|
|
| Even More Of Paul's life..... | ||||||||
|
At this time Paul's father was dying of Leukhemia. One day Paul's father asked him "Who am I?". That was the last day Paul saw his father alive. In order to work Paul and Trisha temporarily moved to different places for economical reasons. Paul could work. Trisha stayed with her mother in Devon. Paul's first TV appearence was in "Yellow Sands". He also got an agent with MCA. and by this time he and Trisha are reunited (With the same living quarters). Paul tries to get the union to boycott South Africa but the resolution fails. However, is later adopted. An actor could go there and work but without the union's help or blessing. His big TV break came with a year contract to do "Robin Hood" with established actors/actresses. He was like an all around extra. In 1958 Paul first notices a pain while having jumped down off a counter. Nobody can find what it is. By this time the Eddington family is in a recession financialy which is compounded by the fangs of the taxman and a new addition to the family. Their second son "Hugo" is born. Paul gets another big break with a movie called "Jetstream", a disaster movie before "Airport" was even thought of. The taxman's bloodsucking is appeased and Hugo is out of hock. Paul looses his mother at this time sees her after the fact. Dosen't get a chance to say, "Goodbye". Paul starts working at "West End" (The Caddillac of theatre) and does "The Tenth Man". No I don't know what number he was. A mysterious woman dressed completly in white boycotts the show. Raises a stir with the cast. Paul is starting to have trouble walking. In spite of this his third son is born "Domonic". The doctor finds out what's wrong. Paul has got a form of arthritis that eventually fuses the bones together. Radiation therapy begins. In 1961 Paul is asked to lead the company back at the "Old Vic" in Bristol. He accepted this offer in 1962. The crew was motley and the morale low. He decides to lead by example and conditions improve. They did "War And Peace" and "The Apple Cart". The latter play had a long speech in which Paul had trouble with. He offers to clean the boots of the whole company if he fails to remember the whole speech. Observing the sneers of the cast gives him the impetus to complete the speech. No boots were cleaned. In 1963 Paul does a play called "The Severed Head" (Eeeewww!) which transferred to West End. During this time Paul's first girl was born "Gemma". Paul was getting blackouts while on stage where for a moment he couldn't figure out what the next line is or what he was even doing on stage. An actor friend said it was caused by too much repitition. Paul almst decides to chuck in the towel and commit himself to an asylum. However, he did make it through although his confidence was shaken (Or should I say "quakin"?) for a while. Paul also started noticing strange red marks in diverse places on his skin. The arthritis increases but feels that it gives him a dignified droop. In 1968 he does a new play "Fourty Years On".(another coincidence?) Paul is 41. What you've all been waiting for, In 1975 Paul got his first chance at a TV comedy role when he was givin and accepted the opportunity to star as "Jerry Ledbetter" in "The Good Life" AKA "Good Neighbors" in the US. He had worked with Felicity Kendal in a sci-fi movie, worked with Richard Briers as equity counselors, and knew Penelope Keith from a "Benson And Hedges" cigarette commercial. Not expecting the show to raise much dust was indeed astounded when the show ended up being aired in 60 countries and several languages. One amusing thing that Paul recalls in when Penelope poisoned everybody. It was customary to have a wing ding after a series run of the show. On one of these occasions Penelope made chili for everybody. Late that night everybody makes a mad dash to the loo. Later it was descovered that Penny's chili did it but nobody said a word. Later on she found that one must soak the beans for a day to remove the arsenic. It's a good thing nobody made a pig of themselves! Unlike America, no TV actor really get's rich, so the sucess of the show didn't really alter any of the actors life financially exept for Penelope when she was able to trade trasport on the tube to a taxi and finally a chauffered limosine. She even got to tell a nosey taxman to "sod off" in a grand "Margoly" manner. The cast of "The Good Life" got along famously (No pun intended) and would spend weekends together. The whole cast was a bit in love with one another but Paul did quite fancy Felicity and remained friends until his death in 1995. Editor's note; Shoot, that's not news. We all fancy Felicity! Be sure to visit the Felicity Kendal Drool Page where you can feast your focals, I'll bet you'll drool 'til you form a saliva swimming pool! |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||
| On with the story...... | ||||||||
| 1999 Good Wrench | ||||||||