The cat who got the cream roles
Paul with fellow Hair cast members Annabel Leventon and Oliver Tobias
Paul and Dana Gillespie in Jesus Christ, Superstar
think the bomb disposal unit got a bigger round of applause when they arrived than the cast.
“Cats has gone on to become one of Andrew’s (Lloyd Webber’s) biggest hits worldwide. I’m not a trained dancer and I used to go down into the audience. I remember playing with Prince Charles’ hair when he came to see the show and I sat on Princess Grace of Monaco’s lap another time.”
BBC sitcom Just Good Friends came from Citizen Smith and Only Fools and Horses writer John Sullivan and was one of the most popuTHE lar TV comedies of the 1980s. John had seen Paul in a TV play called A Little Rococo and sent him a script.
The on-off relationship between central characters Penny and Vince struck a chord with viewers and one of the Christmas shows was watched by 22 million – one of the top 10 most watched British shows of all time.
Paul has gone on to make his mark as a producer with pal David Ian and has even tried his hand at directing.
Indeed, he’s always been ready for any chal“I
Celebrating the first night of Cats with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Elaine Paige
Paul recorded a song with a young David Bowie, above lenge. He learned Gene Kelly’s tap dance routines for the stage show Singin’ In The Rain and how to walk the tightrope for circus musical Barnum, but says his hardest challenge was learning to ride a horse for the BBC’s Sports Relief show Only Fools On Horses in 2006.
Paul fell heavily during one of the training sessions, but did not realise he had seriously injured himself.
“I thought it would be OK. I was not going to land on my head, but my bum and that’s what I did, but I didn’t find out until much later that I had broken three vertebrae. I did the whole show with a broken back.”
Paul has kept busy during the lockdown working on his memoir and the CD collection, but had to turn down a planned role in Midsomer Murders because of the pandemic.
He memorably appeared on EastEnders as villain Gavin Sullivan – the biological father of Sharon Watts. “I heard I got cremated and Sharon and Kathy turned up for the service and then my ashes were thrown into a waste bin,” laughs Paul, “that probably means I will definitely return. I obviously faked my own death and will turn up one day to whisper ‘Hello, Princess,’ in Sharon’s ear.”