The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

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Ladies n Genminminmin (er, min...), yes it's a 'cracking day' (see what I'm doing there?!) in 'The Clearing' as I have the great pleasure of welcoming the warm and wonderful Peter Lord, co-founder of Aardman Animations to the show!

Aardman Animations is (as I'm sure you know!) the globally renowned 4 times Academy Award Winning Clay Animated & Short Films company based in Bristol.

"Nice Cheese Gromit!"

4 Academy awards, The Freedom of the City of Bristol and a GOLD Blue Peter Badge to his name, in the bag and in the Clearing! 

Peter Lord also created and gifted "Morph" to the world; Morph being the wonderful plasticine comedy sidekick to Tony Hart and the iconic children's TV programme "Vision On" back in the day, that formed part of the fabric of my (and our) childhoods!

Peter also Directed one of my very very favourite Aardman Films "Chicken Run", with "Chicken Run 2" being in production as we speak.

Hurrah!

More about Peter Lord:

Born in Bristol, if Peter Lord had taken the Van Gogh advice, which he quotes, he might now be playing cricket. Or the piano. Instead he followed his father’s suggestion and made the most of whatever came his way. Aged 12, on his first day at school in Woking, he took the only desk left. This placed him next to a lad known there as ‘Sproxton D A.' (none other than Aardman Animations co-founder Dave Sproxton!)

45+ years later these two are still working together. What started as a ‘hobby for a dreary afternoon’ is now creating career opportunities for literally hundreds of others at Aardman Animations. 

‘Pete and Dave’ were the co-founders of this extraordinarily successful creative enterprise, which now belongs to its staff - a bit like the John Lewis model but Aardman’s models are much more famous on a worldwide basis. They include the amazing Morph, Chas and many others, like "Shaun the Sheep"; "Wallace and Gromit"; "Chicken Run"; "Flushed Away" to name but some of an absolutely extraordinary canon of work on which we've all brought our children up (and ourselves!)

 It all started with ordinary plasticine and Peter still remembers his artist mother making a plasticine loaf for him when he was aged around 4. Then cutting it into slices! 

At age 10, he credits his teacher in his School for Gifted Children in Australia in sharing his enthusiasm for Ogden Nash, Ray Bradbury and Marcel Marceau. That enthusiasm inspired him, more than the poetry or the prose or the mime. It kept him going through the ‘long days and long nights’ of building an international business in animation. Good decisions, good timing, good luck and hard work - simple as that, apparently! 

Peter is clear: “There are no secrets. Stop-motion is magic!” The work-side of Peter Lord’s career is already well documented. As a delightful bonus, the personal side of his life is gently revealed here - like his love for wet walnuts and bagpipe music! Like his questionable but credible claim to being the first (or at least among the front runners) ever to publish work by the teenage Kazou Ishiguro, now Sir Kazou Ishiguro, the Nobel Prizewinning writer responsible for a variety of masterpieces from ‘Remains of the Day’ to the new awards-contender ‘Living’’, starring Bill Nighy. 

Peter Lord’s own awards include an Oscar or two, Freedom of the City of Bristol and the presentation of a Blue Peter Gold Badge, which he found “ridiculously pleasing.” 

He describes the world of animation as an ‘esoteric community, low on ego, where drawing is a great way of thinking’. In this curious community, Peter Lord is a shining example of delightful, understated talent. 

Please lend him your ears!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) look who I've gawn n' snagged in my "Good Listening To" Clearing and Zoom Hole!

The Artful Dodger & 'Twitter Lord' himself, actor Michael Warburton to 'give us our daily bread' (see what I'm doing there?! Even though he's no relation!) on all things Twitter, through his extraordinary depth of knowledge on all things film. 

Check out Michael's amazing Twitter feed @MichaelWarbur17  

(Recorded as a Facebook LIVE too in The Good Listening To Facebook Group)

A fellow Bristol Old Vic Theatre School alumni, Michael Warburton is an accomplished actor, self-confessed cinephile & drummer, all set to 'bang-out' a story or two in the storyscape of "The Good  Listening To Show".  Absolutely delighted to have him here! 

