Contents

Interview with Roy Dotrice on British Radio, July 18th 1998.
Newspaper article about Reunion, July 18th 1998.
Roy Dotrice Reunion by Gwen Lord, December 1998

Interview With Roy Dotrice

It was broadcast on British radio on July 18, 1998, and comes
from an audiotape provided by Gwen Lord, whom I thank. Though little of it
deals with Beauty and the Beast, it DOES show Roy's puckish humor quite
clearly (something you'd never suspect of Father) and gives quite a clear
sense of his style of conversation that fans who haven't had the chance to
meet him at a convention should enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
DAVE: Our next guest, we could probably spend hours talking to.
Unfortunately, we're just going to find out a little bit about his life. Our
special guest today is international star Roy Dotrice. Roy!
Roy (on phone): Dave, how are you?
DAVE: I've never spoken to anyone so famous! (both laugh) I mean, you're huge!
ROY: You must have had a miserable life!
DAVE: Now, Although you live in America, you're here in England with us
here at the moment, aren't you?
ROY: I always consider England still my home and I have an apartment here
in London, right in the heart of London, which I adore and which we come
back to whenever we can. As most of my work is in America, in films and
television, they only allow me about three months over here and then I'd
have to start paying English tax on my American earnings and having already
paid American tax, that's not a frightfully good idea. So I'm afraid I'm
here for ninety-one days and then I have to beetle out of here.
DAVE: Isn't that awful!
ROY: Well, it is at the moment, but I intend to come back to England very
soon, in my ripe old age, and settle down here for good.
DAVE: Whereabouts do all your daughters live now? Do you get to see them?
ROY: Karen, you know, who was the little girl in Mary Poppins and all those
Disney films, she now lives in Brentwood, that's in Los Angeles, on the
outskirts of Hollywood.: And she is married to the president of Universal,
worldwide television and films. She's given up acting completely and just
looks after her three children. Now she's got three beautiful kids. So I
have three grandchildren there, which is great, in Hollywood.: And then my
eldest daughter, Michelle, who is filming Vanity Fair, she's with Edward
Woodward, of course, and they live down in Cornwall with their daughter,
Emily Beth, and we'll be visiting them the last week in August, spending a
week with them. And Yvette, our youngest daughter, is married to an
insurance broker in the city and they've got three lovely kids, so we spend
a good deal of time with them because they're in London.
DAVE: How do you find yourself when you sit round the table talking to
Karen and her husband.: Do you feel that you shouldn't ask for work?
ROY: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I wouldn't, you know. In fact, we
have a kind of strict code about that sort of nepotism. I was on a
television series, and the part was actually written for me and I was going
to going to do the television series and when he knew I was going to do it,
it was his project and he withdrew from it. So I'm afraid it's almost a
disadvantage, having a him as a high executive in movies because it means
that, if anything, I cannot play in anything that he is connected with. He
will either withdraw, or I'll ask to be withdrawn.
DAVE: Mmm. Do you do an awful lot of acting in America that we don't get to
see over here?
ROY: Yes, I do, actually. I mean, I've done three things which have yet to
come out in America, but I'm sure they'll never be seen over here. One is a
series about a sports agent called Arliss--I've just finished that one about
five weeks ago--and I did another series called Sliders...is Sliders seen
over here?
DAVE: The name sounds familiar, but I don't know why.
ROY: And I just finished a TV special called Tyler Madison Is Coming to
Town. It's a Christmas story. It will go out on HBO and the Family Channel.
It's basically family entertainment, and I would think almost especially for
kids. It's rather a nice little piece. I play a guy who's in charge of Santa
