I like the dirty venues better - Brixton Jams is like home.
I was born in London 1947, after the war. A real wartime baby. I went to school in Brixton, and then I moved up to Yorkshire, which is in the north of England. I lived on the farms up there.
I come from Lambeth, Brixton.
I grew up in Brixton as a young teenager playing basketball for the Brixton Topcats, which marked the beginning of my career.
My great-grandmother was born in London, the daughter of a Brixton coachman, and became the most famous singer in Australia. Her name was Marie Carandini, Madame Carandini.
I coached a team in Brixton - Brixton United - for a while. We won two cups. They are a good team, but I only coached. No playing.
I did 'I'd Do Anything,' and then a play and then 'A Little Light Music.' I played jazz in a night club where nobody listened to me for two years. I sold cereal in a market for a while. I worked in a clothes shop in Brixton. But that's the life of an actor. You never really know when your next job is coming.
When I left my family home and had finished university, I stayed in South London but moved closer to London's center, to Brixton and Herne Hill. Herne Hill is a tiny place that is ridiculously overstocked with lovely pubs.
