Hello once again and I hope you are enjoying the best summer apparently since 1976, which I also remember well. Back then I seem to recall we even had a Minister for Drought! To be honest I am fading a bit along with my garden but after our long winter I just say carpe diem. You see how well educated we were half a century or more ago at a secondary modern school in Borehamwood.

I am recovering from either my 65th, 70th or 75th birthday party at Elstree Studios. It is all numbers to me and as a stud muffin I feel like a 30-year-old. Hold it! Don't finish that joke or we will all be in trouble with the politically correct brigade. I themed my party to resemble a 1960s London nightclub, without — thankfully — the Krays and purple hearts. Some of my older readers will recall those days. Guests were entertained by close-up magician and member of the Magic Circle young Gary Schiffman, who is the resident entertainer in the hospitality suite at Watford Football Club. Anyone who can get me to pick a card at random, sign it and seconds later present me with it in a sealed drinks bottle deserves my respect.

Years ago we employed the great Paul Daniels at the old Venue theatre in Borehamwood. At his height he was getting 20 million viewers on Saturday night BBC television in an era with a smaller watching public. After his performance we chatted backstage and he told me the BBC dropped his show without even telling him first. It is a lesson to remember that showbiz does not take prisoners and success or failure is a bit of a lottery.

The other entertainer at my party was a wonderful singer named James Bernard, who recaptured that era of the 'rat pack' and great home-grown singers like Matt Monro. You can find him on something called YouTube. I had the pleasure to meet Dean Martin in Hollywood in the 1980s when he was retired and not very well. I don't think he ever got over the death of his son in a plane crash. Meeting Dean was an honour for me as I love his songs. Dean told me he was certainly a drinker but never drank in his stage shows or in his successful television shows. As he logically pointed out, the producers would never have tolerated it. He used to rehearse at home and then pretend to be unprepared while often sipping non-alcoholic drinks on stage or in front of the camera. In showbiz an image can be important but often does not represent the real person.

What was shooting at Elstree during our last heat wave summer in 1976? Well of course it was Star Wars, which was destined to become an all-time great but frankly when I visited the set my money was not on it. I thought science fiction movies were old hat. The unit publicist invited me to visit the set. Naturally I was impressed that Alec Guinness was starring and Peter Cushing was doing a small part. As for the rest of the cast, I had not heard of any of them. Then he told me about a giant furry thing and a talking robot and I headed for the bar, in which I have just celebrated my birthday 42 years later. I was introduced to this young director named George Lucas. I wisely told him I thought the film would flop. Today he is a billionaire in Hollywood and I am a pensioner in Borehamwood. I still think George and Steven Spielberg should have bought Elstree Studios back in 1988 and I had a meeting with them on a sound stage while Sean Connery and Harrison Ford were rehearsing a scene for Indiana Jones And A Last Crusade. It was not to be, but that is a story for another day. At some point I must record my memories as us old timers thin out, but I aim to be around a whole lot longer if you will forgive my name dropping, but it is all part of memories. Until next time thank you for sparing the time to read these words.