Claus' post office up at the North Pole, and he gets a little pissed off
because Santa is grabbing all the glory and he's doing all the hard work. So
he decides to take over, and calls himself "the Snow King." And I run around
all the time in this green leotard with a red cape, looking like a very,
very ancient Superman. (both chuckle)
DAVE: So you don't always play the token Englishman.
ROY: Oh, no. In fact, I think I've only played one Englishman since I've
been over there. All the rest have been American.
DAVE: So you've got a good American accent for those parts, have you?
ROY: Well, I don't make it too heavy, you know. But I've recently played a
part which I enjoyed doing, which was a hundred year old American who was
the nastiest man in town. (in Walter Brennan dialect:) 'I did have an
opportunity to do a kind of old American accent.' But most of the time, I do
play a fairly straightforward American.
DAVE: Do you like humorous parts?
ROY: Yes, I do. I do. I don't get them often (laughs). In this Tyler
Madison Is Coming to Town, this Christmas thing, did you know that reindeer
are horrible animals? They're horrible animals, reindeer! They won't do a
thing you want them to. They're terribly shy of human beings--don't like
them a bit. They bite whenever necessary, or they butt you with their horns.
I got my own back by pushing one around on the butt with a great big candy
stick. [both chuckle] It was a very ad lib scene which went on for a very
long time, but it's going to stay in the movie because it does look as
though I'm doing very nasty things to this reindeer. Getting my own back, I
think.
DAVE: Let's talk a little about your Lincolnshire connection. I think you
spent some time here during the war, didn't you?
ROY: I was quite near Lincolnshire. I was stationed at a place called
Coningsby [sp?], and that's fairly near--
DAVE: That's Lincolnshire.
ROY: Yeah, it is.
DAVE: Yeah.
ROY: I was on Guy Gibson's squadron. The one who [did the dam raid.] I
didn't did [do the dam raid:] I'd already been shot down by then.
DAVE: But you were on the squadron while he was on the squadron.
ROY: Yes.
DAVE: Nice guy?
ROY: Yeah, very nice. Very nice. He had a brother, too, who was in the
army. I remember on one occasion we were doing an NFT, which is a night
flying test, and if you're on operations at night, you go out and you test
out all the equipment, like the guns and the radio equipment and all the
rest of it prior to the operation. Just as we were about to take off, Guy
came out and said, "My brother, here, is in the army and he's never been in
an aeroplane, and will you take him up?" The pilot said, "All right," so he
stood behind the pilot's cabin, a fellow called Lou Herd [sp?] was our
pilot, and he stood in the pilot's cabin, just behind the pilot's seat,
because he wasn't on intercom, he didn't have the earphones on or anything.
Well, the normal [packs after which two job, after the watch ???] and we'd
tested the guns and all the rest of it, was to come back in, and most of us
were courting WAFs [women's air force] from the local WAFery. They lived in
a big manor house. So the idea was to let them know we were up that night
and wouldn't be in the local pub. They used to put the plane into a diagonal
and zoom over the WAFery--the manor house. Well, of course, this poor fellow
didn't know that, and suddenly the plane goes into a dive and pulls out and
the g-force was tremendous. When we got back to the air camp, we thought he
was walking rather slowly back to the [special] and Wing Commander Gibson
came out and said, "What the hell have you done to my brother? I've had to
lend him one of my uniforms to get home in!"
DAVE: [laughs hard] Even while you were the RAF in the county, you were
already getting into acting. You appeared with a man who has become a local
impresario, here at the Theater Royal, Chris Marino [sp?], I think.
ROY: Yes, indeed. ??? he's much too young for that, but yeah, he's a great
friend of mine, Chris Marino--lovely fellow. We set out on a world record
breaking tour of a one-man show I did called "Brief Lives" and Chris not
only stage managed it but he directed it and we went all over Australia, New
