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Site Navigation[Skip]Murder and Writing Joann's Web Page Degrees of Murder Out of Order Something Bright and Alien Unfriendly Fire New MATERIAL--OR, WHY NO MORE IBLOG ENTRIES Restored Jeremy Brett Interview Our Weblog Restored Jeremy Brett Interview021510: The following interview was originally posted at another URL of mine, which has ceased to function.   That URL had been shared with the British Jeremy Brett fan site, The Brettish Empire,（链接不能上传）
This evening, the old, dead URL is still posted on that page.   However, I have contacted them and offered them this URL
to replace it. With luck, that will happen.   As Sherlock Holmes might have despised the loss of evidence, we fans of Jeremy Brett hate to lose information about the greatest portrayer of the Great Detective. -- kpm
Jeremy Brett Interview, November 6, 1991
Interviewer: Kevin P. Murphy
For the past 20+ years, I have worked as a freelance writer in addition to whatever "day job" happened to make competing claims on my time and attention.  
I spent much of that time writing about live theater in the greater metropolitan Chicago region and, occasionally, beyond that.     Throughout all that time, my wife, Joann, was employed by   the Chicago Public School system, first as a classroom teacher, later as her high school's service learning coordinator/coach, and finally, as lead teacher/principal of a new small school that she established within that high school.  
To Joann, taking time off from her work was something that was justified, perhaps, by three events: death in the family, jury duty, or major illness.   
Only once, as I recall, did she make an exception, and that was the day we commonly refer to as "Joann's 'Hooky' Day"--the day I was to interview English actor, Jeremy Brett,   regarding his then-young Sherlock Holmes television series on PBS.
I did interview Jeremy Brett that day, and was delighted that I was the sole interviewer during the 30+ minute duration of that interview (with Joann "riding shotgun," of course).
The interview took place at the WTTW studios, 23 N. Michigan (IIlinois Center Building, 18th Floor), Chicago, Illinois.   A short condensation of the interview was published in a regional newspaper in 1991.
Life went on, while many more interviews and reviews joined the Jeremy
Brett/Sherlock Holmes article in my portfolio.   In time, I forgot about the fact that the short article had   represented but a few minutes of the more-than-thirty that we spent being charmed by our ideal Sherlock that day.  
Then, recently--perhaps three weeks ago--something reawakened the memory of that interview and I discovered that there are a lot of web sites devoted to Jeremy Brett, and, especially, to his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.   Reading some of the material on those sites, I wanted very much to share the interview with other Brett devotees, and Sherlock fans.  


Like most things we undertake, there are always the unexpected glitches to be overcome.   I first had to find the full text of that interview, conducted 15 years earlier.   Thanks to a pack rat tendency to preserve such things, and the power of Macintosh's "Spotlight" search tool, I found that old file.   However, it was a file that had been written, originally, in Wordstar, or some other, equally archaic, word processing software.   After all, in those days, I was still using CP/M-driven computers, and the wonders of Lotus, AmiPro 3, WordPerfect, and (shudder!) MS Word, were still in the future.   So the 11-page (single-spaced) document was filled with partial words, because translation into
later word processors over the years had dropped end characters and, occasionally, small words from the document.
Surprisingly, examination of the text proved that the assertions about people being able to read jumbled and fragmented text are essentially correct, but it was a labor-intensive, word-by-word process and, frustratingly, some phrases were not comprehensible.    Then, I thought, "Wait a minute--what if I still have the original recording of that interview?"   Another intensive search revealed that I had kept it--in my library of "Ancient--Frequently Useless-Recordings."
The full text of that interview is contained below.   Please note that it is laid out as follows: the letter, "J," in front of text indicates that it is Jeremy Brett's response; the letter, "K," indicates a question or comment by "Kevin" (that's me, folks).   Three other people appear, briefly, in the interview.  
Diane Srebro, represented Jeremy Brett's host, Public Television Station WTTW, and her full name is used in front of her comments. A newspaper photographer, whom I had arranged to have photograph Jeremy, to support the article that I planned to write, is represented by the letter, "R." My wife, Joann, was the third person.   To avoid confusion with Jeremy, I use, "Joann," instead of merely her first initial.
Please note, too, that in one or two places I could not clarify what Jeremy said, despite seemingly endless (in one instance) replaying of the segment.   In such cases, I've indicated parenthetically that it wasn't possible to clarify that part.
If you'd like to know what that experience was like, fifteen years ago, I can only say now that I believe that both Joann and I were probably "high" for a couple of weeks afterward--and, of course, every time we view an episode of Sherlock Holmes, we again mourn his passing so prematurely, while delighting in the memory of our brief contact with Jeremy Brett.


