This Is Your Life: Benny Green

Benny GREEN (1927-1998)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Benny Green, saxophonist, writer and broadcaster, was surprised by Michael Aspel following a performance at the Pizza on the Park restaurant in Hyde Park, London.

Benny, who was born in Leeds but grew up in London, played tenor saxophone in the bands of Stan Kenton and Ronnie Scott in the 1950s before joining the house band on the ITV music programme Oh Boy in 1958. In the same year, he became jazz critic for the Observer newspaper, heralding the start of a prolific writing career, which included being literary editor of The Spectator and film critic on Punch magazine.

His broadcasting career, which began with reviewing jazz records on BBC radio, included discussion programmes and documentaries, before landing his own BBC Radio 2 show. He also wrote theatre shows on Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer and published over 30 books, including several on cricket, another passion of his.

programme details...

Edition No: 945
Subject No: 921
Broadcast date: Wed 21 Feb 1996
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Sun 11 Feb 1996
Venue: unknown
Series: 36
Edition: 25
Code name: Go

on the guest list...

Toni - wife
Jay - son
Jackie - daughter-in-law
Natasha - daughter
Leo - son
Dominic - son
Harry Hayes
Denis Compton
Ronnie Scott
Cleo Laine
John Dankworth
Wendy Toye
Una Stubbs
Sheridan Morley
Helen Shapiro
Humphrey Lyttelton
Acker Bilk
Oscar Peterson
Michael Parkinson
Pauline Collins
John Alderton
Robert Lindsay

production team...

Researcher:
Writer: Norman Giller
Director: Brian Klein
Associate Producer: John Graham
Executive Producer: Peter Estall
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

All that Jazz

covering all the notes

Screenshots of Benny Green This Is Your Life

Dominic Green recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, Words and Music: A Biography...

Benny had last met his old friend (Ronnie Scott) earlier that year, when, as we were beginning the second set of a gig at Pizza On The Park, Benny was ambushed onstage for This Is Your Life by Michael Aspel, Acker Bilk, Laurie Holloway and Denis King. Benny's immediate reaction to being presented with the famous red book was, 'About bloody time!' He was hijacked and taken to Television Centre, where faces from every aspect of his life were waiting. Foremost among the many old warhorses from Benny's playing days was Ronnie. When Ronnie came through the doors to that familiar fanfare and a round of applause, there was a moment of absurdity, one of Time's cruel jokes. In recent years, both men had found their playing style hampered by the unforeseen dental consequences of ageing. Just audible on the broadcast over the applause as two embraced was Benny asking his friend, the companion of his youthful wanderings, 'How's the teeth?', and Ronnie laconically replying, 'Alright.'

Series 36 subjects