0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07'Richard Burton called him the most underrated actor in Britain.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10'A man who's extraordinary work has been seen
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in pantomime,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'at the National Theatre, and most notably with the Beatles.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20He's got a great sense of fun.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24And he's no-nonsense. That's what I love about Victor.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28"Oh, bollocks! Don't listen to them."
0:00:28 > 0:00:32And that was good for us because we were coming into the business,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36looking around, looking to see what we should do,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39who we should listen to, who we didn't need to listen to.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I think he steered us very well on that.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'He's played everyone from Albert Einstein to a pimp,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51'and directed plays from those of John Lennon to the musical "Hair".'
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Victor came in to play the ponce of the two prostitutes,
0:00:57 > 0:01:02and he brought such fun to it, but also a rascal.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04And you kind...
0:01:04 > 0:01:07I always remember saying to him,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09"I quite enjoy being a prostitute with you!"
0:01:09 > 0:01:12'He's worked with the likes of Peter Sellers,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14'Laurence Olivier and Elizabeth Taylor.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19'Still performing today, he remains an inspiration to a new generation.'
0:01:20 > 0:01:24I used to do an impression of Vic, and it would basically be -
0:01:24 > 0:01:26"Anyway, so there I was, and John Lennon said,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28"Hey Vic, do you wanna go some place warm?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32"Where do you mean, the kitchen? Next thing you know, we're in Morocco!
0:01:32 > 0:01:35"I was like a pig in surely you've heard that story."
0:01:41 > 0:01:43'Is he an actor? Is he a comedian?
0:01:44 > 0:01:46'Is he Welsh? Is he Italian?
0:01:47 > 0:01:51'I'm not sure. What I do know is that he's someone who takes no prisoners.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54'He's a five star character.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59'He's a master storyteller who's led an extraordinary life
0:01:59 > 0:02:01'and his name is Victor Spinetti.'
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Good evening Mr Spinetti. It's good to see you, sir.
0:02:13 > 0:02:14Steps are a nuisance!
0:02:15 > 0:02:18There we are. OK?
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Victor, it's a wonderful privilege to be with you this evening.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24I can tell you this,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I've been awake for the last three nights talking to you.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29So I'm glad you've turned up at last!
0:02:29 > 0:02:31I've been going on in my mind.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39# Close your eyes And I'll kiss you. #
0:02:39 > 0:02:42'Victor Spinetti is known for many things,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46'but especially as the only non Beatle to appear in all of their films.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50'He was riding high in the West End when director Richard Lester,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'John Lennon and George Harrison went to see him perform.'
0:02:54 > 0:02:56George Harrison said, "You gotta be in our film.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59"You gotta be in all our films,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03"otherwise me mum won't come and see 'em cos she fancies you."
0:03:05 > 0:03:09'Victor was asked to play the part of the television director in A Hard Days Night.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13'A part he decided to portray as highly strung and added a twist
0:03:13 > 0:03:17'by wearing one of his own very special jumpers.'
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Right. Let's hear no more about it. You're probably right.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24If you think I'm unsuitable, let's have it out in the open.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26I can't stand these backstage politics.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Aren't you turning to black and white the situation somewhat?
0:03:29 > 0:03:35Quite honestly, I wasn't expecting a musical arranger to question my ability picture wise.
0:03:35 > 0:03:36I could listen to him for hours!
0:03:36 > 0:03:40I walked round the set in this jumper with all the Beatles there.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43And I said, "Right, you're late for rehearsals.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47"I'm a director of this show..."
0:03:47 > 0:03:51And John said, "You're not a director.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54"You're Victor Spinetti playing the part of a director."
0:03:54 > 0:03:56And I said...
0:03:56 > 0:03:59- I won an award.- A likely story. - It's on the wall in my office.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03And John said, "Office? You haven't even got a dressing room!"
0:04:03 > 0:04:07We wrote it from our ad-libs just in life.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09So I think it looked very true to life.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11A lot of it was scripted,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but Richard Lester was clever enough to allow us to ad-lib
0:04:15 > 0:04:18if it was happening, if anyone came up with an idea.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23And of course, Victor can roll with those punches very easily.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24You know, he's...
