While Felicity Kendal marked the 50th anniversary of The Good Life this week with an affectionate tribute to co-star Richard Briers, I’m reminded relations were awkwardly less than rosy shortly before the latter’s death over a decade ago.
Though now hailed “one of the great human beings” by Felicity, Briers surprisingly claimed that he and his screen wife had never truly been friends, just weeks prior to his passing aged 79 in 2013.
“It’s ridiculous,” the actor sadly remarked at the time. “I don’t really know who she is. Never did. She was always an attractive girl…but you know she’s very strange.”
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Taking exception to His Majesty being referred to as her “King”, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett cheekily insists: “Not my King, I’m Australian. Colonised.”
The actress’s republican credentials would appear a tad hypocritical: the very same Ms Blanchett was happy to accept the Companion of the Order of Australia, courtesy of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2017…
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Colourful racing car boss Eddie Jordan, who has died aged 76, identified a long-ago Formula 3000 race at Silverstone as his most “frightening” – when attempting to hoodwink two major backers.
“We had the ambassador for Kuwait on the outside track and on the inside track the people from Camel [cigarettes],” the Irishman recalled. “One side of the car had ‘Kuwait’ and on the other was ‘Camel’, and both thought they were the main titled sponsors!”
Jordan added: “I was afraid with my life they’d twig what I was doing, but you did these things in total desperation.”
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Back on screens playing a gangland leader in new BBC series This City Is Ours, rough diamond Sean Bean has never been short of female admirers down the decades.
I was once reliably told that Princess Margaret had taken an obvious shine to the then youthful Yorkshireman during a post-show encounter. Referring to the royal’s West Indies residence, Sean was heard to joke at the time: “Bloody hell, I’m off to Mustique!”
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Newcastle United’s first domestic trophy in 70 years wasn’t loudly celebrated by one famous “fan” of the Toon Army.
Sir Tony Blair’s credibility as a supporter never recovered following embarrassing reports in 1997 that he’d claimed to have watched Newcastle great Jackie Milburn at St James’ Park during the late 1950s – despite Blair living in Australia at the time and being just four when Milburn left the North-East club.
Unfortunately for the ex-PM, it’s largely forgotten he was in fact the victim of “misreporting” – the popular tale at his expense only being clarified as false over a decade later. It prompted Blair to ruefully reflect: “What a lot of trouble I had over it.”
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Anyone foolish enough to be considering wishing Dame Joan Collins a happy 92nd birthday in the coming weeks is now forewarned. Noting the Dynasty actress’s aversion to age-related references in her presence, close pal Piers Morgan confirms Joanie will “garotte anyone who reminds her of it”.
