Christopher Biggins was "quite insulted" when he first got offered a pantomime role.
Christopher Biggins
The veteran entertainer was just 24 years old when he was approached to star in his first panto as the "dame" - a role typically played by older men - and he took some convincing before he agreed to the career departure.
He told the Sunday Post newspaper: "I remember when I was asked to do my first pantomime, I was absolutely amazed. Funnily enough, I was quite insulted! The reason for that was because every pantomime dame I had seen was in their 60s.
"They were much older but suddenly here they were, asking a 24-year-old to do pantomime, and I thought, 'No, I'm not going to do that.' These people kept asking and asking and asking, until eventually they mentioned money.
"This was in Darlington, at the Civic Theatre, and they told me it would be a thousand pounds a week. I couldn't believe it. Tickets were one-and-six! So I thought, well, I'd better do it. Of course, once I did it I loved it."
The 70-year-old TV star - who pointed out that the likes of Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow have also been involved in the lighthearted festive family performances - admitted he had a similar thought when he was first asked to do a children's TV show.
Biggins - who started his career in the likes of 'Porridge', 'I, Claudius' and 'Poldark' - added: "I was insulted. I told them I don't do that, I'm an actor.
"But they also persevered and once again money was mentioned and I thought I had better do it. So I did it, too, and of course I loved it, too. I did 'Rentaghost', which was really fantastic and I loved doing it."
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