Zealand, Canada together with it, and America. Chris was with me the whole
time and he was totally responsible for the standard of the show. It's still
in the Guinness Book of World Records. It did 1,763 performances, I think,
and Chris organized the whole thing. We became great buddies. In fact, I'm
going to stay with him when we come up to Lincoln, he and his lovely wife,
Heather. He's mad about horses, and I always have been, so he going to show
me some of the horses he runs.
DAVE: [On this occasion,] you're coming to the official Roy Dotrice fan
association weekend.
ROY: That's right.
DAVE: How often do you get to meet the people who admire your work?
ROY: I get plenty of opportunity to meet the Beauty and the Beast fans,
because there are many, many organizations and Beauty and the Beast fan
clubs, literally all over the world. It's a strange little show that only
ran for three years over in America, but it spawned all these friendships
and these fan clubs around the world, as far afield as Australia, and many
of them on the Continent. I've been to conventions in Germany, France, and
Italy. Lots of them in America, of course. So one has lots of opportunities.
There's usually about five or six conventions a year in America, either in
Las Vegas or Los Angeles or Chicago or New York, Florida...and I tend to
visit them there, so I have a chance to meet the fans there. This was an
idea that was taken on and was organized by Gwen Lord, a wonderful lady
who's done a tremendous amount of work for the fan club. She formed this fan
club for me. This is only our second reunion. We had one in London about
three years ago, and this is only our second. So this does give me an
opportunity to meet some of the people from my fan club. Fan is an awful
word--we call them something like the Roy Dotrice Friendship Committee. We
just are friends, and we correspond, and I send each and every one of them a
personalized birthday card on their birthday, and that sort of thing. You
know, it's just a wonderful organization of lovely people and I can't wait
to meet them all again. It will be a very relaxed time. It will be a
question and answer thing, and I'll try to answer most of their questions.
And we'll play a lot of games, and--
DAVE: Yes, Gwen was telling me this. You're playing parlor games, as well.
ROY: Yes, Gwen has organized a whole load of games which I think are far
too intelligent, so I've got the more stupid ones that I've organized for
them. I think we're going to have great fun together. I hope so. Because
they're all lovely people.
DAVE: I think people may be surprised to find that your fan association is
based in Lincolnshire. Gwen lives in Sleaford, doesn't she.
ROY: Yes, of course her name is "Gwen LORD" and she's formed a sort of
company which sort of produces...not quite t-shirts, yet, but all the rest
of the Dotrice rubbish: photographs and biographies and things, and she's
called it "Lord-Dotrice Productions." [While both laugh, Roy (?) declares
"I've got it! I've got it!"]
DAVE: If she's listening at the moment, is there anything you'd like to say
to her?
ROY: Yes, I would. I want to thank her tremendously for the tremendous
amount of hard work she's done. She has. She's produces a fan magazine about
every two months which is very comprehensive. She does a tremendous amount
of research on it. I don't know where she gets it. She produces and reviews
some shows I didn't even known I'd done. (laughter) And I often wish I
hadn't done. But she does produce these reviews and photographs and things.
An extraordinary lady who does a tremendous amount of work. She's organized
the whole of this reunion so I hope, for her sake, and indeed for mine, that
it is an enormous success. I hope we have fun together this weekend in
Lincoln. Great city, Lincoln, isn't it?
DAVE: It's great.
ROY: And on Sunday, we're doing a tour of the whole city. We have guides
and things to take us round. So I'm looking forward to that.
DAVE: Good. I hope you enjoy your trip to Lincolnshire. Thanks for being
our guest. It's been a bit short, this morning, but perhaps we can talk
again on a future occasion.
ROY: I love to anytime, Dave, you know that.
DAVE: Thank you.
ROY: God bless, bye bye

