CURTAIN CALL

From time to time Jeffrey looks back on some of this favourite interviewees and this week it's all-round entertainer Tommy Steele

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SIR Tommy Steele is regarded as Britain’s first teen idol and rock ‘n’ roll star. Born Thomas Hicks in London in 1936, the singer, actor and all-round entertainer was discovered in the iconic 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho.

His first single in 1956 was Rock with the Caveman followed by his chart-topper Singing the Blues in 1957. An author and sculptor too, Tommy, now 88, went on to achieve a most impressive CV of theatre, TV and film credits including Halfa Sixpence in the West End and on Broadway, TV’s Six-Five Special, and on the big screen Finian’s Rainbow and The Happiest Millionaire. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2021. Arguably big-band leader Glenn Miller's proverbial ‘biggest fan, I interviewed the most charming star before he took to the stage of the Bristol Hippodrome as his ‘hero’ in The Glenn Miller Story in 2016. Here’s how it went...

IT’S more than 70 years since America’s greatest big band leader Glenn Miller vanished over the English Channel as he flew to Paris to entertain the troops during the Second World War. Did he crash? Was he shot down? And will the mystery of his death in 1944, aged 40, ever be solved?

Brought to the stage in a new musical, The Glenn Miller Story centres on the life, fame and sudden disappearance of one of America’s most celebrated figures.

Starring music legend Tommy Steele, the spectacular show features many big band era hits supported by a 16-piece orchestra and wonderful choreography retelling the compelling story of one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century.

So, what's in store for West Country audience I asked the perennial entertainer before he took to the stage.

“Well I'd like to make clear one thing - I'm playing Glenn Miller,” Tommy emphasised with pride, his friendly Cockney accent still discernible some 80 years after his birth in Bermondsey.