More about Michael "The Twitter Lord" (as I call him!) Warburton: 

Despite having over 90,000 followers on Twitter, Michael Warburton is quite a private person. He reveals himself indirectly by what he chooses to Tweet. He does not wear his heart on his sleeve. He is certainly not an open book. He found fame early, being cast as the Artful Dodger in Oliver after being talent-spotted in a Gang Show singing an Al Jolson song. 

Michael has worked as an actor since he was just 11 years old - apart from all those times he wasn’t working. According to Michael Warburton, 90% of all actors are not working at any one time! The euphemism they used to use was ‘resting’. 

Even though Michael is old enough to remember Black Forest Gateau, ‘resting’ is not a word that he would choose to use. It does not describe being out of work with any authenticity. Michael is not a lovey, he is a worker. When Lockdown strangled almost everyone in show business almost overnight, Michael reverted to type as the Artful Dodger and openly used Twitter to ‘pick a pocket or two.‘ 

Like a street performer of old. he adapted to the era of Social Media to ask for modest financial acknowledgment from strangers for the gems he was sharing with them. It is humble work but honest work. Michael shares anything and everything that genuinely appeals to him from over half a century of colourful life experience. In today’s jargon, Michael has found a way to ‘monetise’ his individual experience and life-cultivated tastes. 

In his own words, he refuses to ‘pander’ to anyone. Michael takes pride in staying true to himself. He is not ashamed of starting life in Hounslow - just like Jack Wild before him and Phil Collins, too. All three were Artful Dodgers in their time. All three came from Hounslow! Michael Warburton is proud to be a genuinely self-made man. He is most inspired by working class heroes like Charlie Chaplin, Mel Brooks and Maya Angelou. Michael keeps his own private life private. He keeps his personal cards very close to his chest - as is his right. He opens up, albeit a bit obliquely, in his daily Twitter feed @MichaelWarbur17 

He shares some details and a lot of honest advice in this rare interview. Check it out. Or as Michael himself might say: ‘ Don’t be difficult, pay attention!’ 

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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History in the making as "The Good Listening To Show" goes LIVE with the 'Founder Story of Being Box-E', recorded for the 1st time in front of a real live audience of happily stuffed and fully sated supper guests!

So yes! Welcome to a World Premiere! Please welcome Box-E Head Chef and Maitre D Elliott & Tess Lidstone from Bristol, to tell the 'story behind the story' of being the glorious award winning restaurant that is Box-E! 

Complete with audience Q&A.

Recorded in early October at Box-E in the Cargo area of Bristol.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Ladies n Genminminminmin (er, min...) look who I've gawn n' bagged for The Good Listening To Show! None other than National Children's Theatre Treasure David Wood OBE.

With the peace, quiet & sanctuary of very specifically "Room 208" of the Cooden Beach Hotel in Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex for his Clearing, where a lot of his 'writing magic' over the years has taken place!

Heralded by The Times as being "The National Children's Dramatist" David Wood was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II (presented to her no less than 4 times - and twice on the same day for reasons that he'll explain!). His new book, "Elizabeth Taylor's Kiss And Other Brushes With Hollywood!" reflects on his life & extraordinary career like a big fat kiss!

David Wood is a children's entertainment all-rounder, versatility-pants &  polymath. He is an Actor, Author, Composer, Director, Magician (Bingo Caller!) & Producer.  He is also an esteemed member with a "Gold Star" for recognition of his services to Children's Entertainment of the Magic Circle. 

With so many seminal Children's theatre works & adaptations to his name including "The Gingerbread Man" (that partnered him way-back-when with Producer Cameron Macintosh & a show that has since toured the world many times over); "The Selfish Shellfish";  "The Owl & The Pussycat Went To See"; "The Tiger Who Came To Tea"; "Dinosaurs & All That Rubbish"; "Goodnight Mr Tom" & "Noddy" to name but several.

He also wrote "The Queen's Handbag" as part of the Queen's 80th Birthday celebrations in 2006, culminating in a Garden Party hosted by the Queen for 5,000 children + an all star cast in the gardens of Buckingham Palace - & simultaneously broadcast Live on BBC One!

He is also a man to whom I will be eternally grateful, as he gave me my 1st ever professional job, on graduating from The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, understudying TV Presenter Peter Duncan in Whirligig Theatre's "Dinosaurs And All That Rubbish".  So it's all his fault!  This is a sincere opportunity after all these years to welcome him to the Clearing to say THANK YOU!

