In 1976 aged 21 I joined "Attenborough's Private Army" (APA).

The Boys From The Bridge

The Boys From The Bridge

This was a group of fifty young British actors who were brought together to train under the eagle eye of a former Director of The SAS to represent the heroic band of Paratroopers who held Arnhem Bridge in 1944, depicted in the classic War Movie "A Bridge Too Far".

1976 was one of the hottest summers on record, it was so hot that the cows got heatstroke in their fields and we drank the local bars dry!

We worked for six months alongside major stars like Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery and Sir Laurence Olivier to the strains of Abba and the sounds of machine gun fire "Can You Hear the Guns Fernando?"

My published memoir, “The Boys from The Bridge” is the story of the extraordinary events that occurred during the making of the movie.

I come from an acting Family, my Father was nominated for an Emmy for ‘Best Actor’ for his performance as Chingachkook in the BBC Series “The Last of The Mohicans”.

I have been an Actor for over 40 years and have appeared as a lead in two BBC Plays for Today and am probably best remembered for my role as Dick the Groom in The Yorkshire TV Series “Flambards”.

I have appeared many times on TV in programmes such as The Bill and EastEnders and played Major Williams in Coronation Street. I have also been seen in theatre productions all over the country and a couple of times in the West End.

I enjoy playing comedy and have just returned from the English Theatre in Vienna where I have been appearing in a sparkling comedy titled “Beau Jest” which has been great fun. I especially enjoyed visiting Vienna as my Grandfather came to England from there in 1911.

Outside of acting I run my own businesses which include a website which promotes film locations and luxury accommodation called The Movie Makers Guide, and another one with my wife where we make and sell teaching resources on film for performing arts and media studies to schools and colleges around the country, called Act-Ed Productions.

I spearheaded the successful campaign to save The Palace Theatre, Westcliff from closure and I live in Westcliff-on-Sea with my wife Sally, our son Alexander and our eleven-year-old Labrador, Daisy.

I have given up smoking and alcohol but despite this, I still find it difficult to lose weight and keep it off!

I used to be a good horseman though if I tried to mount a horse now it would probably put in a complaint to its Trade Union!

This is the first book I’ve written and I have my wife to thank for that as I have been telling "A Bridge Too Far Stories" for the last 40 years - until she said "For goodness sake...just put all of this down in a book!"...So I did, and here it is!