Bernard Who?: 75 Years of Doing Just About Everything

'Essential' DAILY MAIL CELEBRITY BIOGRAPHIES OF THE YEAR 'The book reads like it's Bernard sitting down and telling a story' Steve Wright, BBC Radio 2 'A fitting celebration of one of our most versatile and enduring acting talents' Sunday Express 'A rollicking good read - charming, unassuming and full of amiable, homespun wit' The Oldie The long-awaited autobiography of national treasure Bernard Cribbins. Bernard Cribbins's life has been an eventful one. In 1943, he left school aged fourteen and joined Oldham Repertory Company where he earned fifteen bob for a seventy-hour week. After being called up for National Service in 1946 he became a paratrooper and spent several months in Palestine being shot at. On returning home, and to the theatre, Bernard was eventually approached by George Martin, then an A&R man for Parlophone Records, who suggested he made a record. Just months away from producing The Beatles, Martin asked Bernard to come to Abbey Road Studios in north London and, after teaching him how to sing into a microphone, they eventually recorded two hit singles - 'The Hole in the Ground' and 'Right Said Fred'. These, together with appearances in now classic films such as Two Way Stretch and The Wrong Arm of the Law (not to mention a certain television programme called Jackanory), catapulted Bernard to stardom and, by the time he started filming The Railway Children in 1970, he was already a national treasure. Since then, Bernard's CV has been an A-Z of the best entertainment that Britain has to offer, and, thanks to programmes such as the aforementioned Jackanory, The Wombles, and, more recently, Old Jack's Boat, he has become the voice of many millions of childhoods. Seventy-five years in the making and packed with entertaining anecdotes, Bernard Who? tells the wonderful story of one of the longest and most celebrated careers in show business.

About the Author :
Mr Bernard Cribbins has been showing off and telling stories since the beginning of time. As an actor he has appeared in films alongside Peter Sellers, David Niven, Peter Cushing, James Mason and Jerry Lewis, and he has rarely been off the small screen since it was invented. Highlights here include The Wombles, Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers, The Good Old Days and, of course, Jackanory. As a singer Bernard has infiltrated the Top Ten twice (so far) with 'The Hole in the Ground' and 'Right Said Fred', both of which were produced by the legendary George Martin. His ambition is to play Clint Eastwood's father in a western and he lives in Surrey with his wife, Gill.

Review :
The wittiest, warmest celebrity memoir I can remember reading A rollicking good read - charming, unassuming and full of amiable, homespun wit Cribbins is reliably fascinating. This book is an essential ramble around his life and times A jaunty read, as jaunty as Cribbins is in person The book reads like . . . it's Bernard sitting down and telling a story It's written in a conversational style which is breezy without ever getting cloying. It's wonderful. It's almost as if it's just been transcribed It's hard not to smile turning the pages of Bernard Who? In this chirpy memoir, the veteran actor looks back on 75 years in show business . . . Delightful reminiscences abound of an eclectic career . . . A fitting celebration of one of our most versatile and enduring acting talents Listening to Bernard Cribbins talk about his life is just like sitting in front of the telly on our mother's knee hearing him read a story for an episode of the BBC children's show, Jackanory. A master storyteller who feels like a great friend or a kindly uncle from the moment he opens his mouth . . . Bernard is full of memories and anecdotes from a jam-packed career He's an all-rounder: a comic actor who can move you to tears; a shapeshifter who is always somehow Bernard Cribbins. If anyone else subtitled their autobiography '75 Years of Doing Just About Everything', it might seem like hubris but in Cribbins' case it looks like modesty . . . Now 89, he remains the voice of our childhood . . . he trots through his life's adventures with a candour and ease . . . He writes as he talks so you can "hear" his voice Hugely enjoyable His matey memoirs achieve his self-proclaimed aim of capturing the feel of a natter and a pint down the pub with an old friend. A gentle, endearing read that is just the thing for a cosy, fireside read on a winter's afternoon Funny, charming and anecdote-filled memoir