Desert Island Discs

George Abbott

01 Sep 1984

Contributed by Lukas

George Abbott, who is 97 years old, has just directed a revival of his musical On Your Toes. He began his career as an actor, but before long he was a...

Ved Mehta

25 Aug 1984

Contributed by Lukas

The writer Ved Mehta unfortunately lost his sight at the age of four: "Most blind people in India at that time were beggars, or stayed with their rela...

Willie Rushton

18 Aug 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Willie Rushton is a cartoonist, actor, writer and a regular member of quiz game panels. He tells Roy Plomley about how he came to be one of the founde...

Ron Goodwin

11 Aug 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Ron Goodwin has composed the scores for many films, including Where Eagles Dare, 633 Squadron and Monte Carlo or Bust, but he started his career in an...

Gayatri Devi

04 Aug 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Gayatri Devi, the Maharani of Jaipur, was brought up in the sumptuous Palace of Cooch Behar with its staff of 500. She tells Roy Plomley how she shot ...

Sir Alfred Ayer

28 Jul 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Alfred Ayer, the philosopher who was for many years the Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford University, is perhaps best known for Language, Truth...

Natalia Makarova

21 Jul 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Natalia Makarova is starring in a revival of the musical On Your Toes, but she trained as a classical ballet dancer at the Kirov School in Leningrad. ...

Vlado Perlemuter

14 Jul 1984

Contributed by Lukas

The pianist Vlado Perlemuter, who was born 80 years ago in Lithuania, has spent most of his life in Paris, where he taught at the Conservatoire betwee...

Lord Rothschild

07 Jul 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Rothschild has spent much of his life as Assistant Director of the Research Department of Zoology at Cambridge University, but that has not preve...

Zubin Mehta

30 Jun 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Zubin Mehta is the Musical Director of the New York and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestras.In conversation with Roy Plomley, he talks about his upbri...

Hugh Johnson

12 May 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Hugh Johnson's career was spawned when he became a member of the Wine and Food Society at Cambridge University. He soon made a name for himself as a w...

Rosalind Plowright

05 May 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Rosalind Plowright, the soprano, began singing professionally with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera Company, but her career did not really take off unti...

Leo McKern

28 Apr 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Leo McKern tried various careers like engineering and art before he decided to become an actor. Although he now concentrates mainly on films and telev...

David Lodge

21 Apr 1984

Contributed by Lukas

David Lodge, who has written several successful novels, including Changing Places and The British Museum is Falling Down, is Professor of Modern Liter...

Lucy Irvine

14 Apr 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Lucy Irvine has experienced the reality of life on a desert island, although for her year-long sojourn she did have a companion. In conversation with ...

Christopher Reeve

07 Apr 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Reeve is probably best-known for his film performances as Superman and Clark Kent, but he has made several other films, including Deathtra...

Paul Tortelier

31 Mar 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Tortelier was born in Paris, where his first job at the age of 12 was playing the cello in a cinema orchestra. Although he was a prize-winning st...

'Honest' Ed Mirvish

24 Mar 1984

Contributed by Lukas

'Honest' Ed Mirvish is a Canadian high-school drop-out who became a multi-millionaire by running a discount house selling goods at bargain prices. Whe...

Michael Quinn

17 Mar 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Quinn is the Head Chef at the Ritz Hotel; the first British Chef in the history of the hotel. His ambition was always to be a cook, so as soon...

Don McCullin

10 Mar 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Don McCullin has won an enormous reputation for his photographic coverage of the many wars which have torn the world apart in the last 20 years.In con...

Gerald Priestland

03 Mar 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Gerald Priestland began his career in the news department of the BBC, becoming in 1954 the foreign correspondent in India. Many years later, he was ap...

Michael York

25 Feb 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Michael York began his acting career with the National Youth Theatre, but his big break came when he successfully auditioned for the National Theatre ...

Woody Herman

18 Feb 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Woody Herman played saxophone and clarinet with various bands until 1936, when the Isham Jones Band in which he was working broke up and he organised ...

Lord Elwyn-Jones

11 Feb 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Elwyn-Jones began his career as a barrister, combining it with that of a Labour Member of Parliament from 1945. He was Counsel for the Prosecutio...

Stubby Kaye

04 Feb 1984

Contributed by Lukas

The American actor Stubby Kaye worked in vaudeville before he made his name in the musical Guys and Dolls, on Broadway and in London, as Nicely-Nicely...

HRH Princess Michael of Kent

28 Jan 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent was born in Czechoslovakia but she was educated mainly in Australia. She came to England specifically to s...

Quentin Crewe

21 Jan 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Quentin Crewe has always been an enthusiastic traveller and even the onset of muscular dystrophy has not curbed him. His other great interest is in fo...

