LARRY Lamb has starred in EastEnders, Gavin & Stacey and the 2016 series of I’m A Celebrity!
Here, the actor, 73, discusses his favourite word, his biggest regrets and the public figure he admires the most.
What is your favourite word?
B*****ks. There’s so much b*****ks going on. We’re run by coteries of politicians in every country who usually talk nothing more than b*****ks.
What is your worst habit?
I’ve been quick to judge people in the past, but I’ve slowed right down now.
Who makes you laugh the most?
Barry Humphries – the soul underneath Dame Edna Everage. He does a character called Sir Les Patterson, the Australian cultural attaché.
It’s one of the most outrageous comedy routines I’ve seen. When I watched him in the theatre, I laughed so much I was on the floor, howling and crying, literally at the point of throwing up.
George [Lamb, 40, Larry’s TV presenter son] was frightened I was having a heart attack.
What makes you angry?
Rude, thoughtless and stupid people. There are too many misguided people, living in a misguided world with a misguided set of values.
Tea or coffee?
Tea with oat milk.
What was your favourite TV show as a child?
The Beverly Hillbillies.
What is your earliest memory?
My mother and father having a fight on the landing of my grandfather’s house when we were living with him. I must have been around three or four years old.
If you could travel back in time where would you go?
I’d go back to the night my mother met my father and they ended up creating me. I’d sit them to one side and say: “Are you sure about this?”
Which public figure do you most admire?
Barack Obama. I can’t think of anybody who I respect more than him. The man is extraordinary. I just wish he’d been able to achieve more.
Most famous person in your phone?
James Corden.
What song would you have played at your funeral?
Errol Flynn by Amanda McBroom. It’s about her dad, who was an actor. My girls [daughters Eloise, 21, and Eva-Mathilde, 17] and their mum [actress Clare Burt, 54] are going to sing it. It makes me cry thinking about it.
What are your thoughts about growing older?
I used to feel completely immortal, then I hit 65 and I realised I had a sell-by date. I had a lifetime behind me, but not in front.
What’s your personal experience of grief?
I lost my younger brother Wesley last year and it was a real hard one. We’d grown apart over the years but, in the end, for the last week of his life, I slept in the room with him in the hospice.
What is your biggest regret?
That I didn’t work harder when I started acting. I took too much for granted.
How do you relax?
Writing. I started working on my novel thinking how amazing it would be if I could finish it by my birthday in September. By finishing it, I gave myself the best birthday present.
- Watch Larry in Pitching In, exclusively on Acorn now.
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