Seems Like a Nice Boy by Mike Malyon

Author:Mike Malyon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Larry Grayson, Television, film, presenter, famous autobiography, TV star, Shut That Door, Man, Personality
ISBN: 9781911476009
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2016
Published: 2016-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

Eamonn Says: This is Your Life

As a breathless Larry settled into his chair for the telling of his life story, Eamonn opened the programme by saying: “Less than twelve months ago few knew your name, but now millions know it and your famous catchphrase “Shut That Door.”

The Christmas Show guests, who had all been in on the secret, were introduced. Mike and Bernie Winters, John Hanson, Lionel Blair and Heathmore were followed onto the set by Rod Hull - whose Emu then proceeded to attack Larry, leaving him to gasp: “I’ll kill that bird.”

In any interviews, charting his rise to fame, whenever Larry had spoken about Flo, he gave her the affectionate nickname ‘Fan’. And it was “Florence, known as Fan,” who Eamonn next called to come from behind the curtain. Clearly emotional, Larry greeted ‘the person closest to him’ as she limped across the stage, carrying her handbag.

“You all right, love?” Larry whispered, as he clasped her hand.

Pointing towards Larry, Eamonn asked: “Is he very fussy to look after?”

Flo quietly replied: “He’s not too bad.”

Larry chipped in: “She wouldn’t tell you anyway. She would never give away a secret.”

Flo’s sister, May, and her husband, Charlie, missed their cue before making their bow, to be followed by Alf and Nell Freeman, dressed to the nines in evening wear. My mum and dad, Joyce and Reg Malyon, told how they had taken Larry to a club in Warwick and had mistaken a private house for the stage door. “We walked in and realised our mistake when we saw this old lady getting ready for bed,” recalled Joyce. “Larry said: ‘It looks like we’re in the wrong place,’ and the woman replied ‘I should think you are.’ We quickly turned round and made our way out, suitcase first.”

Dora Bryan talked about her friendship with Larry, before ‘Student Prince’ John Hanson demonstrated the proper way to swirl a cape. This came about because, as part of his act, Larry used to pretend he had performed in musicals: “I’ve been very busy. I’ve done The Maid of the Mountains, The Quaker Girl and Rose Marie - but I refused The Chocolate Soldier.”

The show ended with an eighty-year-old Harry Leslie recalling the bitterly-cold 1947 tour to Devon. As the closing credits rolled, to the sound of the ‘Your Life’ signature tune, Larry walked towards the camera, with Flo by his side and tears in his eyes, and said “I love you all.”

With the programme in the can - and due to be screened ten days later - everyone involved, including the production crew, enjoyed a backstage party, along with other relatives and friends of Larry who had been in the audience. The celebrations continued when we returned to the Hampstead hotel, with Larry getting tipsy and looking forward to ‘the best Christmas ever’.

One abiding memory I have of that night was seeing my granddad, Charlie Roberts, wandering along the plush-carpeted hotel corridor in his braces, with bottles clinking in a carrier bag, as he tried to find his room.

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