David Wood has something of the magical spirit of Peter Pan about him. No wonder: it was his favourite story as a child & he was shaped in the 1960s. Well over half a century later, David still exudes an ageless happy-go-lucky, childlike optimism, a super-civilised energy & endless enthusiasm, which is simply irresistible. OK, he readily admits to being ‘a bit of a show-off’! Magic was his first party trick. From an early age, he also enjoyed being a choirboy - as it involved a distinctive wardrobe & a weekly public performance. What’s more, going to church two or three times on Sundays gave David a credible excuse to escape the parental tensions at home. Aged 14, when he told his Headmaster in Chichester that he wanted to be an actor, he was immediately pointed towards a one week residential course. What he learned there has served David well for all of his professional life! Another teacher at that school, curiously nicknamed ‘Spiv’, suggested to David that focusing exclusively on acting might be a self-limiting decision. What about writing, directing, producing? It instantly broadened David’s vision of theatrical possibilities. Look at the nominations, the awards, the applause: He has excelled on stage, in the cinema and on TV. He has directed & produced, written literally dozens of plays, songs and books.

During his action-packed life, David has met & worked with just about all of the great English names in the theatre & Hollywood, including Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Alec Guinness, Cameron Macintosh, John Mortimer, Peter Cook and Bernard Miles. Not to mention Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor, George Martin, Lindsay Anderson, Malcolm McDowell & Michael Palin! 

"If you have ears, prepare to lend them now!"

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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Welcome to The Clearing for a special "Legacy: Life Reflections" episode, Sara Starkey.

Sara Starkey is a curious character, who has without doubt lived a truly extraordinary life. Her father was killed in World War 2 before she was born. She accompanied her second husband to Dignitas to end his own life with dignity. 

Sara’s mother was Scottish, her father Johnny Pennant was Welsh. World war 2 was surely coming to an end when Johnny was killed - just weeks before Sara was born and only days before his own 24th birthday. Sara spent the first year of her life in Wales in the cosy care of her grieving and adoring grandparents, who were both doctors. Then her mother returned with a new husband called Zed and took her to Africa, where three more sisters were born. Life for Sara was nomadic, neurotic and nervous. 

By the age of 10, she had lived in three different continents including America. Sara also went for a time to a Roman Catholic boarding school - but was still unable to read or write! When Zed’s work took him abroad, as it frequently did, Sara’s mother would go with him and leave her children in the care of friends, in loco parentis. Different people, with rules! Sara found it all more than a bit bewildering. 

Her first 20 years were definitely not the happiest days of Sara’s life. She was timid and fearful. She lacked confidence. Getting married and then having her son, Davy, gave Sara a new and more independent role, even though, to this day, she still sees herself as ‘cowardly’. 

Sara believes that her second husband Andrew saved Davy’s life when the local Teaching Hospital chose to delay operating for appendicitis as they questioned the GP’s diagnosis. Sara is inspired by people like Andrew who stand up and speak up, people like Peter Tatchell, Benny Rothman, Harried Tubman and Margaret Mead. 

The so-called ‘coward’ Sara now exudes apparent confidence speaking truth to power as a campaigner for Animal Rights on the street or on the radio, as a weekly volunteer in an Animal Sanctuary, as a Vegan as a regular rescuer, with 40 years’ experience. 5 years ago, she accompanied her second husband, Andrew, to end his life with Dignitas in Switzerland. On her return without him, Sara published his memoirs entitled ‘My life as an animal’ as a paperback, available from Animal Aid and now also on Kindle, as well as an Audiobook on Audible. 

In both cases, Sara has included her own experience taking Andrew to Switzerland, coming back without him and now curating an Andrew Tyler page on Facebook. Sara takes her dogs for an inspirational walk in the woods on a daily basis. Sara is a dedicated gardener - it helps her ‘decompress’. 

She is enthusiastic about both the style and the content of ‘My life as an animal’ and lives by Andrew’s key question on a daily basis: “Why be cruel when you can be kind?” Please listen - you will learn something!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

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A special episode of 3 interviews to explain how you can gift the idea of "The Good Listening To Show", with its strong and established storytelling construct, to record the story of someone near, dear or close to you for posterity.

