From fridge salesman to West End whizz

THEATRE impresario Paul Elliott has sold fridges, acted a bit part opposite Jack Warner on Dixon Of Dock Green, worked on flop shows (and hit shows), made and lost fortunes. But he’s still here.

On Sunday, Paul (above) will celebrate 60 years in the entertainment business — and also the publication of his new book: Keeping My Balls In The Air: The Random Memoirs Of A Theatre Producer.

They’re the tales of a man who has been working in the biz since 1957. A man who has met and known everyone; and fallen out with a fair few, too.

His tastes range from the Bard to panto. When I was starting out I used to see him at Richmond and Wimbledon theatres, in the days when he was known as Mr Panto and controlled a vast entertainment empire.

One of the most moving chapters in the book is when he realises this empire he’d built from scratch doesn’t belong to him any more. I raise this episode when we meet for lunch, but talking about it will spoil his chilled cucumber soup, so he swats it away.

Even so, he’s very aware of the up and down nature of the world of entertainment. ‘It’s like snakes and ladders,’ he said. After he lost the pantos, he was part of the team that made a mint rockin’ around the clock with the Buddy Holly musical Buddy. He also had a hand in making Stones In His Pockets a smash.

When I mentioned that a trade paper wrote that he’d retired, I see a flash of anger. ‘I’m in the 61st year of my career. I have stopped producing. But I am not retired,’ he said emphatically. Actually, I know this to be true because he and I first discussed meeting a year ago. And it took 12 months to sort lunch because he travels more than I do.

Much has changed since he started out. ‘You shook hands on a deal, and that was it,’ he said. ‘It’s corporations now.’

When he was a very young man (he was handsome in his day), and acting, he had fun with the ladies until West End star Evelyn ‘Boo’ Laye told him to leave the chorus girls alone, and play with the stars with top billing. ‘She was top of the bill,’ he said, laughing.