Q What became of Jim McManus who was possibly the best actor to have impersonated Tony Hancock? David Ricks, Colchester, Essex
Best of British says: Born in Bristol but brought up in Clapham, south London, Jim McManus was educated at Buckhurst Hill County High School in Chigwell, Essex – a school with “a very successful school drama society.” Among his contemporaries there was Terrence Hardiman, the Demon Headmaster star who we paid tribute to in the July issue.
Trained at Theatre Workshop Stratford East under Joan Littlewood, McManus understudied Murray Melvin as Geoffrey in the West End production of A Taste of Honey. When Theatre Workshop took Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be to the Garrick Theatre, McManus worked as a dresser to the actor Wally Patch, who suggested that he try his luck at the Whitehall Theatre.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom