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Louise English
Television and Radio Interviews
Scotland TV — Louise is her usual dazzling, charming self as she and David Essex discuss the All The Fun Of The Fair tour in this video interview on Scotland TV's The Five-Thirty Show. This is a rare opportunity for Louise's many fans outside the UK to see her and hear her speak out-of-character. Liverpool's City Talk Radio 105.9 — Louise gave a very interesting interview about Benny Hill to Dean Sullivan. To read the transcription of the interview click here.
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Hosted by Dean Sullivan Liverpool’s City Talk Radio 105.9 Friday, 17 April 2009, 1:30 PM
Dean Sullivan = DS Louise English = LOUISE
DS: Let’s give our listeners a clip from your career.
LOUISE: Right
DS: [Plays the theme to The Benny Hill Show (Yakety Sax).] Does that bring back some happy memories?
LOUISE: Oh, very happy memories.
DS: Benny Hill, how were you involved with Benny Hill? Were you on the TV show?
LOUISE: Yes, I did his television shows up until 1986.
DS: Were you one of the girls running around the fields?
LOUISE: I was. I was 16 when I met him. He formed a group called Hill’s Angels about a year or two after I was in the show, and I was doing all the sketches with him and sang on the shows with him, and he use to write things for me to do with him, which was great.
DS: And what was he actually like as a man? Because, you know, you here all these stories that he died on his own in a little flat somewhere with stacks of money underneath…
LOUISE: About this time of year it was, Easter. He was a very, very lovely, sensitive man. A very private man, who I think was actually frightened of being hurt by people.
DS: Really?
LOUISE: So he went into, sort of, gradually—not reclusive—but he just kept himself with the people he knew and loved. And I can quite understand that now—now that I’m older, I can. At the time I always thought he’s always on his own, bless him. But he loved his mum and dad, he loved his close family, but he wasn’t reclusive. He was a very happy, happy, successful man.
DS: I wondered, but he was successful, highly successful. These days it’s a shame that the genre of comedy he was a master of is sometimes frowned upon these days, you know.
LOUISE: Do you think it still is? Or, do you think there are other things to frown upon now? I think there is, isn’t there? Like people playing tricks on radio shows and things. I think that’s worse.
I think that kind of behavior…I mean the old school, the Morecambe and Wise, Benny Hill – they were all such gentlemen and so lovely. I’m so privileged that I remember meeting them when I was 16. I was just a baby, starting out.
I just remember everyone being so lovely to one another and Eric Morecambe would shake Benny by the hand and say, “Well done, Benny. We’re so thrilled for you that your show has done so well in America.”
And Benny would say, “Thank you very much, sir.” That was great respect. It was just fantastic.
DS: If you’ve just tuned in you are listening to City Talk 105.9, the voice of Liverpool. My special guest in the café at this hour is one of the stars from All The Fun Of The Fair, alongside David Essex. I’m joined by Louise English.
Yes, a gentleman, but I can remember reading after he died they found un-cashed checks in his flat from TV series and things.
LOUISE: Umm, yeah, yeah, Dennis [Kirkland] was there when he was found. He was on his own over Easter because it was just Easter and he had been to see me in Me and My Girl on Wednesday, which was just prior. He died on a Sunday.
And he came to the matinee and I was in it with Les Dennis, who’s from Liverpool, as you know, and Benny wanted to have a picture taken with me, which is something he never used to do. He was always very private and quiet, but he insisted on a photo shoot that I had to organize, which I thought was a bit odd. But, looking back…
DS: What was it for then?
LOUISE: Just, he wanted a picture with me. I didn’t know what it was for. He just said, “Get the publicity people in, “ and he came in and we had pictures.
And Les was there and Les took the pictures, and they were the pictures they used when Benny died—on the Monday morning.
I don’t know whether he knew he was going to die or whether…he was obviously feeling very ill and he had a very bad heart problem. Whether or not he was told I don’t know, but he wouldn’t leave my dressing room. He didn’t want to go, and at the half-hour call, a half-hour before the show, the company manager is coming in and said, “All right, Miss English, guests will have to go now,” and he had no intention of going.
DS: Well what did he do then?
LOUISE: He stayed until the five-minute call, and then he very reluctantly left. He was like a dad to me, you see. I grew up with him.
DS: That is unusual. If people don’t know who are listening, backstage there are all those rituals. People have to be out of the dressing room by five-to-seven.
LOUISE: Yes
DS: So, you said he was like a dad to you?
LOUISE: Yeah, he was. So, when I said goodbye to him, I felt really…I knew there was something not right. I knew there was something wrong. But, I couldn’t…I just kept thinking, “Oh, well it will be fine. We’ll get Easter over.”
And when you’re doing a show, it’s not that you’re flippant, it’s just that you have to go on stage. You have to. You’re called to. You can’t just say, “Oh, I think I’d like the night off. Please, can I go off with Benny for something to eat?” because I was a bit worried about him, but I couldn’t. I had to stay and do the show.
He was very happy though because he had been given a new contract with Central Television and he was going to do a new series because, you know, he was sacked from Thames. And he had Dennis Kirkland…
DS: How did he react to that?
LOUISE: He took it very well. I was furious for him.
DS: Did he? Because Benny Hill was with Thames for a long time wasn’t he?
LOUISE: 32 years, or something, wasn’t it?
DS: Amazing
LOUISE: Yeah, yeah, and he was just called into the office—and just on a—and they insisted that he go in on his own. They said, “We don’t want your agent with you. Or your director with you.”
And he thought it was just to do another promo for the south of France. Because, I think he just picked up an award from the Cannes Film Festival.
DS: Why do you think they made this decision?
