when it came to attracting talent to his stage,

there were old friends that Stan could always rely upon.

# Oh, you can't tell a waltz from a tango... #

and go off.

When Eric Morecambe joined Stan on stage in Tewkesbury in May 1984,

it was going to be a memorable night for unexpected reasons.

I remember at the beginning of 1984

I think it was that Stan had contacted Eric

to see if he would do like a Q and A to cover his life.

It was about the time when Tommy Cooper actually had, he died on stage,

as you know, in a show.

We spent the second half of the show just doing a little bit of chat,

like a Parkinson-type interview,

you know, talking about the old days, about the gags we did and so on.

We got talking about Tommy and Eric said, "Oh well, I wouldn't like to go,

"I wouldn't like to die on stage", he said.

I said, just as a quick retort, I said, "I've died on stage many times, Eric."

'Anyway, it was flippant in its own way.'

'And Stan took him over his life and my mother, she was in the audience,

'and she said that Eric came out with things that she didn't even know about in his life.'

It was like this final surge, this blurting everything out about his life.

Really developing his answers in full.

'And we played the Entertainer and Eric went round all the instruments,

'doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that.'

Then he went off to his little Bring Me Sunshine dance and so on.

And just, according to his chauffeur who was in the wings, Mike Fountain,

he just sighed and said, "Oh, thank God that's over",

which could have been a reference to his life in a spooky kind of way.

And he collapsed and his head hit the floor

and he never really woke up from that and that led to his death later on in the night.

The last 30 years have seen Stennett Productions' pantomimes continue to bring joy to thousands.

And Stan is still going strong in his 85th year.

I'm here at the Dolman Theatre in Newport,

where Stan is appearing incredibly in his 67th season of panto.

He's inside lacing on his trademark hobnail boots

in order to play the part of Billy in Red Riding Hood.

-Good morning, Stan.

-Good morning, butty. You all right?

What's the attraction, what has been the attraction of panto for you?

Well, it was, I felt it was a calling in a way.

Because you know, I like entertaining kids especially.

And I feel it's a black and white situation with children, they like it or they don't like it.

They laugh or they don't laugh. You can't say, "Laugh now and think of it later."

Adults tend to be a little more discerning, but children are not.

Which was the first panto, can you remember it?

Yes, at the Grand Swansea with Ossie Morris,

one of the stalwarts in Welsh comedy many years ago.

And it was, funny enough, it was Little Red Riding Hood.

Try it again, just try it once again.

CHILDREN SHOUT OUT

We have to defeat an evil wolf.

And Stennett Productions remains very much a family business.

Youngest son, Ceri, has never known Christmas without pantomime.

After completing his apprenticeship backstage as a child,

he's performed alongside his father for over 40 years.

..Super human powers.

We must protect Little Red Riding Hood, thwart the plans of the evil wolf.

I think pantomime means everything to my dad,

because he very early on in his career

started to learn the trade as a pantomime performer

and he made that connection I think with the children as well then.

CHILDREN SHOUT OUT

I can't believe he's 85!

I think he must be...

eating something that is not available in the shops!

It's amazing.

Hello! Well...

Hello, butties!

-ALL:

-Hello, Butty!

My father loves the fact that people want to see him and, yes, he loves being in the limelight.

He is a real ham. He is an old-school variety performer.

I think my father's still performing at the age of 85,

A, because he doesn't know what else to do,

B, because he loves it and C, because he still thinks there's stuff left to do.

Have you been good boys and girls since I saw you last?

-ALL:

-Yes!

And purely on the whole longevity of his career,

he should be remembered as being a fantastic person

who has come out of that ancient era of music halls and variety and kept it alive for us.

# Bring me sunshine

# In your smile

# Bring me laughter

# All the while... #

How could I retire? I mean, retire to what? You know, um,

all right, take it easy, but I'm taking it easy now, really.

No, no, I don't think I will be retiring.

I'd sooner finish in harness, if you like.

I don't want to retire at all.

Every year he tells me, "I think I've had enough now."

And within three months he's planning the next.

# May your arms be as warm as the sun from up above

# Bring me fun, bring me sunshine

# Bring me love, bring me love

# Bring me fun, bring me sunshine

# Bring me love! #

Eeeh! That's for you, Eric!