0:04:24 > 0:04:27That doesn't flummox him at all.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29I remember saying the one thing.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32If this goes on, I'll end up doing the news in Welsh!
0:04:34 > 0:04:36'While he was improvising in the film,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40'he employs a technique of drawing from his own experience.'
0:04:40 > 0:04:43- Where's Ringo?- There he is. We've got him.- Great.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You don't know what this means to me.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50If you hadn't come back, it would have meant the epilogue or the news in Welsh for life.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03'Victor Spinetti was born in the small town of Cwm near Ebbw Vale.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08'The family first arrived when his grandfather walked over 1,000 miles
0:05:08 > 0:05:09'from Bardi in Italy.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14'Victor's father, Giuseppe, known locally as Joe,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17'opened a chip shop in 1926.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19'It survives to this day.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24See that window up there? That's where I was born.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26In there.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30I remember the time too because it was twelve o'clock
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and the twelve o'clock hooter sounded at the pit!
0:05:35 > 0:05:39And honest to God, the first time I ever heard pop songs
0:05:39 > 0:05:42was lying in that bed up there as a kid.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45And the miners coming up from the pit down there
0:05:45 > 0:05:49from the night shift, walking along.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I'd hear the boots
0:05:51 > 0:05:56and then the men kept gulping the fresh air from being in the pit.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Sometimes with a little fag.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01And I used to hear them singing quietly.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03That's the first time I heard pop songs.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07# Every time it rains It rains pennies from heaven. #
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Or...
0:06:08 > 0:06:11# Amapola my pretty little poppy. #
0:06:11 > 0:06:12Or...
0:06:12 > 0:06:15# The music goes round and round
0:06:15 > 0:06:16# Whoa, who, whoa. #
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Do you know what the beautiful thing about it was?
0:06:20 > 0:06:23They sang quietly. They knew there were people sleeping.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25They didn't come up and sing loudly.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27# The music goes round and round. #
0:06:27 > 0:06:29No. It was to themselves. Singing.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Hello. Alright? Happy new year.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36Hello.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38How are you? Alright?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Well, well, well. Oh my God!
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Look at those photos!
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I'd forgotten about those.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50'At the start of the Second World War,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54'the fear of an enemy within meant that even an Italian chip shop owner
0:06:54 > 0:06:57'was considered a threat to the state.'
0:06:57 > 0:06:59One day I'm Welsh, the next day I'm a spy.
0:07:01 > 0:07:07The police came, erm... Four o'clock in the morning.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09I heard this scuffling, I opened the door
0:07:09 > 0:07:15and I saw Dad's face disappearing down the stairs with the police
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and Mam saying, "What are you doing?"
0:07:19 > 0:07:21"Mrs Spinetti, your husband's an alien."
0:07:21 > 0:07:23"Alien?! He's my husband!"
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Anyway, off he went.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29He wasn't allowed to take an overcoat, no toothbrush, no razor,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31no overcoat, nothing.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33So the next day I rushed into school and said,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36"The police came last night and took our Dad away."
0:07:36 > 0:07:40And he said, "Fuck off you Italian bastard!"
0:07:41 > 0:07:46'This experience was to have a lasting effect on Victor's attitude towards authority
0:07:46 > 0:07:51'and brought out a rebellious streak in him, which invariably led to conflict with his father,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55'who had a strong desire to conform to Valleys life.'
0:07:57 > 0:08:03Although he was Italian, Dad wasn't really that demonstrative.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Our Mam was the demonstrative one.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Everybody used to think that she was the Italian.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12They used to think that Dad...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Dad wanted to be a Cwm boyo.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17All our Dad wanted to be was a Cwm boyo.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21He wanted to wear a cap, smoke cigarettes
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and drink Rhymney bitter in the local legion club.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26He didn't want anything else.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31'Victor was naturally curious about life and had ambitions for himself.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34'When teachers suggested that he would benefit
0:08:34 > 0:08:37'from going away to boarding school at Monmouth,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40'it was advice that both Victor and his father were happy to take.'