David Gower

14 Jan 1984

Contributed by Lukas

The cricketer David Gower, who is to be the captain of Leicestershire next season, is thought by many to be one of the world's most exciting batsmen. ...

Bertice Reading

07 Jan 1984

Contributed by Lukas

Bertice Reading's career took off when she won a talent contest and for the prize sang with the Lionel Hampton Band for a week. Later, she started to ...

M M Kaye

31 Dec 1983

Contributed by Lukas

The novelist MM Kaye was born and has spent much of her life in India, and this experience has provided the background to several of her novels, inclu...

James Stewart

17 Dec 1983

Contributed by Lukas

James Stewart, with his inimitable slow drawl and gangly walk, has been making films since 1935, from The Philadelphia Story to The Far Country and Mr...

John Piper

10 Dec 1983

Contributed by Lukas

The artist John Piper is a man of many talents. Not only is he a distinguished painter, but also he is particularly interested in tapestry and stained...

Marvin Hamlisch

03 Dec 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Marvin Hamlisch got into the Juilliard School of Music at the age of seven and he has been successful ever since. His two hit musicals - Chorus Line a...

Thomas Keneally

26 Nov 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas Keneally, the Australian writer, won the Booker Prize last year with Schindler's Ark after being on the shortlist twice. In conversation with R...

Sir Hugh Greene

19 Nov 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Hugh Greene began his career as a foreign correspondent. During the war, he joined the BBC and was in charge of wartime broadcasts to Germany. Aft...

Sir Peter Hall

12 Nov 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Peter Hall was appointed Director of the National Theatre in 1973. Before that, he ran the Royal Shakespeare Company and he was responsible for se...

Shirley MacLaine

05 Nov 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Shirley Maclaine began her career as a singer and dancer in the chorus of a Broadway musical. Success came quickly when, as an understudy, she had to ...

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

29 Oct 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has had many adventures since he was removed from the SAS for the illegal use of explosives, but without a doubt his greatest expl...

Linda Esther Gray

22 Oct 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Linda Esther Gray, the Scots soprano, made her operatic debut as Mimi in La Boheme with Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1972, and she went on to win the...

Topol

15 Oct 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Topol began his acting career almost by accident while he was doing his army service in Israel. He had wanted to be a printer and live on a kibbutz. H...

Mollie Harris

08 Oct 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Mollie Harris was brought up in Oxfordshire and her books of reminiscences about life in the country are very popular. For the past thirteen years she...

Rosemary Sutcliff

01 Oct 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a painter of miniatures and some of her work was shown at the Royal Academy. Since turning to writing, she has p...

Ian Richardson

24 Sep 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Richardson has spent much of his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company. But, in recent years, he has made an impact on television in Ti...

Lionel Hampton

17 Sep 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Lionel Hampton is one of the legendary figures of the jazz world. For most of his career, he has led his own bands, although for a while he did play w...

Charlotte Lamb

10 Sep 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Charlotte Lamb first started to write in 1970 after doing a series of different jobs, including working in a bank and for the BBC. Since then, she has...

Paul Jones

03 Sep 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Jones first made his name as the lead singer with the group Manfred Mann. Later, he formed the Blues Band, but in the meantime he had started a s...

Cindy Buxton & Annie Price

27 Aug 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Cindy Buxton made several successful wildlife films in Africa for television. Then, in 1978, she decided to film on the Falkland Islands and managed t...

Malcolm Bradbury

20 Aug 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Bradbury is Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia, but he is better known perhaps for his novels, The History Man and...

Peter Bull

13 Aug 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Bull has become known in recent years as a teddy bear expert and the owner of Aloysius who appeared in Brideshead Revisited, but he has also had...

Sir Frederick Gibberd

06 Aug 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Frederick Gibberd includes among his designs a bridge, Liverpool Cathedral, the mosque in Regent's Park and Harlow New Town, but he says of himsel...

Keith Waterhouse

30 Jul 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Keith Waterhouse started his writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post but it was not long before he had a huge success with a novel - Billy Liar. ...

John Gunter

23 Jul 1983

Contributed by Lukas

John Gunter has been a set designer in the theatre for many years, but his astounding sets for two productions at the National Theatre - Guys and Doll...

Sir John Pritchard

16 Jul 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir John Pritchard, now Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, has worked with many orchestras in many countries, but he remembers above all t...

Julian Bream

09 Jul 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Julian Bream first played the guitar on radio in Children's Hour when he was only 13. This led to guest appearances in a series on the Light Programme...

Terry Jones

02 Jul 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Terry Jones first became well-known as one of the performers in Monty Python's Flying Circus in 1969. He had spent several years before that as a tele...