there anything I can do for you?"   I think I should join a company, not create one, and make my contribution that way as a--whatever--a talking head, whatever.
   "Pick my brains.   Do you want to know anything about Lawrence Olivier, my mentor? Is there anything that he said that might help you?" One thing, of course, Olivier said, "Every actor should have a full orchestra at his beck and call, vocally, and the body of a god." And he had both and he was 57 at the time.   So people could sort of bounce off me.   I think to actually go "Here I am, this is the new company," is misleading.   I've got to go and do something with the National [word unclear].   They keep asking me too. And I will, but it's just a question of when.
K   I hope sometime you get an opportunity to do something with the Court, which is our local--I think is our local classy theatre.
J Well, you've got a springboard in this town of immense talent.    I mean, Broadway is practically furnished by Chicago.
K The region that--I do theater reviews primarily, not TV--and I cover community theater, and I'm amazed at the talent that we have. These are so-called 业余的, and they are anything but.
J This is your "competence center" of the United States of America,
theatrically.
K:Oh, yeah, I wouldn't argue with that.
J   I think this is where it happens.   It's amazing. If you go through the cast lists of plays on Broadway, they're nearly all from one of your theaters here.
K Um-hm.   Yeah, we do furnish quite a few these days.
J That's right.
K Was the series success a surprise initially to you? And to Granada? Were you surprised by it?
J [Pause.] Stunned! [He chuckles.]   I mean, the thing was that none of us wanted to do it--least of all me.   I thought, well, first of all, detection is not really my cup of tea.   Um--I prefer history and pictures like our glorious Jane Seymour.   No.   And my son David said "Dad"--we went to this dinner when I was asked--and he said, "You don't really want to do it, do you?" And I said, "No, I don't.   I think it's an old chestnut. It's been done." Anyway, it was taken away, because it was cancelled.   So, I was thrilled, and I shoved off to Canada and did "The Tempest," and while I was doing Browning, in "The Barretts of
Wimpole Street," with beloved Jane Lapotaire, as my Elizabeth Barrett--wonderful actress--I think you may have seen her play Edith Piaf on Broadway.


K When will we have the opportunity to see that?
J That will be Christmas for us in England, and I think Christmas for you, next year.
K Uh-huh
J I'm going back to do a pick-up shot on Monday and I think the composer moves in--the brilliant Patrick Gowers, the following day, and I think December 17 there's a press showing in London and then, I think it's coming out on January 2nd.
K What kind of schedule are you on now on this tour of the United States?   Are you on a whirlwind tour, or do you get a chance to breathe?
J Yes.   I've had this holiday. This is all a gift from Mobil's St. Peter. They said I've just finished the movie--it's a two-hour special--"Would you like to see the world?" And I said, "Yes." They said, "Well, if you'll trust us, we'll get it all set up."   And I said, "You must remember, I just finished filming and really need a 'hol'--(holiday)." And they said, "Fine." So, I flew to New York.  
I think it was about September 28th.   And I had a week there.   I had days off, so I could go to the galleries, or I could go to hear some opera.   I even could tiptoe into a theatre.   Then, I had a week in Los Angeles, in the Beverly Hills Hotel, where I could swim between interviews.    So, I mean, I would, for example, swim three lengths, come out and meet someone.   So, I got fit.   And I had three days off there.   Then, I went to Atlanta--no I didn't--I went to Dallas, which I fell in love with--absolutely fell in love with Dallas!   I was in the city-within-the-city, called Loews Anatole Hotel.   It was built for Reagan, in 1984. And I was in the tower, which is immensely high and very metaphysical--that's the only way I can put it--and, then, I went to Missouri-[Jeremy sings a snippet of, "Across the Wide Missouri"] and I flew in, and I heard from this wonderful old man what I must do when I come back, and that is, take the Mississippi "Delta Queen" from St. Louis down to New Orleans.   It's a very slow-[Makes a noise like a paddle-wheel boat] "bum-bum-bum bum"-boat, and it takes seven days, so I have to come back and do that.   Then, of course, I went to Atlanta, which was on fire with excitement with the Olympics--and the Braves, while I was there.   And, so, I wore my tomahawk, in spite of Jane Fonda . . .
K [Laughs.]
J And, then, I nipped up to Detroit and I put one foot in Canada, and beamed a smile on C.B.C. right across to Newfoundland and right off to Vancouver.   So, that was nice.   And one of my greatest fans is J.P., aged 6, of Resolute Bay, Alaska.
K Oh, gosh!
J And he wrote me this letter saying, "Please do more Sherlock Holmes.   Makes my Daddy happy." So, I was able to say that I was going to . . . and I was able to wave to him.
K Excellent.
J Then, I went from there to Philadelphia, which is wonderful, because I love Philadelphia.   Been there before.   Washington, of course.   Been there before.   Love Washington!   Seat of power--all those helicopters, going "whung-whung," all going off for their weekend holidays.


