Greasy Spoon Cafe, Fifties Nostalgia
The Light Programme.
By 1946 many performers were demobbed from the forces.
Many had spent their war entertaining the troops on the front line. From
there they often moved onto the Music Hall. The Windmill Theater in London
was often the first stop for many. £15 a week was the salary for
some of the performers, for three shows a day, six days a week. With this
type of apprenticeship, acts were honed to perfection. The BBC took their
pick from this huge pool of talent.
Frankie Howard and Tony Hancock
Frankie Howard.
'Variety Bandbox' was a show case for new talent. The
show was hosted on alternate weeks by Frankie and Derek Roy. Some of the
names that found their way onto the show. Alfred Marks, Jimmy Edwards,
Peter Sellars, Michael Bentine, Harry Secombe, Graham Stark, Morecombe
and Wise, Harry Worth and Tony Hancock. To name but a few.
Peter Ustinov and Peter Jones
Peter Ustinov and Peter Jones stars of the
programme 'In all Directions', in 1953. They both wrote the scripts and
acted in the show. Peter Jones played a character called 'Dudley', an east
end spiv who conducted all of his business from a telephone box was a joy
to listen to.