0:08:42 > 0:08:46I think Dad was glad to get me out of the house because I was irksome.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50I remember sitting and reading a paper, and this was in 1936.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55"Oh look Dad, the Queen Mary has just crossed the Atlantic."
0:08:55 > 0:08:58"Who told you that?" "There it is."
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Clip, because the poor bugger could hardly read English,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05and there was this child yakking away.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08One time, Dad threw some of my books on the fire.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10"Reading! Only girls read!"
0:09:10 > 0:09:13'The way out of the valley was acting.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15'First through amateur dramatics,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20'followed by a stint at the new Cardiff College of Music and Drama.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'With his horizons broadened and the chance to escape,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25'he headed for London.'
0:09:25 > 0:09:28There was a pub in Hammersmith I used to sing in.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30I got three quid for the weekend.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32# If ever the devil was born. #
0:09:32 > 0:09:33I'd do all that!
0:09:33 > 0:09:36And old Jolson numbers.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41'A natural hard worker meant that when Victor wasn't doing a turn in pubs,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43'he was working in a lampshade factory
0:09:43 > 0:09:46'that allowed time off for auditions.'
0:09:47 > 0:09:50I said to the foreman, I've got an audition at Drury Lane.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56Off I'd go, paint splattered, jeans, T-shirt, crew cut,
0:09:56 > 0:09:57going down to Drury Lane.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01And of course, there were all these actors
0:10:01 > 0:10:05leaning on their umbrellas, looking like Ralph Richardson!
0:10:05 > 0:10:08And there was me with paint on my shoes!
0:10:08 > 0:10:11The show was South Pacific, which I'd never seen.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13I looked like a Seabee.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16I walked in and this guy said, "What's your name?
0:10:16 > 0:10:20"What are you doing? Are you an actor?
0:10:20 > 0:10:22"Christ! Are you sure?"
0:10:22 > 0:10:23I said, "Yes."
0:10:23 > 0:10:26He said, "Give him that script to read."
0:10:26 > 0:10:29So I read this script and he said,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33"OK, you've got the part. Join the show tonight. It's in Coventry."
0:10:34 > 0:10:36And years later, I said to him, "Why did you do it?"
0:10:36 > 0:10:38He said, "You looked as if you can do it,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42"and if you look as if you can do it, we can make you do it."
0:10:50 > 0:10:51'Victor's first break came
0:10:51 > 0:10:54'when the lead in South Pacific had an accident.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56'A young Scottish actor was on hand
0:10:56 > 0:11:00'to make sure Victor grabbed his chance.'
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Sean Connery was in the show as well. It was his first show.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06He stood behind me, pushed me and said, "You're on."
0:11:06 > 0:11:08I went on to the stage, "And..."
0:11:09 > 0:11:12He was marvellous. He sat up with me in the digs all night.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15We didn't know about drugs. We were just drinking coffee.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19He said, "Stay awake because tomorrow you've got to give a performance.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22"Tonight, you got through on nerves."
0:11:22 > 0:11:24'Touring the provinces is all very well,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27'but the aspiring young actor needs to get known
0:11:27 > 0:11:28'and to get work in London.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32'In Victor's case, this meant doing a turn on a stage
0:11:32 > 0:11:34'in which the girls weren't actresses at all.'
0:11:34 > 0:11:36The Irving Theatre Strip Club.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39The only club were the nudes can move.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43I went in to see it. I joined and then I went into the bar.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46I was talking to the guy who ran it, Mr Choudary.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49"I'm looking for somebody to play with my lovely girls."
0:11:49 > 0:11:53I said, "Me." He said, "Start Monday." He was desperate.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55On the Monday, I open in the West End. This little place.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Five shows a day, four on Sundays.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01The tabs opened and my first number was -
0:12:01 > 0:12:04# So this is London
0:12:04 > 0:12:06# Where the sophisticates meet. #
0:12:06 > 0:12:10I looked out in the audience and it was composed entirely
0:12:10 > 0:12:13of four Chinese sailors playing with themselves!
