Interview withStan Stennettfirst publishedMarch 2009 in

Rhiwbina Livingmagazine

Whitchurch and Llandaff Living Page 8

Stan Stennett, star of stage andscreen, pulls open one of thefiling cabinets in his office.

“Where do you want to start?”Well where do you start? The

scrapbooks start at ‘early 1950s’and span over half a century ofshowbiz. The pictures and flyerson the wall paint just part of thestory of one of the finestall-round entertainers to comeout of Wales.

“I lost a lot of memorabilia whenmy house burnt down in 1999. Itwas then - stood looking at whatwas left of my house that mademe think. The memories camedrifting back to me on the smokecoming from the smoulderingruins of my home. The names.The faces. The laughter. All thethings I had experiencedthroughout my long career.”Stan points to one of the posters

on the wall.“Over here is a show I did with

Morecambe and Wise. Theyplayed second fiddle to me onthat one. And this is another

show I did - there’s RonnieCorbett at the bottom of thebilling there look.”An established career it is. And it

all started when Stan was still ayoungster.

“It wasn’t long after leavingschool before I had to startworking. I had a job driving forPickfords but by then I’dmanaged to get myself a part inan American group called theModernaires. I would be up at3am to do my deliveries forPickfords and then perform in theevening with the band. If youwanted to get anywhere in thosedays, you had to put the hoursin.”The outbreak of WWII saw Stan

join the Royal Artillery on adriving course. He was thenposted to Belgium where hetransported troops.

“After the demob, it took a whilefor the armed forces to get homewhere theybelonged. As entertainers, wewere sent all over the world tokeep these people’s morale up. I

Interview

Cardiff’sKing of

Comedyis still

Flying High

‘All round entertainer’is a term that’s

perhaps overusedthese days.Yet

former Whitchurchresident Stan

Stennett MBE canrightly be justified to

claim this title.We caught up withthe man who is stillperforming after 50

years in showbiz

Interview

Whitchurch and Llandaff Living Page 9

I was touring back then withpeople like Max Miller, SpikeMilligan and Charlie Chester.

“Eventually, the world settledinto relative calm and I got a lotof work here in the UK. Backthen, I was a solo comedian,using a trumpet and guitar.

“There were a lot of bigAmerican performers comingover here who I worked with -stars like Johnnie Ray, ChicoMarx, James Cagney, the DeepRiver Boys and Billy Daniels, whobecame a very good friend ofmine.”Stan seems almost

embarrassed at the list oflegendary names he’s workedwith.

“I’m sorry. It does sound awfullybig headed doesn’t it,mentioning all these names butit’s not like that. It’s just the wayit was. I didn’t ask for it to be thatway.”Stan topped the bill in major

theatres across the country in the1950s and 1960s, performingwith legendary names such asMorecambe and Wise, Ken Dodd,Ronnie Corbett, JimmyYoung,Jon Pertwee and Joan Turner.

“Eric Morecambe especiallybecame a very good friend ofmine. It was a friendship thatlasted literally a lifetime for Eric -Eric and I had just completed ashow in Tewkesbury when Ericcollapsed and died. He was 58.”

In the 1980s, Stan became ahousehold name playing the partof Sid Hooper in TV’s Crossroads.

“I played Sid for seven years. Ihad in fact been in CoronationStreet previous to that. I wasHilda Ogden’s brother.”

It was 1999 when Stan waswoken one night by his wifeBetty.

“It had been the last night of ourpantomime inCarmarthen and we had got

home late. There had been apower cut earlier that night dueto a storm and at about 4am, thepower came back on with such asurge, that it burnt the boxconnector. Our house was badlydestroyed and I slept outside onthe drive on my own for threemonths in a caravan. I felt that Ihad to protect what was left ofmy home.

“I had come to Rhiwbina back in1960. The house was pretty newthen and it is again now since itsrebuild.” One can’t help butnotice the model planes, picturesof Spitfires and warbirds ondisplay in Stan’s office.

“The planes? I’ve been flying forover 50 years”. Stan shows me aphoto of him giving flyinglessons.

“This is Jeremy Bowen’s dad,” hesays, “and I remember takingTommy Cooper up in my planeonce. He’d collared me when heheard of my new hobby andasked me to fly him to London onbusiness. He’d never been in asmall aircraft before and we hadmany a laugh as he wasn’t surewhat to expect.

“It was a wonderful release to beup in the clouds away from thepressures of performing twice-nightly on stage.”

Flying was a hobby thatcontinued until very recently.What is also striking is that Stancontinues to work now in hissenior years in much the sameway as he did at the start of hiscareer.

“I’m still producing andperforming; still luggingequipment around thecountry in my van. I still feel that Istill have something to give andso I keep on going.”Stan’s shows are still as popular

as ever, especially with the oldergeneration who remember the‘good old times’.

“Nostalgia plays a big part inpeople’s lives. When you’reyoung, you’re buildingmemories and you don’t give it asecond thought. Then therecomes a time in everyone’s life - apoint where you start lookingback at those memories. Theshows I produce take people backto a time that they loved - theybring back memories of people,places and good times.

“We have some wonderfulaudiences - they sing along andget involved. And it’s nice toknow that I can help cheer thesepeople up - some who hardly everget out of their houses.

“When I perform, I imagine that Iam speaking to just one person -and that person has been thereall these years.You single themout.You make them feel special.”Stan still feels that he has lots to

do. The shows, the charityevents, the golf.

“More recent work has seen mefilm with Lee Evans andChristopher Walken, but most ofmy work these days are thetraditional shows that peopleseem to love.”Stan’s drive to keep people

entertained and happy isrecognised in the friends that hemakes. He picks up a cigar case.The inscription on the side reads:

“To a very good friend. Fromyour pal

Lonnie Donegan”

With Petula Clarke