Do get in touch if you'd like to find out more?

[email protected]

M: +44 7711 644094 

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminminminmin (er, min...) please welcome for a SECOND pass through The Good Listening to 'Clearing' the gorgeous human being - Lord Starkey himself (!) - Reg Starkey!

To talk about an audio book that Reg has lovingly produced posthumously for and about his old friend Andrew Tyler, who took the courageous decision to end his own life at Dignitas in 2017 rather than be sucked deeper into the vortex of Parkinsons disease.

When Andrew Tyler was born in the late I940s, average life expectancy for a baby boy in the UK was 69 years. What an amazing story Andrew made of his 69 years! And what an extraordinary interview this is, focusing as it does, posthumously, on his memoirs. 

A brief background: ‘My Life as an Animal’ was first published as a paperback by his widow, Sara, as a source of funds for Animal Aid, the organisation to which Andrew devoted the last 20 years of his ‘great life’.  

With the help of  sound engineer, Tom Davidson and voice and music-man, Jim Smith, the paperback was then converted into an audio recording - and then converted into a master-tape for a broadcast-quality audiobook by Elliott Frisby at Monkeynut. 

Andrew Tyler was sent by his mother, as a ‘boarder’ to a Jewish orphanage, in the same way that richer parents might have sent him to a Prep School. The difference was that Andrew hardly saw anything of his mother for the next 8 years. He left with a few Hebrew prayers -  and no qualifications - in his early teens. He got a job as an office boy on a fashion trade magazine and worked his way across to being a junior reporter. 

Still in his teens, he moved to another magazine as Deputy Editor. Then, passport and guitar in hand, he left his mother and London behind, taking off for Toronto, Canada. It was 1967 and the centre of the known universe was San Francisco, California. Andrew was there, almost by accident. He decided to stay! 

The Hippie Trail appealed to him. He shared their (naive?) idealism. He writes lovingly about all of it. Some years and many adventures later, he returned to London via Canada. His mother was surprised to see him! He had an Anglo Canadian band, which he rated as competent rather than brilliant. He returned to journalism, with a great opportunity on New Musical Express. 

Now, when he returned to the USA, hotels and limousines were involved rather than hitch hiking and Greyhound buses. Andrew’s NME credentials gave him access to people like Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. His kindly approach made stars like Marianne Faithful share their secrets with him. He switched from music to social issues. 

He wrote a text book: ‘Street Drugs’. He met Sara. He embraced Animal Rights. He became a pioneer vegan and an Animal Rights campaigner. Together they moved from Hampstead to Tonbridge where Andrew became the Director of Animal Aid. 

For the next two decades, this occupied virtually every minute of his waking hours - until his back cracked under the strain and the doctors diagnosed a more serious/chronic condition: Parkinson’s Disease. Sara and Andrew kept this secret until it became impossible for Andrew to function effectively in his role as Director.

Secretly they applied to Dignitas to end his life legally, privately and with dignity. And this is what they did. Under Swiss law, Andrew had to drink the lethal dose from a glass in his own hand. He told Sara he was going to say: “This tastes awful! What are you trying to do - kill me?!” Sara advised against it but it made them both smile. 

Weeks later, his stepson Davy made the journey solo to Switzerland to bring Andrew’s ashes back to England. His book - and this interview - will ensure that Andrew Tyler’s ideals live on in perpetuity - as a permanent record of his own great life. Together they will ensure that he did not die in vain.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

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 Mac Macartney is an international speaker, writer & changemaker.  He has a foot in several worlds. He is the founder of the inspirational social enterprise, Embercombe. He is a visionary & a wise Elder. He touches hearts, fires imagination and invites courageous action.

Mentored by indigenous people over many years, he has acquired profound and original insights into questions preoccupying many contemporary leaders. Mac seeks to inspire the emergence of the leader in each of us, the leader who will take courageous action for a better, more sustainable world.

His profound, seminal book is called "The Children's Fire": At the heart of all the corporate Boardrooms of the world a Children's Fire should reside with all decisions made to protect their future.

Embercombe is a place to connect to your wild authentic self, resourcing you to live a passionate, intimate & purposeful life through their two signature programmes "The Journey" and "The Descent".