0:12:14 > 0:12:16'Doing reviews in the strip club
0:12:16 > 0:12:20'meant he was learning how to hold his own as an entertainer.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22'And then he had a life changing audition
0:12:22 > 0:12:26'with the radical left wing theatre director, Joan Littlewood.'
0:12:26 > 0:12:30...about the Soho underworld, under their director, Joan Littlewood.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'Joan Littlewood created plays for and about ordinary people.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37'She was unique in the world of post war theatre.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42'Amongst her many gifts was a flair for spotting original talent.'
0:12:43 > 0:12:47A woman that I'll love until the end of my life. She was fabulous.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50But I had to go an audition for her.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54So I went up to Wyndhams. I had a break between shows.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58I went to see her. "Hello, darling." Down she comes to the front.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00"Have we met before?"
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Because directors don't come down to the front. They sit in the back.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07She said, "If somebody said, here's £1 million, pull down this theatre
0:13:07 > 0:13:11"and turn it into a potato warehouse, what would you do?"
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I said, "I'd pull it down and go round the world.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17"There are lots of theatres in London and most of them are showing rubbish."
0:13:17 > 0:13:20She said, "You've got the part. You can play Charlie."
0:13:20 > 0:13:23A voice in the back said, "Charlie's the lead."
0:13:23 > 0:13:26And she said, "You've got the lead, love."
0:13:26 > 0:13:29'Joan Littlewood recognised a unique talent in Victor.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33'Her methods, based on experiment and improvisation,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35'played to Victor's strengths.'
0:13:35 > 0:13:38She was a funny old creature, she was, you know.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40I'm sure he...
0:13:40 > 0:13:44I'm sure Victor thinks sometimes that she didn't like him.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48But I think it's an admiration they've got for you.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51They don't know how to put it, you know.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54She'd just say, "Well Victor can do anything can't he?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56"He can do any accent. He can do anything."
0:13:56 > 0:14:00'In "Oh What a Lovely War", Victor played a variety of roles,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04'most notably the compare and the sergeant major.'
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Joan always said that we have to entertain.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13She was one of those people that...
0:14:13 > 0:14:16She loved the fact that I did variety.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19She loved the fact that I could talk directly to an audience,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22which is what she used in "Oh What a Lovely War".
0:14:22 > 0:14:24But the way she worked was...
0:14:24 > 0:14:26For example in "Oh What a Lovely War",
0:14:26 > 0:14:30there was a scene at the end of act one in the trenches.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33First of all, we rehearsed it, we did impressions.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36How would Groucho Marx play this scene?
0:14:36 > 0:14:41All sorts of lovely, fun, bubbly things, joyous things came in.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45I was terribly upset when I wasn't called for rehearsals.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Actors couldn't wait to have a day off. I wanted to be there.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50# Oh it's a lovely war. #
0:14:50 > 0:14:53'After critical success in London,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55'the show was about to move to Broadway
0:14:55 > 0:14:57'when Victor's loyalty was tested
0:14:57 > 0:15:02'by a lucrative offer from a big shot producer in Los Angeles.'
0:15:02 > 0:15:04A million dollars, Hollywood.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07I said, "But I've got to go to New York with Oh What a Lovely War."
0:15:07 > 0:15:10He said, "I don't want you to go to New York with that.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15"Anybody who's anybody has already seen you in that show in London.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"I don't want you to go to New York." I thought, "Who's he?"
0:15:18 > 0:15:22I said, "I'm an integral part of the show. I can't just walk out now."
0:15:22 > 0:15:26He said, "Make up your mind. A million dollars, Hollywood, or..."
0:15:26 > 0:15:30I thought about it and I realised then that for me, it's no good.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35Hollywood's no good for me. The whole idea of going to Hollywood.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37You have a blonde with the biggest boobs,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40the boyfriend in the closet, the smartest car,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45and if Gene Kelly didn't invite you to his tennis weekend, you were nobody.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48That is small town living.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50There's not enough money in the world.
