A man who painted sunshine into the lives of all those who enjoyed his work. We have lost these people in society today. The doorways the lead them here have been locked shut. It is a loss for us all.
Lionel Bart was a one off. An underrated talent. It's sad to think that he and Georgia Brown are long gone, along with the East end which they both grew up in.
I interviewed Lionel when he was working at the Theatre Royal Stratford in the late 1950s. He is a fellow East Ender, and I was on the local paper. He had so much energy that he could have provided the electricity for the nation if we had plugged into him. What a remarkable pairing that would have been had he teamed up with Richard Rodgers.
This is nice to watch. Bart is facinating. Used to watch Braden as a kid in the 70s;, his style of easy charm professionalism is a thing of the past which is sad. There is room for the young and old school- why dont the BBC and their lot realise that and stop patronising the young in particular with noise and gimmicks
