Sunday, October 4, 2009

Sharing personal memories

What perfect timing. Just today I got a wonderful email from Keith Rainbow - which only goes to reinforce the need to have a blog rather than the website. Much easier to update.

I was just watching one of Frank's few forays as a film actor ("Innocents in Paris", 1953, in a brief scene with Jimmy Edwards) and was prompted to view your delightful site. There are lots of tributes to Frank's literary abilities, but here's a very simple story illustrating what a thoroughly nice man he was too.
I was working in Broadcasting House, London, and happened to pass him and a high-up BBC Producer, walking along a basement corridor. Following the general rule that BBC staff should not bother the celebrities without good reason, I just nodded to them as I approached. As expected, the high-up Producer totally ignored me, but Frank looked my way, flashed that incredible Muir smile, and said hello.
I had never met him before, and as the engineers were usually regarded as "invisible", it really made my day, I can tell you! He was the very essence of the witty English gentleman, and the loss of his talents as a creative and accomplished wordsmith is a very sad loss to British literature and entertainment.
- Keith Rainbow
Keith then added a PS in his next email:

Ordinary staff often encountered "celebrities" while carrying out duties the Beeb, but I recollect that very few were as highly regarded as Frank.

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