0:15:50 > 0:15:57I think most people find it very hard to believe that any actor
0:15:57 > 0:16:00wouldn't want to become a success in Hollywood.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05That's the default setting in our society
0:16:05 > 0:16:09is that the height of success in acting is to be in an American film.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Ideally, a successful one. But it's not necessarily the case.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I'm not putting words in his mouth,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19but it's not necessarily the be all and end all.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23'Victor decided to pass on the Hollywood contract
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'and went to New York with "Oh What a Lovely War".
0:16:26 > 0:16:29'Victor's performance on Broadway was a huge success
0:16:29 > 0:16:31'and he went on to win a Tony Award,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'the highest accolade in American theatre.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:40The night of the ceremony and Carol Channing was presenting the award
0:16:40 > 0:16:46and she opened the envelope and said, "And the winner is Victor Spinetti."
0:16:46 > 0:16:50I didn't expect to win so I ran up on stage, I had no speech prepared.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53But I thought, I'll do it in phoney Welsh. I mean, they won't know.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57So I said to the audience, "I'd like to make my acceptance speech
0:16:57 > 0:16:59"in the language of the country of my birth."
0:16:59 > 0:17:02They thought Italian, right? But I did it in Welsh.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I don't speak Welsh but I know the tune. This was my speech.
0:17:05 > 0:17:12I said, "(PRETENDS TO SPEAK WELSH)... the director, Joan Littlewood."
0:17:12 > 0:17:14IMPERSONATES APPLAUSE
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Then, "(PRETENDS TO SPEAK WELSH)... the producer, David Merrick."
0:17:19 > 0:17:21IMPERSONATES APPLAUSE
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Then I said, "(PRETENDS TO SPEAK WELSH)... the cast."
0:17:25 > 0:17:26IMPERSONATES APPLAUSE
0:17:26 > 0:17:31I came off stage and they said, "Oh Mr Spinetti, from that little country."
0:17:31 > 0:17:34There wasn't a word of Welsh in it!
0:17:35 > 0:17:38'Victor's flair for the surreal fitted perfectly
0:17:38 > 0:17:42'in the Beatles' next film, "Magical Mystery Tour",
0:17:42 > 0:17:44'where he was able to reprise his role
0:17:44 > 0:17:47'of the sergeant major character from "Oh What a Lovely War"
0:17:47 > 0:17:50'and demonstrate his ability to play the absurd.'
0:17:50 > 0:17:57Waa-aye-jolly-bow-oo-aa-thaa-oop-see- it-see-aa-sop-right.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01I said, you know the thing you did in Lovely War, that's fantastic.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Can we have that character pretty much and just make it up.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08I'll be sort of, "Oh jolly good."
0:18:08 > 0:18:11I'll just nod occasionally and you just take the scene.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I knew he could do it.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Na-come-n-told-and-n-come-n-told-and- me-come-sure-velsut!
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Jolly good!
0:18:26 > 0:18:28That's great. Wonderful.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32You-wanna-come-to-buddy-ongl-jon-o lly-out-of.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36'His unique improvisational style demands virtuosic technique.'
0:18:36 > 0:18:37Why?
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- Why?- Why?
0:18:41 > 0:18:45You-loss-on-hoi-you-low-tha-bloody-j ean-tha-cut-tha-sta-a-drow.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47O-eh-tha-come-a-start-a-drow.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49You-ga-mas-anasonic.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51You get your bloody hair cut!
0:18:57 > 0:18:59A Beatle at the National Theatre.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04An excerpt from 'In His Own Right'. John Lennon the writer.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07And Victor Spinetti, who adapted and directed it.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11'In 1968, Victor worked with his friend John Lennon,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15'directing and adapting John's books into a play - In His Own Right.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19'This was his first foray into the world of directing theatre.'