LOUISE: Well, I think it was the controller’s wife who was a bit of a snob. It’s, “Oh, dear, we can’t have all that. Those girls running about. It’s not on. It’s not on.”
And you know, you become out of favour, don’t you, as a comedian? Which I think he accepted. You know, you have your day, and he had his own show for forty-five years…
DS: And, yeah, Benny Hill wasn’t just about chasing scantily-dressed girls around a field.
LOUISE: No, he was quite marvelous with the sketches and things…
DS: Yeah, and created great characters as well.
LOUISE: Yeah, but as you say, it was that sort of press attention and media—sort or pressurizing—I think just on the girls running around and, actually when you see the shows, there was just a tiny clip of that sometimes.
But he was a great comedian and he was huge in America, and his shows went to 70 countries around the world which I still get repeat money from, and it’s still a great interest in America, I still get lots of letters.
And he was absolutely enormous, and Michael Jackson was desperate to meet him. Everybody, everybody—Liza Minelli, Burt Reynolds—they all wanted to be in the show. They wanted to do anything in the show. They wanted to run around at the end with the girls at the end, just to do anything on it.
So to be in something that was so phenomenally large—he was just so quiet and sweet about it.
DS: So, Louise, it must have been a huge—obviously you were very close to him—obviously from what you said…
LOUISE: Yeah
DS: So, it must have been a terrible shock to find out he died.
LOUISE: Terrible shock. I heard on the radio going home. Terrible shock, yeah.
DS: How did it all start for you? Were you always interested in becoming an actress, a singer?
LOUISE: Yes, I’m afraid I was because…
DS: Treading the boards.
LOUISE: My mother was and so was my father—a musician in the orchestra pits.
DS: Well, tell us about your mum and dad.
LOUISE: Well, she had a beautiful singing voice, and my mum was in the Evening Stars with Leslie Crowther and they used to do summer season shows.
And there was one year she was at the Winter Gardens and Benny was at the Lido with Reg Varney, and I think my mum was only 17 or 18. And he [Benny] was in love with someone that was in my mum’s show, or something had happened—there was a romance going on. But she turned him down and Benny was very upset. So, I think my mum took him out for egg and chips and a cup of tea to cheer him up.
So, they sort of had a great respect for each other and knew each other. Bob Monkhouse was there as well, writing shows. There was a great kind of union they had really.
Mum said that she always knew he [Benny] was going to do well. He always thought he would just be a writer.
You see, he wrote all these scripts and took them to the BBC when he was very young. He was about 27, and the man said, “Oh yes, we would like to do the shows.”
And he [Benny] said, “Well, who do you think would be able to do them?”
And the controller of the BBC said, “You, Mr Hill. We’re going to give it to you,” and that’s how he got his own show in the 50s.
Oh, he was lovely. You would have loved him. He was just great fun, and just a lovely, normal guy.
And the money you see, you mentioned the checks, well, the money wasn’t important to him. He used to give a lot of it away, a lot of it to charities.
DS: Do you still miss him?
LOUISE: Terribly, I do, yeah.
DS: I mean you mentioned earlier it was this time of year when he passed away. So, it’s one of those things that always comes back to you.
What are some of your—let’s not be miserable—what are some of your favourite parts? I’ve just been reading through, skimming through, your CV as we call it. You’ve done lots of musicals and shows haven’t you?
LOUISE: I’ve done lots of plays too. I try to balance them out with plays.
DS: Yeah
LOUISE: Because you know what it’s like when you’re an actor. So, you know, if you do too much singing: “Oh, well she is not an actress.” So, you’ve got to always keep proving yourself, which is exhausting.
And I think I’ve spent my whole career proving I could do it, from the age of 16. Particularly having been on The Benny Hill Show, it’s all people want to talk about or remember you by. So you have to balance with a few bits of Shakespeare and bits and bobs.
DS: Absolutely. Any favourite roles?
LOUISE: All of them, I can honestly say. I like this one at the moment [Rosa in All The Fun Of The Fair] because it’s the first I’ve ever played a very hard woman, and I think it’s the first time I’ve come on stage not smiling.
DS: And isn’t it great to be given the opportunity to create a brand-new character?
LOUISE: Yes, it’s wonderful. That doesn’t happen very often.
DS: Well, it doesn’t, especially in the world of musicals as well. Because very often you’ll have people say, “I saw so-and-so in such-a-thing, but she wasn’t good as…” because they make that comparison.
LOUISE: Of course they do. Like when I did Me and My Girl, there were so many Me and My Girls before me, Emma Thompson being one of them. But, doing something so marvelous as this… is that yes, you are.
You’re on the CD first because it’s the first thing they’re doing. And David [Essex] is thinking of filming it too, which would be amazing. But, I must say that working with him [David Essex] has been an absolute pleasure and delight.
DS: Well, Louise, it’s been an absolute pleasure and delight talking to you.
LOUISE: Thank you.
DS: You’re at the Empire until Saturday?
LOUISE: Saturday, yes, please come and see it.
DS: I will do, I’m going to come tomorrow.
LOUISE: We had a great crowd last night—danced standing up, but I love Liverpool. Liverpool never let me down.
DS: Liverpool has great audiences.
LOUISE: Yeah
DS: It’s been great talking to you, Louise.
LOUISE: Thank you.
Excerpted from The Five-Thirty Show Hosted by Stephen Jardine and Rachel McTavish STV (Scotland TV-Glasgow); (www.youtube.com) Thursday, 6 November 2008, 5:30 PM
Rachel McTavish = RM Louise English = LOUISE Stephen Jardine = SJ David Essex = DE
RM: David joins us now with his co-star Louise English. Thank you
both very much for coming in. Louise you're equally experienced. There'll be a lot of dads sitting at home
going "I recognize that face". You were one of the main Benny Hill ladies,
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