K [Laughs.]
J That was thrilling.   Then it was Boston.   A little snobbish for me, Boston, but all right.   But WGBH is very important to me, because that's my wife's station.    My late wife created "Mystery Theatre," "Classic Theatre," "Piccadilly Circus," and sustained "Masterpiece Theatre" for the last 17 years of her life.
K Was she the original producer of ...?
J Yes.
K Oh, God!
J Joan Wilson.
K Yes.
J And she died.   Really, this is in memory of her, this whole trip, really--and her children. [Pauses.]   Yes, it has been a while to see that point of view. I've been able to talk about her, and make sure that she is remembered.
K You mentioned your son, David, among the children . . .
J David is ...from my first marriage.
K Are any of the children theatrically inclined?
J No, none of them.   David is now a painter, and a good one, an artist.
K In the arts.
J In the arts.   Caleb is a lawyer.   And a good one.   And an extremely
interesting person. He's just travelled the world, slowly, over three years, and he's really   a very remarkable man.   And my Rebecca--and she is the dimpled one, I call her.   She has one dimple caused by a tooth brush when she was young.   And she is remarkable! She has three glorious children who I was with last week.   The newest is called Christine.   She's this big [holds hands about a foot apart].   With a mane of hair--born with a mane of hair!   Incredible!   They're lovely.   So all that's been marvelous.    This has been like a holiday.
K How long will you be in Chicago?
J   I have to fly home, sadly, on Thursday night, because I've got to get myself turned around to film by Monday.   I was hoping I might be able to pinch one more day, but I must get back, because I can sleep it off--the jet-lag--and make quite sure I'm not too hollow- eyed. Diane Srebro: Kevin, I hate to interrupt, but I've got somebody else....
K Time?   O.K., let's wrap it up.   Are there things that we haven't discussed that we should have, before we wrap it up here?   Anything that we didn't get from you that we should, in terms of questions asked?
J Yes, there's just one, and that is Edward Hardwicke sends much love, but he's doing a play.
K: That ties in with our conclusion: On behalf of Joann and me, and all of us who appreciate the series, we wanted to thank you both, because your characterizations, and the meshing of those characters for us are of a level of perfection that we delight in--we truly delight in. So, please, convey that to him.
J Right.
K Okay.
[Kevin shook Jeremy's hand, and Jeremy blew a parting kiss at Joann.]