0:19:21 > 0:19:25An awful lot of the play is about radio and TV.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Well, that's all I ever heard.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29- I mean, you go home and... - Comic books.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33- You've got your comic books, your church...- Your classic comics.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- Your classic comics. - Your Beano.- Your school.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Your school, your pub and your TV and your radio.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40- Exactly.- And that was it.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43It's a funny thing you didn't put in pop music.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46- This is before.- No, because up until then, it hadn't hit me.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Pop music didn't hit me until I was 16 and this is all before,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52the things that happened before 16.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55But it's not really John's childhood, it's all of ours really.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59It is. We're all one, Victor. We're all one, aren't we?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02It was a kind of knack to get into our inner circle.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09And it was the knack of not being bothered, of not thinking,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11"I must get into that inner circle."
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Anyone who thought that couldn't get in,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17because you could see they were trying too hard.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Someone like Victor, he just was in anyway.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22You couldn't get him out!
0:20:26 > 0:20:30'Over the years, Victor Spinetti has appeared principally in comic roles
0:20:30 > 0:20:32'in the West End and on Broadway.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34'He's made over 30 films
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'and yet it is still the challenge of the work itself that drives him.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47'In 2005 he departed from comedy by playing Albert Einstein,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50'a character wracked with guilt at the end of his life,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53'in the fringe production of Albert's Boy
0:20:53 > 0:20:56'by the highly regarded young playwright James Graham.'
0:20:57 > 0:21:01I don't know how he does it but you only have to look into his eyes.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05And somewhere behind there, something was going on
0:21:05 > 0:21:08that wasn't necessarily in my text, or that I'd earned,
0:21:08 > 0:21:14but there was such a weight of pain, remorse, regret,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17torment... I don't where he gets it from,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20I imagine from the things that's happened in his life.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22But he brought it all to this part
0:21:22 > 0:21:26and he would do it with the way he used his mouth,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30or the very small glazing over of his eyes.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36But it's just incredible the emotional truth he can bring
0:21:36 > 0:21:40to a part and he broke my heart every night.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45You've had this extraordinary life. Do you have any regrets?
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Well, yes. Of course.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Regrets about not being able to say to people at the right time,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55when you needed to say it, like "I love you",
0:21:55 > 0:21:59or... Sometimes that's difficult to say, or things that you...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Those things.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06'Victor Spinetti's character is rooted in family and friends.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12'Wherever he performed or where one of the shows he directed was playing, Victor always made sure
0:22:12 > 0:22:17'that his nearest and dearest were there, often in the plushest of circumstances.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21'His occasionally difficult relationship with his father
0:22:21 > 0:22:24'was finally resolved when Victor invited his parents
0:22:24 > 0:22:28'to see his production of the hit musical Hair in Rome.'
0:22:28 > 0:22:32'Strange, really, sons and their fathers.'
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Victor always waited for Dad to tell him that you were good.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39And he waited...
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and he waited...
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and then when he took Hair to Rome,
0:22:43 > 0:22:48and Dad saw his name up in lights, cos he got them to Rome...
0:22:48 > 0:22:51He said, "You must come over," he took this wonderful apartment
0:22:51 > 0:22:56and he said to Mam and Dad, "You must come to Rome and see Hair in Rome."
0:22:56 > 0:23:00And that's when my father stood outside the theatre in Rome
0:23:00 > 0:23:05and burst into tears, because the Spinetti name was above the theatre.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11'Victor Spinetti's relentless need to work
0:23:11 > 0:23:15'means he has played everything, from Shakespeare at the RSC
0:23:15 > 0:23:20'to the musical Oliver, from Taming the Shrew with Burton and Taylor,
0:23:20 > 0:23:25'to directing the racy Let's Get Laid for Soho sex king Paul Raymond.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34'Still living above the shop, Victor has a flat in Soho in London.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Yet, though he as at the centre of theatre land,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42he still feels the need to keep his distance, to be an outsider.'
0:23:43 > 0:23:48When I was with the RSC, very often I'd meet someone after,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53"Oh, didn't you direct that play, something by Paul Raymond?"
0:23:53 > 0:23:54I'd say, "Yes."
