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Celebrating television's This Is Your Life

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THIS IS YOUR LIFE – Sammy McCarthy, boxer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, having been led to believe he was there to discuss his forthcoming appearance in a sports programme.

Sammy, who was born in Stepney, London, was a successful amateur boxer as a teenager, winning 83 of 90 fights and representing England four times. He turned professional at the age of 19 and was unbeaten in his first 28 fights.

In December 1952, he was chosen as the best young fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Club, and following a few defeats, he went on to take the British lightweight title and the European and British Empire featherweight titles. However, at the age 25, Sammy announced his retirement from boxing during the live This Is Your Life broadcast.

programme details...

• Edition No: 28
• Subject No: 28
• Broadcast live: Mon 4 Mar 1957
• Broadcast time: 7.30-8.00pm
• Venue: King's Theatre, Hammersmith
• Series: 2
• Edition: 13

on the guest list...

• Fred - father
• Maude - mother
• Mr Dean
• Mrs Dean
• Jimmy Belcher
• Jackie - brother
• Mickie Tobias
• Billy Palmer
• Freddie - brother
• Percy Bird
• Mrs Bird
• Snowy Buckingham
• Sylvia - wife
• Charlie - brother
• Norman Watts
• Hector McCrow
• Ronnie Clayton
• Jean Sneyers
• Terry Spinks
• Minnie - sister
• Maud - sister
• Beattie Taylor - sister
• Joan Smith - sister
• Maureen - sister
• Iris - sister

production team...

• Researchers: Peter Moore, Nigel Ward
• Writer: Gale Pedrick
• Director: unknown
• Producer: T Leslie Jackson

• with thanks to Sammy McCarthy and Richard Barber for their contribution to this page

Life in the Ring

from flyweight to heavyweight

Stories behind This Is Your Life

a review of the second series

This Is My Life

John Bull Magazine interviews Eamonn Andrews

Photographs of Sammy McCarthy This Is Your Life

As Sammy McCarthy's programme was broadcast live, his six sisters could not pay their full tribute due to a shortage of time. Having made quite an impact on the viewing public, they were invited on to the end of the series review programme, Stories behind This Is Your Life, broadcast in June 1957, and given the opportunity to tell Eamonn Andrews of the reaction to their brief appearance on the original show

Sammy McCarthy recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in this exclusive contribution to the BigRedBook website, as told to Richard Barber, former boxing journalist and current member of the British Boxing Board of Control, in December 2012...

Remarkably active and alert for a man in his early eighties, Sammy recalled being the subject of This Is Your Life in March 1957 as though it were yesterday.

He said that the pretext of getting him to the studio was that a book was going to be written about him, and he was being taken to meet the people that were "putting up the money" for the book.

He had absolutely "no inkling" that he was the subject of the programme and was really surprised when confronted by Eamonn Andrews with his famous book, certainly not the book that Sammy thought was going to feature.

When asked why he thought he was chosen as a subject for the programme he at first said he didn't know. Now, Sammy is famously modest and very reluctant to sing his own praises but when pressed said that he believed the reason was that he had a large following. This is indeed true. Boxing was immensely popular during that period and throughout both his amateur and professional career it is true to say that he was one of the most, if not the most, popular boxers of that era.

He had been considering retirement from the ring and when he found himself the subject of the show it made up his mind and he announced his retirement whilst on the air. As an aside this prompted a guest, Olympic gold medallist Terry Spinks to ask Sammy, on air again, to be his manager in the professional ranks, which he did. The success that Terry attained kept Sammy's name to the fore for many years to come.

The highlight of the show, he told me, was the presence of his family, especially his mother and father. He is very proud of his sisters and their contribution – unfortunately, this is the only visual record remaining of the show. Sammy was, of course, given a copy of the This Is Your Life book, which he still has, but not a tape of the show or a sound recording.

The host, Eamonn Andrews, was a fair boxer in his time and this, in a way, made it easier for Sammy to relate to the surprise sprung on him. He is very complimentary about Eamonn, saying that he was "a thoroughly nice chap".

I asked Sammy if, looking back over the many years that have passed, he was pleased that he was selected. His words were, "Yes, I am. It was an honour to have been chosen." Anyone that knows 'Smiling' Sammy McCarthy will recognise in those words the happiness that appearing on This Is Your Life gave him.