Timothy ('Mac') Macartney started his colourful life-journey with two brothers, one older, one younger. While his brothers both did really well at school, Tim did not. But at least he was good at games! His poor performance in class was a mystery to everyone because he always seemed quite bright. But Tim grew up thinking he was stupid. Over half a century later, he was diagnosed not just with dyslexia but with dyscalculia - an invisible  condition that makes numerical comprehension and even basic logical thinking extraordinarily challenging. The good news is that by then Tim had become his own man: Mac Macartney, an articulate action man, a practical visionary!

Mac Macartney grew up in the 1950s in a loving, liberal Midlands environment where freedom for adventure and exploration were encouraged way beyond what would be considered ‘appropriate’ today.

When his parents worried that their middle son would not pass the 11+ and would therefore go to some Secondary Modern school as what was then perceived as ‘factory fodder’ they invested in a private boarding school alternative. Young Mac still struggled there but at least his sporting prowess saw him through. He describes it as like William Golding’s iconic novel ‘Lord of the Flies.’ He did not fit in. He stood among them but not of them, with thoughts that were not their thoughts. He went on to Loughborough College to complete his formal education in Physical Education & English. But switched from English when invited to join Drama where they had a shortage of men. Was this the beginning of his hedonistic phase you may ask yourself?  In his heart Mac always knew he wanted to be much closer to Mother Earth than conventional wisdom suggested was necessary.

Mac learned his most important life lessons from indigenous native Americans in California. They helped him find himself & recognise his true purpose in life. Early on, Mac had a vision of a valley which was so vivid, a friend visualised it for him. Years later, after a couple of false starts, that valley has manifested itself in Devon.

It’s called Embercombe.org & now for over 25 years, the primary mission there has been to help others find themselves and realise their inner dreams. 

Mac himself now has a young son, just 5 years old, who climbs the tree at Embercombe that Mac planted for his elderly mother before her passing & which his son calls calls appropriately: ‘Grandma’s tree’:

“What are you doing up there, son?”
“I’m talking to Grandma!”

A wonderful, warm & profound interview indeed.

Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) please welcome the warm and wonderful silky-voiced beauty Michael Fenton Stevens to "The Good Listening To" Clearing!

Michael Fenton Stevens is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for being a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and the voice behind the Spitting Image 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song":

"Hold a chicken in the air 

Stick a deckchair up your nose 

Buy a jumbo jet and then bury all your clothes 

Paint your left knee green then extract your wisdom teeth 

Form a string quartet and pretend your name is Keith"  

We've all done it...

Mike also has his own wonderful podcast called "My Time Capsule":

A podcast that asks guests, such as Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Caroline Quentin, Ross Noble, Lee Mack, Arabella Weir & Rob Brydon, for five things which they’d like to put in a Time Capsule.

They can choose anything from an item, to a memory, a film or even a country. Four of them are things they want to preserve but one has to be something they’re happy to lock away and never have to think about again. 

And he's also been in the seminal BBC sit-com "Only Fools & Horses".

Like the Great Gatsby before him, Michael Fenton Stevens has always been proud to be an Oxford man - albeit more Brookes than Balliol. 

When, in his second year, Michael was introduced to fellow student, Mandy Fenton, it was love at first sight - at least as far as Michael was concerned. But, a bit like Doris Day, he kept his love a secret. When a subtle twist of fate revealed that Mandy Fenton also had feelings for Michael Stevens, they started on a path to becoming Mr and Mrs Fenton Stevens. They had children and now their children have children. 

First and foremost, Michael Fenton Stevens is a family man and his wife, Mandy Fenton Stevens, has a PhD in Bio Chemistry.  Michael remains her greatest fan to this day and acknowledges the profound personal transformation that he attributes primarily to her. 

Michael’s other greatest influencers were his own parents, both alas no longer with him. His father, Harry, was a good professional comic before becoming a full-time criminal defence lawyer, who still enjoyed singing old music-hall songs at weekends, often encouraging Michael to join him on stage. Originally also,  Michael followed in his father’s footsteps for a year or two, as a potential legal eagle - but all he ever really wanted to do was tread the boards himself, in his own right. 

