Lioness who came to tea and gave my plumber the fright of his life!

. . . not to mention the black panther in the kitchen and an 8ft boa on the bed. The hair-raising memoirs of an actor with a truly WILD side

LARGER-than-life actor Brian Blessed’s new book reveals his deep love for animals. In the first part of our serialisation on Saturday, he told how he ‘adopted’ an orphaned baby orangutan. Today, big cats and a very friendly snake move in . . .

YOU know those chance conversations that change your life completely? Well, this was one of them. Shortly after I’d moved into my dilapidated but huge home in South-West London, my old pal from Z Cars, Frank Windsor, dropped by.

Because of the amount of work I’d been doing on the house, he said I looked exhausted. ‘You need to relax a bit, Brian,’ said Frank. ‘Have you been to see that Nyoka fellow yet at Harrods?’ I must confess I had no idea what my friend was talking about, and told him as much.

‘He’s an animal trainer with an extraordinary knowledge of wild animals,’ Frank explained. ‘He’s doing exhibitions at Harrods for the next week or so. He’s amazing! A latter-day Tarzan in a leotard.’

So off I went to Harrods and when I arrived, there were literally hundreds of people milling around. I couldn’t believe it. Ninety-nine per cent of these were late middleaged women, and when Nyoka started the show, I could understand why. It was all snakes! The old dears seemed to find the whole experience rather erotic.

Over the next week, I went almost every day to see Nyoka and after each show I’d quiz him for hours. Although I was besotted with animals, I still felt I knew so little about them, and I was desperate to learn. Desperate!

A few days later, I was plastering a ceiling when there was a knock on the front door. My dad was down from Yorkshire helping me and while he’d been mixing the Thistle bonding plaster and I’d been slapping it on, we’d been listening to the Ride Of The Valkyries on my gramophone to inspire us. Marvellous stuff!

Anyway, as there was nobody else about — my two housekeepers, Mrs Bush and Mrs Cobus being elsewhere — I jumped down and went to see who it was.

There, stood Nyoka. For some reason I couldn’t work out, he’d positioned himself behind a pillar and I could only see his head. Then, as he started to move into full view I realised he had a friend with him.

‘It’s a black panther,’ I whispered, amazed and awestruck. Nyoka looked down at the enormous feline. ‘I knew you’d be impressed,’ he said. ‘Quite striking, isn’t she?’

‘Striking?’ I responded. ‘Never in my life have I ever seen such a creature. What’s she called?’ ‘Kali. She’s eight months old.’ ‘Would she like a saucer of milk?’ I asked.

‘I’m sure she wouldn’t say no.’ And he entered the house with her by his side on a leather lead. The moment was miraculous beyond my wildest dreams.

I’d just invited a black panther into my house. A BLACK PANTHER!

I felt so pumped I could have run to Newcastle and back without stopping.

Kali was something to behold. She moved with astonishing grace and had bright green eyes that were almost luminous. I’d never seen anything like it.

In the middle of the kitchen, I had a huge Welsh table and apart from that and an old sink the only thing in operation was the Aga, which heated a few rooms. After I’d given Kali a saucer of milk, we sat around the table, me, Dad and Nyoka. I needed to get my breath back — I mean, what a shock!

I was just about to say something enlightening when out of the blue the panther leapt on to the table and started prowling in my direction. Time stood still. ‘Nothing to worry about!’ said Nyoka very quickly. ‘I promise you she’s only being friendly. She likes you.’ All I could think was: ‘I’ve got Bagheera from The Jungle Book on my kitchen table!’ I was mesmerised.

Nyoka put his hand into his bag and then handed me a brush.

‘She wants you to brush her, Brian. Kali loves being brushed. Go on. If you don’t she’ll get very upset.’

Within half a second, I was on my feet brushing Kali’s back.

‘Go on Brian!’ he said. ‘She wants you to brush her, not tickle her.’

Nyoka was obviously playing with me a bit but what a game, eh?

The brush was one of those you wrap around your hand and so taking my friend’s advice I pressed down a little harder as I moved the brush across her back. ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘Look at her now! She loves you!’

Before long, Kali started purring and purring; the sound got louder and louder. After she’d had enough of the brush, Kali stood up and began patrolling all four corners of the large table.

My word, she looked impressive. She was a female Bagheera.

Just to keep my father and me in check, she’d let out a grunting snarl, which made me take a step back. Nyoka, once again, found this all quite comical.

‘Don’t be fooled by all the prowling and snarling, Brian,’ he said. ‘That’s all just for show. She’s just a big clumsy cat,