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Ghost Stories on the Art Stutter Show from 1989

Now here is a blast from the past. I am the first guest on this show and it does bring back some memories.

REVIEW – Conversation with Cairney, Royal Lyceum Theatre

“An actor’s life for me!” With this apt ditty, John Cairney took to the stage: 63 years an actor, voice cracking slightly, twinkle in the eye – and the feet – and charm aplenty. By the end he was confiding that, at the start of the show he feels alone up there, hence such awkwardness as stumbles. As the show progresses, bit by bit the audience join him and by the end we are all in it together, a true ‘congregation’ – a gathering together to become one. The audience of this show, many of whom remembered his earlier performances and references, certainly took part in that gathering.

Face to Face: John Cairney

John Cairney recently turned 80 but looks at least a couple of decades younger. A “writer, actor, painter and raconteur”, he has so many different projects on the go – touring his current one-man show, writing books, commissioned paintings to finish, even a putative Burns opera – that he really does not have time to get old.

He was born in 1930, near Celtic Park, and is perhaps best-known for his long and profitable association with the Bard. “I thought it would last a good year and take me around the world. Forty years later, it has taken me over completely.”

Ray Harryhausen Tribute

I recently attended a tribute to the great Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen: The Tributes

30 June 10

Special guests pay tribute to the special-effects legend Ray Harryhausen in celebration of his 90th birthday.

A giant cyclops, an army of fighting skeletons, a terrifying Medusa and towering angry dinosaurs – Ray Harryhausen’s awesome creations have frightfully delighted several generations of children and adults while changing the face of cinema forever. Watch a host of friends and colleagues pay tribute to this legend of British cinema.

On Saturday 26 June, BAFTA and the British Film Institute came together to hold a starry special 90th birthday celebration for Ray Harryhausen at the BFI Southbank.

The night was full of deeply moving and personal tributes from some of the biggest names in the film business.