这个楼盖的好辛苦啊～但是要耐心的把这么多英文看完可真是个考验啊～

（补充）来自Jeremy的话：
Maggie Smith used to have excellent skin. Have you seen her face lately? In a few more years, they'll have to unfold it to find out who she used to be.
People living in Hollywood have to stay home if they're in a foul mood; anything outside the home is potential publicity.
"It's very rare I've been able to get into the 20th century. When I turn from 1899 to 1900 I jump for joy. I did in Rebecca (1979) (TV), I got into the '30's then. I have done some modern stuff but I'm so thrilled I over-act like crazy. I've got pockets! I'm so used to wearing tights all the time that when I put my hands in my pockets I nearly fall over. I'm so unused to playing a modern guy. It all started because I was a classical actor, I was trained that way. When I left drama school, I wanted to do Shakespeare, I loved the words, I really fell in love with them, I loved the sound of them. So, most of my training was classical...".
On Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995) - "I was mad to do it, but I wanted to show the world that I was still alive and I could do other things apart from Sherlock Holmes. I hope they don't release it..."
"Audrey really is a darling. There's something wonderful about her that no man can explain, but every man can feel!" (speaking of working with Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964)).
I would love to do some comedy. To make people laugh is the greatest gift of all.
"I'm not looking and I don't go hunting. I'm the type who's got to be found." (on love)
Doing work you enjoy helps, too. I mean it helps if you can find a job that interests you enough so that each week when you're paid it seems like a minor miracle - and I've always been fortunate enough to do that.
The most important thing when you're working with greatness is to learn from it, not challenge it.
There is a tremendous delicacy in preserving Holmes in other people's imaginations because there are a million different ways of seeing him. You try not to interfere with anybody's image.
I think I prefer acting on stage; I like to see if the audience is enjoying itself.
"For a man who never existed it's extraordinary to celebrate a birthday." (on the play "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes", which was written to celebrate Holmes' 100th birthday)
(On deciding he wanted to play Holmes, after rereading the entire canon) "And I discovered all sorts of things that I could do if I had had the opportunity to do it. So I said 'yes!', with enormous temerity, and a certain amount of fear, and an element of excitement. We approached the scripts. I said, 'But you've asked me to do Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. These aren't Sherlock Holmes - Doyle's stories.' I mean, the adapters had gone so far away. And the script editor said, 'Jeremy, you're here to act. Just get on with it'. And I tipped the table over and my Dover sole landed in his lap. And that was the beginning of the tousle. I used to take the whole canon with me to...the beginning of each film, and fight for Doyle. After about a year and a half I said, 'Listen, if you don't start taking care of me I may lose interest', because it was such a tussle. But than Granada Studios stepped in and were so remarkable and wonderful and gave me two weeks rehearsal instead of the one. So the first week I could fight for Doyle and the second week I could work with my fellow actors. And that's basically how it's been ever since. (November 1991 interview)


(On the subject of Edward Hardwicke replacing David Burke as Watson) "Well, Edward's a very, very remarkable man...one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. And he wanted to fit in. So he watched the previous thirteen films (and) decided to try and look a little like David Burke, as much as he could, bless him. So he put on a rug, I mean a toupee, and, umm - and put lifts in his heels. And the first film we shot together was "The Abbey Grange". And we were running across a field, and he, he...these heels were too high so he was slipping and sliding. And I said, 'Oh, Edward, take them out! I'll bend my knees for the rest of the film!'"
"They get obsessive, ringing me up, grabbing me. It can be quite disturbing..." (recalling the overly-obsessed female fans he encountered during the run of "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes")
I remember I was at the Winter Garden Theatre, opposite was the film War and Peace (1956), in which I played Audrey Hepburn's brother. And I was, what was I? Twenty or so? I thought 'Heavens, I've arrived.' How wrong can you be! (about his role as Nicholas Rostov)
To me, the Sherlock Holmes stories are about a great friendship. Without Watson, Holmes might well have burnt out on 可卡因 long ago. I hope the series shows how important friendship is.
(On being typecast as Holmes) "I don't really mind actually. I must be very grateful to Arthur Conan Doyle because we are in the deepest recession in England, and only five percent of my profession are at work. I'm one of them at work, so I'm not knocking it."
"There may have been this beautiful girl, that he fell flat for, but she didn't look at him. So that broke his heart and he thought, 'Well, I'm not going to be rejected again,' so that's why he's the way he is." (On developing a past for Holmes)
He's an upholder of the law. He's also a law unto himself. In other words, he releases people and Scotland Yard says 'How could you do that?' He also loves children because I've wondered where his love is channeled. Because no one can be that unemotional. So whenever I can, I have the Irregulars around. I think Holmes loves children.
When my three older brothers became a teacher, a painter, and an architect, I don't think my parents knew how I'd turn out!
I guess the only way I get things done is to do a lot of them! When I'm going at break-neck speed, I seem to get much more accomplished.
I no longer feel threatened by Holmes, in fact I really enjoy playing him. Holmes is an upholder of the law, and he has a magnetism and mental genius that have been compulsive for people throughout the last hundred years. I was astounded when I realized how attractive he is to them (women). You'd never suspect it for one moment from the books. Girls long to seduce him. I do know that the team at Granada Studios are the finest. To everyone who has worked on these films of 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle''s stories in the past decade, only one word can express how I feel: Bravo! Holmes has finally given me recognition as a real actor, not just an aging pretty face.


