Hello, I'm Kirstie 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 1979, and the presenter was Roy Plumley.

Music This week, our castaways the actress, Sean Phillips.

Did I pronounce your Christian name right?

You did, Roy, and you're about the only person, whoever does.

I don't know why it's so difficult, but if I'd known it was going to cause problems all my life,

I would have changed it many, many years ago.

In fact, it's Welsh for Jane.

Jane, yes.

S-I-A-N.

Many of my oldest friends in the theatre call me by the unbecoming name of Stan. Because the GPO on opening night looks at these telegrams and they look S-I-A-N. No, that's impossible. That must read S-T-A-N. So the telegrams arrived Stan, Phillips. I got a few last week. Now, you were born in Wales. Was Welsh your first language? Yes, it was. Yes. I mean, I knew how to

speak English through listening to the wireless, but nobody in my neighbourhood or at school spoke English.

Which was your neighbourhood? It was West Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire, which is basically a rural

district in spite of being near the industrial south.

Yes, and of course you grew up with a musical background.

Yes, I did. My father was very musical and he was a trained singer. He also had a choir.

So the house was always full of. He used to play the piano all day and sing. So my humming music, all my childhood, were bass, baritone, aria, mainly from oratorio. Do you play an instrument?

Well, every Welsh child plays an instrument. I learned to play the piano. But to my father's family's disappointment, I was obviously never going to be any good,

but it has given me enormous... I play very badly with great feeling.

And it gives me enormous pleasure.

Of course. Well, what's the first record you've chosen for your Desert Island?

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