Forsyth - Strictly Bruce stories of my life

CONTENTS

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright Sir Bruce Forsyth CBE 2015

Bruce Forsyth has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473526617
ISBN 9780593075982

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To my darling wife Wilnelia,
whose creativity was the inspiration for this book.

My wonderful children, Debbie, Julie, Laura, Charlotte, Louise and JJ.

And also my loving parents, my sister Maisie and my brother John.
Writing this book has brought back very happy memories of you all.

FOR MY EIGHTIETH birthday my darling wife, Wilnelia, presented me with the most beautiful hardback book of photographs, which told the story of my life. Starting with the old black-and-white shots from my childhood me in my sister Maisies arms, me on the beach at Newquay enjoying a family holiday, my dad at work in his garage, and so on the photos progressed chronologically through my early days in cabaret and variety, the fantastic times I had at the Palladium, and beyond to the hit TV shows of the seventies, eighties and nineties, such as The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right. And lets not forget the fantastic years I enjoyed presenting Strictly Come Dancing.

Alongside my professional life, there were wonderful shots of my family life, too. All my lovely children, in-laws and grandchildren smiled out at me from the pages. It was a gorgeous gift and I was deeply moved.

Then someone suggested that I should turn Wilnelias concept into a published book. I was surprised at the suggestion, but at the same time thrilled at the idea. I knew I would love working on such a project. So that is what you have here a collection of photographs, many from my own personal archive, that help to tell the story of my life. Its eight decades worth of some of my favourite memories. And Ive got a lot of memories! There are stories of friends and family, colleagues and contestants, and perhaps the odd villain, too. It hasnt all been plain sailing but it has been a dream come true.

I have loved every moment of putting this book together what a wonderful trip down Memory Lane and I very much hope that you enjoy reading it, too.

THIS IS THE first ever photograph taken of me, as far as I know. I cant be certain, I dont remember much from back then. Its 1928 in Edmonton, north London. Judging from the size of little Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, it must be March or April as I was born on 22 February. By the way, just so its clear right from the beginning, Forsyth-Johnson is my name it was just a bit of a mouthful for a career in show-business, so for professional purposes I shortened it.

The girl holding me is my sister Maisie. She must be ten or eleven years old. She was a darling, lovely person, very much like my mother, with a wonderful sense of humour. Everyone loved her. Many years later, when I was performing in Summer Season and then on television, Maisie used to organize bus trips for groups of her friends to come and watch her brother perform. She was so supportive.

Dont I look adorable? I think so and Im sure my sister would have agreed. I wonder what she would have said if asked the same question a few years later, after chasing me along our street for the umpteenth time following another Brucie tantrum. I remember making my family laugh a lot at home, but I could also be a horrible child. I know its hard to believe, but its true.

You see, from the age of eight or nine I used to love going to the local picture house, especially if a Fred Astaire movie was playing. My parents, Florence and John, would often take me, but occasionally they preferred to go alone. Dont ask me why. When they did, there was hell to pay. My mother had to hide her hat and coat in my fathers car before setting off, because if I saw her preparing to leave I would go crazy. And Lord help them (and Maisie) if I spotted the car leaving without me. That would send me into a mad rush, tearing out of the house after them, yelling at the top of my voice, as if there was a fire, with my sister soon in hot pursuit.

Maisie would eventually catch up with me and haul me back home, kicking and screaming. In my world, not being allowed to go to the movies was the end of the world. Quite simply, my parents were being disloyal. And if they had decided to take my brother, John, and I caught a glimpse of his head popping up in the back window of the car, well, that just added to my fury.

On those occasions poor Maisie then faced an evening trying to pacify me, which she often did by reading stories out loud. I loved Aesops Fables, but even with those wonderful tales being brought to life, it would still take an age for me to emerge from my bad mood. She had the patience of a saint, my darling sister.

F OR MANY, MANY YEARS , most of my life in fact, I wondered why I had never seen a photograph of my mother holding me as a baby. I always suspected it was because I was such a little horror and drove her mad, even then. While researching this book, however, I found this treasure tucked away in an old envelope at the bottom of a dusty box. As you can imagine, I was thrilled. Perhaps I was an angelic infant after all. I hope so.

I TS HARD TO IMAGINE I was ever a terror when, as you can see opposite, I look so innocent in that most fetching bathing cap! Im sure the photo was taken in Newquay, where we almost always went for our summer holiday. Golden days is how I would describe our Newquay holidays. There were always new rock pools filled with tiny fish to explore, little coves to discover and new friends to be made. As kids we had so much freedom. Of course, our parents kept a watchful eye on us, but from a distance.