A FAREWELL TO TWO THEATRICAL GREATS
Dame Joan Plowright and Charles Kay
Last week, we said goodbye to one of the towering figures of British Theatre, Dame Joan Plowright, who has died at the age of 95.
Dame Joan Plowright obituary - The Guardian
Married to Sir Laurence Olivier for 28 years until he died in 1989, she was at the heart of an extraordinarily fertile period which, starting in the late 1950s, saw the rise of the Royal Court, and the establishment of the National Theatre. Her performance as Beatie Bryant in Arnold Wesker’s “Roots” with The English Stage Company announced her as one of the true greats of her era, this in a time of such illustrious peers as Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Dorothy Tutin, Dame Eileen Atkins and Billie Whitelaw - among others.
She was born in Lincolnshire in 1929, so by the time she entered my attention span, as an eager young wannabe drama student, she was already pushing fifty years old.
I remember the impact her performance had on me in Granada Television’s 1978 production of Saturday, Sunday Monday, shown as part of a series entitled “Laurence Olivier Presents”, and written by Eduardo De Filippo, translated by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse, and directed by Alan Bridges.
Its stellar cast included Frank Finlay as well as Sir Laurence himself and on the surface is a simple tale of Italian domesticity but ultimately becomes so much more. As a callow youth, I was captivated by her multi-layered performance and to my delight and surprise have found that it appears to be available on YouTube. It’s looking a little creaky now but then again, so do I.
If you’re inclined to see more of the wonder of Joan, then Franco Zeffirelli’s film “Tea with Mussolini” is an absolute must.
As an 18-year-old with his heart set on becoming an actor, watching the consummate skill of an artist like Plowright intimidated me but also spurred me on. I was fortunate to grow up in an era when British Television - and Granada Television in particular - was perhaps at its most fecund and had the budgets and the bravery to put on truly great drama. (Brideshead Revisited is a shining example, of course.)
Operating at a slightly less stratospheric level, but only just, we have also in the past week said goodbye to another theatrical great. the wonderful Charles Kay who has left us at the equally grand old age of 94.
Charles Kay obituary - the Guardian
For those of you reading this who are not already aware, y’know, in my audience of three, I spent almost ten years of my acting career, from the late eighties to the late nineties, playing a main character in the estimable British cop series, “The Bill”.
Of the many, many guest artists I had the pleasure of working with during that time, Charles is one who stands out. Already an admirer of his craft, it was a thrill to have the privilege of working with him twice and on both occasions, I found him to be charming, erudite, generous and funny, with a treasure trove of stories from that same golden era of British Theatre, Film and Television.
Born with the glorious name of Alfred Charles Piff - why ever would you change that? - Charles was regarded as one of the very best supporting actors of the past seven decades but in truth, I think he was rather more than that. More than supporting, I mean.
Like Plowright, he was a member of the English Stage Company and indeed was in the very same production of Wesker’s “Roots” that brought her to prominence. Like her, he also went on to join Olivier’s National Theatre.
He was a wonderfully flexible actor with a wide range, but there was also a twinkle lying just below the surface that made him, to my mind, particularly well suited to dry comedy.
The two times I worked with him, his performances were detailed and subtle, definitely from the “less is more” school of acting and all the better for it, to my mind.
Above is a still with Charles, the lovely Tom Cotcher (another fine Scot) and myself from one of the episodes we did together entitled, “I’ve Never Been to Harrogate”.
To my astonishment, I find that it’s currently available on YouTube so if you want to take a saunter down memory lane and see Charles at his understated best, check it out.
Ah, well, it was available for a moment or two but Fremantle who own the copyright have taken it down. Fair enough.
However, If you want to hear me bat on more about Charles and indeed my entire career, I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by George Fairbrother for his DEC4 Podcast (A deep dive into classic entertainment and culture; talking film and television, social history, nostalgia, and a little rock and roll.)
A Conversation with Andrew Mackintosh
George is a charming interviewer whose background research is quite phenomenal – he knows more about me than me – and if you want a very deep dive – and I mean DEEEEEEP – into my career, my wit and wisdom, then set aside an hour and a half and give it a listen. Surprisingly long given the paucity of my career, my wit and my wisdom.