Just Good Friends star Paul Nicholas only landed his most famous role thanks to half a dozen BBC secretaries telling sceptical bosses he was a hit.
Mr Nicholas had made his name as a singer and the Corporation feared he might not be able to carry the role of Vince, the comedy’s lead character, over a series.
So they left the final decision to the typing pool, who came back with the seal of approval.
Mr Nicholas said: “Back then the head of BBC comedy was John Howard Davies, a very nice man.
“But because by that time I’d been a pop singer and had a few hits, he was concerned I wouldn’t be able to sustain the part over a series.
“So director Ray Butt decided he would conduct a scientific poll on the pilot we had filmed with Jan Francis. He showed the episode to about five or six secretaries who gave me the thumbs up.
“Ray related that to John Howard Davis who said, ‘Fine, if they like it, then I like it’. And it did indeed become a big success. So I was saved by a few ladies at the BBC!” The show, created 40 years ago, catapulted Nicholas, now 78, to stardom as a TV heartthrob.
Paul has been a showbiz grafter all his life, self-taught as an actor and singer. He explained: “I grew up in the 40s and the 50s, and in those days there wasn’t a lot going on.
“It was post-war, there were still ration books and all that stuff. There wasn’t much money either and there was no TV.
“So really, the only escape for little boys like me was being taken to the pictures. I watched all those wonderful colourful films like Singin’ In The Rain and all those musicals that were prevalent in the mid-50s. That was the spur for me.”
He admits he “wasn’t very good at school”, so got involved with local bands and “learned the craft of singing”. Paul recalled: “I was lucky enough to get involved with Hair which came about in 1967. They were looking for kids off the street, people that could sing but that looked a bit like hippies, though not necessarily trained actors.
“But you did have to be able to sing and that was really the saviour for me. Basically I’ve done that ever since and learned on the job.”
He won the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972: “I mean, I’m not religious. But the first time I went
up on the cross and they played the Theme of Gethsemane, as Jesus dies, I did feel very emotional.
“I started to cry. You felt so vulnerable up there. The effect it had on me certainly transferred to the audience, because the only sound I could hear was people sobbing in the audience.”
His singing career was flourishing too, with top ten hits including Dancing With The Captain, and Grandma’s Party in 1976.
Paul also branched into producing with a string of successes, including Grease, Saturday Night Fever and The Pirates of Penzance.
He jokes: “I was always very generous. I managed to employ myself in several of the shows!”
More recently he starred in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel about retirees living old disgracefully.
He said: “These days being as old as I am at 78, is not like being 78 in 1950 or 1940.
“There’s a lot more to do now for older people. There’s a great line in the show, which I think is worth quoting. It says, ‘We’re not old. We’ve just been young for a very long time’.
“Or another that goes, ‘The great thing about being old is that you don’t give a – fill in the blank!’”
- Musicals, Marigolds And Me, by Paul Nicholas, charting more than 50 years in the entertainment business., available from Monday on Amazon, Audible & iTunes
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Hollywood News Click Here