0:23:54 > 0:23:56I was once warned off,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00a member of the establishment, very high up,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02said to Tony Shaffer, the guy who wrote Sleuth,
0:24:02 > 0:24:07"Tell Victor Spinetti, if he directs another play for Paul Raymond,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09"he's finished in this country."
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I mean...
0:24:20 > 0:24:21OK.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25- < Have you got your own dressing room here yet?- Number one.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27What do you bloody expect?
0:24:28 > 0:24:32My lav is bigger than my dressing room. Have a look.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42'Now aged 81, Victor is still on tour,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45'currently playing the role of an elderly butler
0:24:45 > 0:24:49'in Ian Dickens' production of Murdered to Death.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53'To this day, he remains stimulated by the process of acting
0:24:53 > 0:24:57'and those who get to work with him consider it a privilege.'
0:24:57 > 0:25:02'You have to work with Victor Spinetti if you've done anything in this business. He's a legend.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06'He can be as big and as large as he wants or as subtle as he wants.'
0:25:06 > 0:25:08He comes on as the butler,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11makes people laugh and then runs off.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15So he's got carte blanche to do his own stuff in this
0:25:15 > 0:25:18and he camps it up fully.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20This business of luvvie-ing...
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Being in love with the business, it's not that.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26It's finding out how to do what you want.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Some nights on stage, I've done this show for months,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32to find the correct way to deliver a line.
0:25:32 > 0:25:38At the moment, you think, "That's the way to deliver it!" That minute, you're a millionaire.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41That's what the riches are in this business.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45People that do it to become rich must be idiots. Be a banker!
0:25:45 > 0:25:51I admire him, as one of the most talented actors I've ever seen, you know.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57And to work with, he gives... he gives, he just doesn't take, he's a great giver.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02He makes me laugh, he's very witty, he's wonderful to go out with.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07I haven't worked with him for some time, but I go to see him in anything he does.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13I said to him once, "You've worked with all these people #we consider to be the greats,
0:26:13 > 0:26:20"these iconic figures. What do they share? What would you say they have in common?"
0:26:20 > 0:26:22And he knew straight away.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25He said, "They all lived in the moment."
0:26:26 > 0:26:31They weren't thinking about what was coming or what had gone by,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35but now...which is fascinating.
0:26:35 > 0:26:41They say that's one of the things, one of the keys to happiness.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49'A natural entertainer, the Welsh- Italian boy from the Valleys,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52'always happy to conjure up a magical moment.'
0:26:53 > 0:26:56One of Victor's things that he would do,
0:26:56 > 0:27:02he would say, "I can make clouds disappear." We'd say, "Sure, get out of here!"
0:27:02 > 0:27:06"No. I can. Do you want to see me do it?" We'd say, "Yeah!"
0:27:06 > 0:27:10He'd say, "Right, choose a cloud." And we'd go, "That one."
0:27:11 > 0:27:12He said, "OK."
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And he would look at it and you'd look at it and it would disappear.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19It was like, "Magic! How do you do that?"
0:27:19 > 0:27:23He's very much admired and very loved.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Joan adored him.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Joan adored him because he was so fantastic.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32He could take something and just do wonders with it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35'He spent a lifetime entertaining.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39'During that time, he's won awards, reached the top of his profession,
0:27:39 > 0:27:45'he's worked with all of the greats and has a wealth of experience he's happy to share,
0:27:45 > 0:27:50'but far from resting on his laurels, Victor Spinetti lives in the moment
0:27:50 > 0:27:53'and is looking forward to the next curtain call.'
0:27:54 > 0:27:59I come out, mun, and there's life... there's life outside.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I mean, I grew up in the country in Cwm and I loved it.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I was up the mountains...
0:28:04 > 0:28:07But now, I'm a townie.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10I'm a townie. I love it!
0:28:10 > 0:28:14I love it. I love being in the middle of things.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18I think when you're older, you should be in the centre of things.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Not on the outskirts, in the middle. I come out of my front door
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and there's this, there's Covent Garden, there's Soho.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I couldn't be happier.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30I couldn't be luckier.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Bloody wonderful!
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:38 > 0:28:41E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk