Hello I'm Kirsty Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1988 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My castaway this week is an actor of enormous range. He first came to public attention playing the role of

confused suburban man in Alan Aikborn's comedies. Then he took on such great roles as

Leah and Galileo. More recently he became a household name in

Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective on BBC Television in which he played a crime

writer suffering from a deforming illness.

Well, in all of this success, he remains a very private man.

Recently, he was voted Best Actor for his performance in Arthur Miller's view from the bridge, but he didn't

turn up to take his prize. Michael Gambern doesn't believe in stardom. Michael you really do dislike

fame, don't you? Well fame don't you?

Well I don't know I do like it but I would like to remain anonymous as an actor.

I know that sounds ridiculous really but I'd like to just to be a blank page that no one knows anything about. Maybe it's impossible.

And then every time you walk on to the stage, the blank page becomes...

The character, yes.

And a great success in that?

I hope, yes, yes, I think so.. I mean I wouldn't like to walk on the stage and people would say

oh there's the man who collects toy trains or something because I don't collect toy trains but it just

distorts peoples.

But you're asking in the end for the impossible, aren't you?

Because, well, you want recognition as a distinguished actor.

And therefore you have to accept what goes with that which is that people want to know

...