Categories
1950-1999

Russell Harty Plus Frankie Howerd, 1974

Another interview transcript from Russell Harty Plus, 1974. An absolute riot of an interview here with Frankie Howerd.

Russell Harty and Frankie Howerd, 1974
Russell Harty and Frankie Howerd, 1974

It’s so vivid you can practically hear it as you read…
(screams of laughter)

Oh, isn’t the internet marvellous? It’s only just occurred to me that someone’s probably put all these Russell Harty interviews on Youtube, and of course they have. Here’s an edited version of the interview – I see the transcript took out a whole bit about Howerd’s house in Malta and it’s all a bit less screamy that I imagined.

Here you go, witness Russell’s strangely carpeted studio:

 

Categories
1950-1999

Arthur Askey and the Diddymen, 1974

Did you know that Ken Dodd didn’t invent the Diddymen? Arthur Askey, another Liverpudlian comic, talked about them, treacle mines and all, in the early years of his act in the 1920s. But he didn’t invent them either, they’d been part of local folklore in this part of the country for much longer. I don’t have any more information about their origins though, I would love to know more.

Here’s a 1974 Arthur Askey interview from Russell Harty Plus, where he mentions the Diddymen and sounds ever so slightly ticked off that Ken Dodd was much more successful with them.

He was told when he went to London as a young comedian,

“We think you’re going to be very good, Arthur, but you must drop that Liverpool accent. You must get rid of your accent and you mustn’t talk about Diddy Men or jam butty factories or treacle mines.” Of course, Ken Dodd comes along thirty-odd years later and, through radio and television, they know what he’s talking about. But in those days I was doing missionary work, you know!”

Oh, and I like the sound of his untheatrical wife, who he claims had barely any idea of what he did for a living,

“My wife – I always used to say that she thought I was a burglar. She knew I went out at night to do something, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. When I got my O.B.E. (I must drag that in), I said to my wife: “Do come along to Buckingham Palace to see me get this.” And she said: “What time is it?” I said, “Half past ten”. She said: “I can’t go at half past ten. I’ve got my work to do. It’s all right for the Queen, she’s got staff.”

Categories
1950-1999 Women

Barbara Cartland’s Powdered Brain, 1974

The late, great Russell Harty. I love him as an interviewer – he’s funny yet gently probing. This 1974 book, Russell Harty Plus, is a transcript of a number of his interviews. I can’t quite imagine transcripts of chat shows being published now. But then, celebrities wouldn’t always be plugging things in those days, it really could be all about the chat.

Here’s Barbara Cartland, talking about her love of glamour, vitamin pills and eating powdered brain (what?). She got her Damehood in the end.

Russell Harty Plus, 1974
Russell Harty Plus, 1974