Newspaper Article About Roy Dotrice

From the Lincolnshire Echo, Saturday, July 18, 1998

STAR VISIT

Roy Dotrice is jetting in from the USA for a reunion, organised by the official Roy Dotrice Fan Association, based in Sleaford, and will spend a weekend with fans at the Eastgate Hotel in Lincoln.

The British-born star is perhaps best known for his role as the Father in the top US series Beauty and the Beast.

President of the association, Gwen Lord successfully petitioned Channel 5 to re-run a series featuring Mr Dotrice. She said this resulted in her getting over 2,000 letters which swelled membership numbers.

Since joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1958, Mr Dotrice went on to become a household name, appearing in movies including The Heroes of Telemark, Lock up Your Daughters, and A Twist of Sand.

Mrs Lord said: "Roy was in the air force during the war, stationed at Coningsby and flew in the same squadron as the famous Guy Gibson."

"He would use his 48 hour pass and travel to the theater in Lincoln, and 30 years later he topped the bill there with Anthony Andrews in The Dragon Variation."

Membership of the fan association extends as far as Russia and Belgium and throughout the year Mr Dotrice will send out a personal birthday card to every member.

Roy's daughter, Michele, played Frank Spencer's wife in the popular Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

The weekend is planned for August 1-2, and will include a banquet and dance. Fans will have the chance to quiz the star during a question and answer session.

"Roy has played many, many parts, but to us, he will forever be Father, the head of the largest family in the world," said Mrs Lord.

Source: Nan Dibble's Hotline Update 26/07/98

An Account of the Reunion by Gwen Lord

And as a special treat, here's an account posted by Marina Broers on behalf of Gwen Lord about the recent Roy Dotrice Reunion in Britain. I thank Marina for keyboarding and relaying; I include this account by the kind permission of Eric Tullis, in whose Of Love And Hope e-mailed newsletter I found it this morning.

