This download is the only extract the BBC has of this edition of desert island discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley.

What part of the country do you come from?

The Midlands country. Yes.

I've lived half my life in or around London now.

As a youngster, did you come into contact with the entertainment business?

Did you go to the local Music Hall a lot?

Yes, I did. I used to go to the local theatre with my mother.

Coventry Hibitorium. Coventry Hibitorium.

As it was then. Yes. Coventry Theatre now.

What was your first ambition?

My first ambition.

It's a hung on one really.

I didn't have very many ambitions as a kid.

I mean, other than the usual ones like being a train driver or something.

But I just would have been probably the greatest chef in the world if I'd have had my way.

I was always in just a strange thing.

I was always interested in cooking and things when I was a boy.

What was your first job?

Well, that was what it was. I was going to be a cook and a chef.

And I worked for a long time in working pastry cook and all that kind of work confectionery.

And I loved it because it was creative.

I like to do anything that's sort of creative.

...