This Is Your Life: Jimmy Jewel

Jimmy JEWEL (1909-1995)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Jimmy Jewel, comedian and actor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews outside Thames Television's Euston Road Studios, having been led to believe he was there for a meeting.

Jimmy, who was born in Sheffield, began his career as a performer and stage manager with his family's touring music hall show. In 1934, he teamed up with his cousin, Ben Warriss, to form a double act and had significant success with the BBC radio series Up the Pole. The duo topped the bill in two London Palladium shows and made regular television appearances in the 1950s and 1960s.

After the duo split in 1966, Jimmy made various television appearances before starring in the ITV sitcom Nearest and Dearest with Hylda Baker between 1968 and 1973. He then starred in the comedy series Spring and Autumn, which began in 1972.

programme details...

Edition No: 371
Subject No: 372
Broadcast date: Wed 30 Jan 1974
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 9 Jan 1974
Venue: Euston Road Studios
Series: 14
Edition: 11

on the guest list...

Belle - wife
Piper - daughter
Kerry - son
Ben Warriss - cousin
Tessie O'Shea
Jon Pertwee
Betty Paul

production team...

Researcher: unknown
Writer: unknown
Director: Royston Mayoh
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

The Good Life

the sitcom stars

Jon Pertwee

Jimmy Jewel recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his autobiography, Three Times Lucky...

After that I worked on a smashing show called 'Spring and Autumn', with a kid called Charlie Hawkins – sheer pleasure. It was after the first few programmes in the series, that Vince Powell called me up and made a lunch date. He said that someone from Thames TV at Shepperton wanted to see me. [Bigredbook.info editor: Thames TV had no connection with Shepperton Studios, so it's more likely that the meeting was to take place at the company's Euston Road Studios]

'Fine.' I said.

'We'll take my car,' he said.

'Fine.'

'I'll take you to lunch first at the Trattoo.'

'Fine.'

Fifteen minutes later he rang back.

'I think we'll take your car.'

'Okay. We'll take my car.' What does it matter whose car we take, I thought. Then he rang back again.

'Make it twelve thirty.'

'Fine.'

I thought: he's going barmy.

My wife and daughter had been acting oddly too. A couple of nights before the lunch, Belle said that she was going out to a fashion show. She never went to fashion shows; in fact she never went anywhere without me. Piper went out that night as well, saying she was going to dinner with someone, and left me on my own.

Even more oddly, they came back together.

'We met in the lift,' said Belle.

'Oh yes,' I said.

Something strange was a-foot. Whenever the phone went Belle would dash over and pick it up.

'Who was it?' I'd ask.

'Oh, some Indian who got the wrong number.'

Vince turned up at twelve on the appointed day to take me to lunch. All through the meal he kept looking at his watch and slinging back the brandies. Eventually we drove out to the TV studios. When we arrived, a gateman stopped us.

'Mr Jewel,' he said. 'Mr Philip Jones has reserved a parking place for you.' He told me to reverse into the space and as I backed in, a little Volkswagen behind me blew up. The bonnet flew upwards with a bang.

'The bloody IRA are here,' I said to Vince. I got out of the car and there was Eamonn Andrews getting out of the Volkswagen with a broad grin on his face and the famous red book in his hand.

'Jimmy Jewel, actor, comedian,' he said. 'This is your life.'

'No way.' I said and backed off. I'd always maintained that if anything like that happened, I would walk away from it, principally because I didn't consider myself all that important. I thought that the show should be about people who had done something for the good of mankind. But I looked at his face and at Vince's. They were grinning at me and a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind. They might have flown my sister-in-law in from Australia. (They had.) They might have brought Ben Lyon in from California. (They hadn't.) I couldn't back out and disappoint everyone. So I went along with the whole thing; and in fact it was a marvellous night.

It was just as well though that they didn't have my car wired for sound or the audience would have had an earful. Later I found out that the producer had hired an actor to play the parking attendant. The original idea was for the guy to get into an argument with me but Kerry put the blocks on that idea.

'If you do that,' he said, 'the old man will probably give him a right-hander.'

Ben came on and nearly took the show over. Then there was Tessie O'Shea, Jon Pertwee, Betty Paul, four of the Five Smith Brothers, and the family of course. I felt very emotional about the things people were saying. It was as well I wasn't asked to speak because I wouldn't have been able to.

My only regret is that the programme was done too soon – This Is Your Life – it sounds almost like an epitaph. I wish they had waited until now. Because it was after the programme that I began to work as a serious actor.

Series 14 subjects