Reunion by Gwen Lord
The plans for the second Reunion were made, while Roy was recuperating from his hip operation, at the Edward The Seventh Hospital in London, England, way back in September 1997. Armed with the usual bunch of grapes and flowers, (as one does, and usually end up eating them before one leaves), I entered this cream of hospitals, just off one of the busiest roads in the heart of London. Sure I'd seen the famous doorway, on the news, as various members of the royal family went for treatment, but here I was, actually on a sick visit myself. Good job Kay knew the way, as I am sure I'd have got lost, simply by admiring one after another piece of decor or furniture within.
With Roy's links to the county of Lincolnshire during the second World War, being stationed at nearby RAF Coningsby, which is on the outskirts of Lincoln, so Lincoln was a natural choice, for Roy to return to a place of his past, and make new memories. In fact, it was only a hop skip and a jump away from the mystical and medieval city, where he and his friends would go when 48 hour passes were given out, to see the sights and the theatre, and where 30 years later, he topped the bill. Roy expressed a desire to meet his fans/friends, in a relaxed mood, that could be fun, spread over the first weekend in August 1998. Once I returned from London, I put into action the foundation plans, like booking the hotel, and checking out alternative accommodation, booking a tour guide and planning a menu. Week by week, the pieces of this jigsaw started to come together, and I could see the blue prints becoming a reality. We had decided to sidestep having a committee with helpers, as the four of us took the reins of running it. That of myself, and husband Rex as Treasurer and general dogs body, and Kay and Roy. Roy gave advice and help during the planning stages, Rex dealt with the money side and all the endless jobs large and small, and Kay was a great help with the tables, seating and presentations. Yours truly was ... busy! Of course during this time, I had many HNUK & RD newsletters to do and get out, including the HNUK one which went out two days after the Reunion! The hotel we decided on was the Trust House Forte at Eastgate, Lincoln which is a relatively modern building compared to the magnificent Cathedral dead across the road, which was started in 1072 and is today one of the largest and finest Cathedrals in England. The Bishops Palace built 700 years ago is the hotels next door neighbour, and a short walk down the cobbled street brings you to the Norman Castle. This part of Lincoln goes back 2000 years, and so, a guided tour was a good idea to follow the Reunion.
Finally the days regularly ticked off to D-Day were over and the weekend lay ahead. We went to bring Kay and Roy into the county of Lincoln, staying with friends just outside of Newark. I was thrilled we had so much support to attend the Reunion, people travelled from every corner of England, Scotland and Wales. As I checked things on the Friday evening, I saw a sea of faces I have come to know and love over the years, already here, waiting patiently for the next day. Both the Beauty and the Beast conventions and the Roy Dotrice Reunions, are instrumental in bringing together, the largest family of friends in the world. Many were very familiar faces, and some were new faces. One face we all got to love over the weekend was Jackie Ramsden, blinded in a car accident two years ago, at the age of 17, in which both her parents were tragically killed. She is a very brave girl, travelling from Huddersfield to see Roy, when every step of the way was new to her, and a mine field of problems. But another new member, Dale Meachin took her under her wing and Roy was also a pillar of strength for her, even to cutting up her food at the banquet. It made one feel very proud to be a part of this caring group of friends who have such a shining example of kindness in Roy.
The weather forecast threatened RAIN ... but thank goodness as always ... they were wrong, and we had good weather. Within the Lincoln Suite at the hotel, we had our own private bar, a TV viewing room called FATHER'S DEN, and the bar was aptly named The Lord/Dotrice Tavern. The main room was The Great Hall, where there was 4 dealers tables, and seating for everyone, and where the Q&A took place and the Autograph signing time. In Roy's opening speech, he read a poem by Peg McNabb, who had flown in from the USA, to see Roy and see England while here. Pat Paone was the photographer, while Jeremy Charles was busy with the video camera. Karen Bird volunteered to sell the Raffle tickets, for a signed mounted picture of a Lancaster flying over Lincoln Cathedral, and Mary Tummon won this item and Sylvia Brookfield was responsible for handling out the Registration Packs. Coffee was served at eleven o'clock with biscuits, and Roy at that time received a phone call from Josine Smith in Belgium. The video room had 10 videos to view on request, run by Jacqui Thornton, showing mostly unseen in the UK; footage of films or TV Roy has done in the USA. Following lunch, the afternoon was devoted to playing parlour games, which truly was a fantastic success, as Roy presided over the games, which had everyone running their legs off to win a coveted prize. As the sun started to set, out came the evening dress, bow ties, suits, party frocks, and all met up at almost seven o'clock in the bar for cocktails. The six large round tables had been specially dressed by Beryl Thornton and Sandra Samler, and were a vision of blue and white. White table cloths, blue napkins and blue candles in the candelabras, and blue and silver balloons on blue ribbons rose above each table. Roy wasn't the only one with a brocade waistcoat on, a gift given to him at the 1st Reunion in June 1995, as my little grandson, only 7 months old, was also wearing one.
Following the meal, Roy and I got to grips giving out the names of the prize winners, as Kay graciously presented them to the winners. Then came a surprise for Roy, that everyone knew about except Roy himself. Avril Bowles was instrumental in organising flyers to go out for donations to give Roy a gift, from his public, for all he has done over the last 10 years for the series Beauty and the Beast. I was deeply moved as so many loved the idea and sent Avril their donations. With this money I went shopping and bought a massive framed picture, of a Lancaster Bomber in a mist, waiting to go out on a bombing raid in the second World War. I felt this would be very fitting for Roy and his life in the RAF before we knew him. I hope everyone liked what I bought on their behalf, and I thank each one for this. Roy was deeply moved and so was Kay. Dancing followed until midnight. After a lazy breakfast we all met up and made our way along the cobbled road to meet the two tour guides, who split us into two groups, and we made our way along roads the Vikings trod, and the Romans, we saw Roman ruins, and a past which we can see and touch even today. We found out things like in 1141, the Cathedral was damaged by fire, and in 1185 the city was badly damaged by an earthquake and one tower of the Cathedral vanished. At noon on August 2nd, the fabulous weekend was over. We all said our special goodbyes to brave Jackie who did the walk with Roy and I, and we painted pictures for her with our words. Now we have our memories, and photos and a video for those who want them.
Thank you for attending, and for those who couldn't be with us, I hope my account also painted pictures for you.

Gwen Lord, President.

Source: Nan Dibble's Hotline Update 13/12/98