Taking his father’s advice, Michael boldly asked all and sundry to help him get an Equity card. Bill Kenwright kindly obliged. Again as directed by his father, Michael modelled his voice on the dulcet tones of the film star, Robert Donat, rather than continuing with his sprawling suburban drawl, originally from Bermondsey, modified in Orpington. Yvonne Mitchell acted as his acting coach. Anthony Quayle took on the role of professional mentor and pub lunch companion. 

Michael has worked with many of the most famous names in the business, including Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Angus Deayton. Michael also has a number one novelty song to his credit for Spitting Image - the Chicken Song topped the charts in 1986! 

In the last two years Michael has created well over 200 "My Time-Capsule" podcasts, starting with Stephen Fry, no less! 

A former smoker, Michael is also just completing a one million step exercise to raise awareness of Type 2 Diabetes. 

Michael finds contentment sitting quietly beside the sea at Cooden Beach, throwing pebbles at a groyne. He has the rhyming skill of William McGonagall and the surreal humour of Man U star Eric Cantonar. In fact, Michael Fenton Stevens has a lot of wise words to say - and he says them all so beautifully. Please sit back and listen now. Thank you and enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

• Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com
• You can email  me about the Show: [email protected]
• Twitter thatchrisgrimes
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/
• FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Send us Fan Mail

"Hi-Diddly-Dee An Actor's Life For Me!" Please welcome Actor, Creative & all round 'prolific pants' Stewart Wright atop a bus on the way to Kathmandu in the halcyon days of being 19 for his 'Clearing', as we talk the combined passions of life, family, rugby and acting.

Recorded also as a Facebook LIVE: 
https://www.facebook.com/730074635/videos/1030198231024253/

Actor Stewart Wright, soon to be seen as “Devina Delish, the Cross Dressing Plumber” in “Midsomer Murders” and to answer the question that we’ve all been asking: “Dude, Where’s My Donkey?” 

Also due to be appearing as “BS3 Santa” at Tobacco Factory Theatres & Windmill Hill City Farm this Christmas - and as “Barney the Postman” in a Christmas film on Netflix with a cheeky appearance in between in the West End as Richard Burbage (of Shakespeare's Lord Chamberlain Company) in “Upstart Crow” - with David Mitchell as the Bard himself - William Shakespeare!

Marvellous!

More about Stewart from Reg Starkey - Editor of UK Health Triangle Magazine:

 Sugar-free Stewart Wright is a fascinatingly competitive  English character actor. He has done remarkably well on TV and in films, as well as on stage. 

When Covid closed theatres but allowed freedom to move, he took his talent onto the streets, knocking on doors in the Christmas season with a degree of success that surprised even him. Stewart displays classical English charm, with traditional reserve. 

His parents were both doctors, who could not heal themselves and chose instead to go their different ways very early in Stewart’s young life. Perhaps it was then that he first picked up the theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy, hiding his true feelings politely in the process? 

He was sent away to boarding  school, where he first trod the boards and got a taste for the ‘smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd’. But where he really excelled was on the rugby field. 

Despite a serious knee injury aged 14, Stewart became Captain of Wellington’s first XV and dreamed daily of playing for England. He was definitely on track when he was selected for an England under 18 trial - but his hopes were shattered by a recurrence of his earlier injury. The possibility of playing professional rugby was kicked savagely into the longest grass. Stewart was left in the lonely field of the eternal subjunctive: the might- have-been. 

Aged 19, footloose and fiancée free, Stewart found his way to Kathmandu, enjoying the excesses of gap-year-style freedom before committing to three years at Drama School back in London. He never stopped watching top quality rugby or loving it - but acting became his new passion. In those early years, Stewart ran through Agents and girlfriends like a precocious child running through newly mown hay. By his own admission, his twenties and most of his thirties were mainly completely out of balance, addictive even. Yet as you can see from his Wikipedia page, they were also full of professional success - particularly in TV and on film, including now a new Bollywood biopic on Rugby as Paul Walsh and numerous new creative projects. 

For Stewart, his new and better-balanced life only really began at 40, when he got married to Celia and started his own family. The wild child, wounded by his own parents’ divorce, was determined to create a secure, stable and loving environment for his wife and their two young sons. Meaningful creative work remains enormously important to this recently rebalanced individual - but family is now infinitely more important. 

Check him out. He remains highly competitive…Stewart Wright may once have been a headache - but he never was a bore!
www.stewartwright.net

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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