(on his stay at the hospital after his breakdown) "When I saw my son looking at me with tears in his eyes, I decided I would not let that happen again."
Holmes could be rude, impatient, abrupt, and his intolerance of fools was legendary. I tried to show all this, all of the man's incredible brilliance. But there are some cracks in Holmes' marble, as in an almost-perfect Rodin statue. And I tried to show that, too.
(About Rosalie Williams playing Mrs. Hudson) "That is a relationship which of course, I invented, because I really find it so difficult to have no woman to play opposite. That's a very important little relationship which has come through on the films. I love Rosalie and I'd worked with her before. Rosalie and I love each other so much."
(about David Burke) "The last time we finished filming together, I went down to the same train and waved goodbye to him. That was absolutely devastating. I don't know how I got back to the hotel. I thought 'What are we going to do now?' I was so proud of him for going back to his son. There would be more happy marriages if fathers went back to their children. His son was only two at the time."
(about the many female fans who came to see "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes" - he felt they were coming to see Holmes rather than him) "Women throughout the world identify with what's going on and see me as Holmes. It's all very flattering and frightening at times. I just have to realize I'm in the fantasy business, but I do feel responsible and I get very concerned about the power this character wields."
"My mother had this extraordinary way of making us flower. She wasn't just 'my mother'; her name was Elizabeth, and she had open doors and windows in her soul--that's the only way I can put it. Everybody came to my mother. She was like a light of great warmth." (1985)
(On the heroic appeal of Sherlock Holmes) "Tina Turner may not agree, but the world does need heroes and yet again, at the end of another century, Holmes captures the heroic bent...I think he's a very modern person. He's interested in the poor, the street, law and justice. He got there before Clint Eastwood." (1989)
We are spiritual beings who can achieve all that we set out to do.
(on what he will remember best about the Holmes stories) "They are a great essay in male friendship, which has gone now. Men's friendship has been debased. One of the lovely things about Holmes and Watson is that they do have this great platonic relationship." (May 1990)
(when asked if children are important to him) "Yes, they are. I have three. David, who is my son by Annie, and two step-children by Joan. They are Caleb and Rebecka - or Beckie as she loved to be called. They all mean a tremendous amount to me, and I feel very spoiled and lucky to have them." (May 1990)
(when asked what he plans to do after finishing his last Holmes films) "Now I think it is time to take lots of rest and think about what I actually want to do myself, not about what other people want me to do. But it will be a great comfort to me as I get older to be able to look back and say: 'Oh, well, I did Holmes and I managed to do it not completely badly.'" (May 1990)


Dear Jeremy！！！！（Laugh to die)
David Burke originally told this at the Northern Musgraves' Jeremy Brett Memorial Lunch. (taken from the biography Bending the Willow)
Jeremy said to me on one occasion:
"I was feeling so low the other day that I sent myself a fan letter."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm absolutely serious."
"What did you write to yourself?"
"'Dear Jeremy,
I would just like to say what a wonderful actor you are. Your Sherlock Holmes puts every other attempt at the part in the shade. Basil Rathbone is not fit to clean your boots; and Douglas Wilmer and Robert Stephens should beg you to give them lessons. You're much prettier than all of them, for a start. There is only one word for your performance — magic. Please send me a signed photograph.
Yours, Joe Bloggs.
P.S. I've heard that you're really a nice person, too.'"
"Did you really write that?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did you send it?"
"Yes. I put a first-class stamp on it. I wanted to get it as soon as possible. It came the next morning."
"And did you read it?"
"Of course I read it. I read it a dozen times. I felt wonderful afterwards."
"Well, did you send yourself a signed photograph?"
"David, I may be mad — but I'm not barking mad!"


