A musical blast from the past – rediscovering a renaissance man of entertainment
This article first appeared in the April 2022 edition of Comet.
In my article on the benefits of a home gym, I mentioned the fact that I listen to podcasts as I exercise. What I didn’t reveal then is just how vital these podcasts are to my keeping on with my daily circuit, which otherwise could become pretty boring. Instead, my preferred podcasts – featuring stories about an abundance of interesting people – make that circuit an active pleasure and even something to look forward to. Sometimes. I love Chat 10 Looks 3, The Moth Hour, This American Life, and the ABC’s Days Like These and Ladies, We Need to Talk. But my first and enduring favourite is the ABC’s Conversations with Richard Fidler or – increasingly – Sarah Kanowski.
And it was a recent Conversation featuring comedian Mark Trevorrow (AKA Bob Downe) that drove me way back down memory lane, revisiting the work and life of the multi-talented, British-born Anthony Newley – who had had a dazzling career from childhood, as a highly successful actor (stealing the show with an early film role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist), as well as, later, a singer, songwriter (of memorable songs such as What Kind of Fool am I and Goldfinger) and co-creator of musicals, including the film score of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971. I’m embarrassed to admit that the main thing I’d remembered him for was his marriage, for a while, to Joan Collins, by whom he had two of his five children.
Trevorrow was promoting his own new musical show, and – unusually for this podcast – extracts from a number of songs in that show were also played, including several by Newley, which – when heard – were totally familiar and as lovely as ever. Added to that, Trevorrow spoke glowingly of him as a delightful individual. It was all so interesting that I spent some time afterwards looking him up, and being reminded of all that he had packed into his 67 years before he died of cancer in 1999. And thanks to YouTube I discovered an episode of This is Your Life, all about him, in the year before he died. For anyone who wants to revisit his accomplishments in a most moving way (I defy you to emerge from it dry-eyed, after scenes such as the embrace between him and his 95-year-old mother), I can highly recommend that episode, which can be seen via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6oRueZQRY8.
Throughout our long lives we have been privileged to be entertained by so many talented people. And rediscovering Anthony Newley has been such a pleasure that it’s inspired me to revisit more of those great artists from our past, who deserve to continue to be remembered and enjoyed.
Anne Ring ©2022