From film to factory – Mac’s truly amazing life
FROM being Richard Attenborough’s film double, to carving out a global reputation as an innovative engineer, by any stretch of the imagination, Stanley Malcolm Lear’s life was interesting and rewarding.
“Mac”, as he was widely known, died on October 24, aged 83, after a short illness following a stroke.
His son Robert said: “My father, a lifelong Bluebirds supporter, had an amazing life and has left a big hole in our family.”
Mac was an accomplished musician. As a boy, he performed a solo at the Caerphilly National Eisteddfod in 1950.
After a short spell as an apprentice blacksmith in Nantgarw Colliery, Mac joined the RAF and spent time in North Africa and Malta during the Suez crisis, working on Canberra and Meteor aircraft.
His time in the RAF saw him indulge in his love of motorcycles and music,
as a lead trumpet player for the RAF and ad-hoc dance bands.
It was during this time that he was also involved in the filming of The Sea of Sand starring Richard Attenborough (or “Dicky” as Mac called him).
He was Attenborough’s stand-in for the film, and also played a German soldier who got shot.
On his return home, Mac worked as a technician in the steelworks in Newport and he continued playing solo trumpet in dance bands in Caerphilly,
where he met his wife.
He studied the new emerging field of electronics at night school and started to create circuits to aid the steelworks production.
He then started his first business as a TV and radio repairman.
As a keen motorcyclist, he also took part in many events, including the Welsh Two-Day Enduro, hill climbs and time trials.
Living in Machen, Mac became a councillor and then chairman of the
Bedwas, Machen and Trethomas council.
He also helped establish the awardwinning BTM Brass Band.
Robert added: “Dad’s local reputation as an inventive engineer saw him being asked by local factories to help solve machine breakdowns of equipment he had never previously seen!
“And it was during one of these callouts that dad saw the need for a new device to save waste and help maintain production in the printing industry.
“My father developed the first highspeed camera used to capture printing faults and registration errors – an invention that now can be found on almost every high-speed printing press in the world. This saw his business grow and allowed him to travel to all corners of the globe installing a new invention which now has many copycat versions.
“Neil Kinnock MP opened a new
factory for my dad in 1986 and his continued innovation saw him win a number of awards, recently being presented with one by Kevin Keegan, much to my dad’s delight.
“This is just a snapshot of my dad’s life, one his family are immensely proud of.”
The funeral on Friday is at 11am at Thornhill and attendance is subject to Covid restrictions. The funeral cortege will leave the house in St David’s Drive, Machen, at 10am.