Robert Stephens' Knight Errant, Memoirs of a Vagabond Actor:
"I was a tall, dark and not very handsome young man by that time: I always thought I was rather plain, in fact[...]The person I thought was handsome when I met him in Manchester was Jeremy Brett. That   was a young handsome leading man, a Gentleman Jim type.   I never was one of those."
"The actor Jeremy Brett, with whom I have been close friends since our days in repertory in Manchester in the early 1950's, was kind enough to describe me once as "a fairly nice old sweetheart from Bristol," and I daresay that sums it up."
(Re: their performance in the play Othello early in their career)
"And their was the unfortunate headline in the same newspaper referring to "The-have-a-cigarette Othello." On the first night, Cassio, played by Jeremy Brett, offered me (Iago) a cigarette that had slipped my mind altogether. I was looking the other way when I heard Jeremy utter the un-Shakespearian invitation to 'have a cigarette."[...] The Othello was a Welsh actor called Brendan Barry who was a little out of his depth in the role[...]When he fell into Othello's epileptic fit, Cassio (Jeremy) forgot to make his entrance, so after my evil imprecations, I just left old Brendan lying there on the stage and went off to the dressing room to find Jeremy."
"Jeremy Brett was the juvenile lead and he quickly became my best friend. We have looked out for eachother ever since those days. Jeremy   was gorgeous, simply irresistible. Being a country bumpkin, I had never met anyone so elegant, so charming, so 'Etonian'. He had, of course, been to Eton. And like Tarn, Jeremy's family background was both impeccable and military. I was entranced.
Jeremy, although I scarcely appreciated it at the time, was having trouble. He was far too young for his leading lady and was about to be sacked. He always says that he was moved and touched when I appeared because I had this vulnerable, slightly stooped appearance, and I was both benign and gentle, whch is true. I was also overweight, because the landlady at Preston had fed us all very well.
Jeremy snuggled up to me and to Tarn. We became inseparable best friends. He was terribly good-looking and always suffered for it. At school he was known as 'the tart of Eton' because he sang like Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, but was giving out all the wrong signals to unsuitable men who kept trying to pick him up. And I was the gentleman's relish who sat between him and the rather heavy old queers in the company. I winkled him out and we bonded-as platonic friends, never sexual partners. We balanced up the classes between us."
I moved in with Jeremy Brett over the Astoria Ballroom. The lettering used to light up at night[...] Jeremy had two rooms over the last 'A.'[...] There were fights downstairs in the ballroom every weekend. Not between me and Jeremy, who was and remains my dearest friend. Neitherof us would go down when these terrible fights were going on, in case we were trampled to death. It wasn't a very glamorous life, but we were always screaming with laughter. We went regularly to the pub, of course and every Friday night we'd treat ourselves to a strong hot curry.


In June 1955, Jeremy went off to make the King Vidor film of War and Peace, with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda. I found   a letter of farewell from the book and gave it to him to read on the plane. He told me how touched he was and very kindly said to Tarn and I that, if we could find our fares in the next three week break, he would pay all our expenses. So we went to Rome, a city which I have adored unreservedly from that day to this, and we were billeted in a flat with Robert Graves' daughter, Diana. Jeremy, bless his heart, gave us pocket money from his own salary.


On the occasion of a disastrous birthday celebration and the beginning of the decline in his marriage to   Maggie Smith: I booked a table on the patio in the Meridiana[...] It was absolutely freezing cold. the waiters were not at their best. The food was not hot. Jeremy at one point popped over the road to Queen Elm's Square to bring a pile of old sweaters for everyone[...] We all went back to the house to warm ourselves up and drink some more. Jeremy put on his own record of The Merry Widow and was kind enough to start singing along with himself. Maggie was very cross indeed...


During a very difficult time in his life;   The only really constant friends I had through all this were Christopher Downes, whom Maggie liked very much and Jeremy Brett, whom Maggie did not like at all[...] Jeremy took me to the nursing home, where they wouldn't accept me at first because I was drunk; I was so desperate I had found a bottle of vodka in Jeremy's flat where I had stayed the night before, and swallowed most of it. But eventually they took me in[...]Two nights later I skipped out and went to find Jeremy at his theatre[...] At this point Jeremy took me home and looked after me.People often assume that we must have been lovers, but our friendship, forged in those early days in Manchester went far deeper than that.


I have never been professionally jealous of anyone, not Brando, not Larry(Olivier), not Robert de Niro . Except once: of Jeremy Brett. Jeremy is my oldest pal, and when he played Daniello in The Merry Widow on television with Mary Costa, the opera singer, he looked fantastic and he sang beautifully-after a three month crash course- he drove me crazy with jealousy.