Peter Maxwell Davies

25 Jun 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Maxwell Davies is not only a prolific composer, he is also Director of Music at Dartington Hall Summer School and Director of the Fires of Londo...

Fleur Cowles

18 Jun 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Fleur Cowles began her career as a columnist on one of the New York papers and before long she became the Associate Editor of the magazine Look. She b...

Sir Peter Pears

11 Jun 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Peter Pears has been acknowledged for many years as an outstanding interpreter of the vocal music of Benjamin Britten. He also helped Britten to f...

Raymond Briggs

04 Jun 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Raymond Briggs began his career as an illustrator after studying art at the Slade School. He first achieved fame through his picture books for childre...

Sinead Cusack

28 May 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Sinead Cusack.Favourite track: Concerto in G Minor No. 1 by Max Bruch Book: Novels by John Le Carre Luxury: Writing ...

Terry Wogan

21 May 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is broadcaster Terry Wogan.Favourite track: The Young Prince and The Young Princess by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Book: His favour...

Sir Alan King-Hamilton

14 May 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is retired Old Bailey Judge Sir Alan King-Hamilton.Favourite track: Symphony No. 5 In C Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Bar...

Arthur English

07 May 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor and comedian Arthur English.Favourite track: 1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: Britain's Heritage by Joh...

A N Wilson

30 Apr 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer A N Wilson.Favourite track: Profisciere Anima Christiana by Edward Elgar Book: The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrav...

Max Boyce

23 Apr 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is comedian and musician Max Boyce.Favourite track: The First Time by MacColl Book: I Can't Stay Long by Laurie Lee Luxury: Oil...

Geoffrey Moorhouse

16 Apr 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer and journalist Geoffrey Moorhouse.Favourite track: Notte E Giorno Faticar (Don Giovanni) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart B...

Ruggiero Ricci

09 Apr 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is violinist Ruggiero Ricci.Favourite track: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Letters by Beethoven L...

James Fox

02 Apr 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor James Fox.Favourite track: I Believe In You by Bob Dylan Book: Colour reproduction of Renaissance artists Luxury: Wate...

Jan Morris

26 Mar 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer and journalist Jan Morris.Favourite track: Badinrie by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Her own book on Venice Luxury: Ast...

Michael Wood

19 Mar 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is flying surgeon of East Africa Michael Wood.Favourite track: Toccata and Fugue In D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Othe...

Douglas Reeman

12 Mar 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Douglas Reeman.Favourite track: The Song Of The Jellicles by T S Eliot Book: The Admiralty Seamanship Manual Luxury: ...

Kenneth Macmillan

05 Mar 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is choreographer Kenneth Macmillan.Favourite track: Students' Chorus by Romberg Book: The Rack by A E Ellis Luxury: Godiva choc...

Tom Keating

26 Feb 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is painter and restorer Tom Keating.Favourite track: Symphony No. 2 in D by Jean Sibelius Book: Lives of the Artists by Giorgio...

James Ivory

19 Feb 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is director James Ivory.Favourite track: The Three Ladies Find Tamino by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A La Recherche Du Temps ...

Zandra Rhodes

12 Feb 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is designer Zandra Rhodes.Favourite track: Bolero by Maurice Ravel Book: Household Management by Mrs Beeton Luxury: Sketchbook,...

Beryl Reid

05 Feb 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Beryl Reid.Favourite track: Let The Bright Seraphim by George Frideric Handel Book: Forever Amber by Kathleen Winso...

Tim Severin

29 Jan 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is explorer Tim Severin.Favourite track: Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf Book: Pax Britannica by Jan Morris Luxury: Herb...

Gwyneth Jones

22 Jan 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Gwyneth Jones.Favourite track: L'Incoronazione Di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi Book: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Lu...

Baroness Maria Von Trapp

15 Jan 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is the inspiration behind The Sound Of Music, Maria Von Trapp.Favourite track: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major by Johann ...

Steve Davis

08 Jan 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is snooker player Steve Davis.Favourite track: I Need You Now by George Duke Book: The Throwback and Wilt by Tom Sharpe Luxury:...

Rachel Billington

01 Jan 1983

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Rachel Billington.Favourite track: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor by Sergei Rachmaninov Book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy...

Mary Ellis

25 Dec 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Mary Ellis.Favourite track: Gloria by Ariel Ramirez Book: Encyclopaedia Luxury: Writing materials

Gyorgy Ligeti

18 Dec 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is composer Gyorgy Ligeti.Favourite track: String Quintet In C by Franz Schubert Book: Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Lux...

Alan Price

04 Dec 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is musician Alan Price.Favourite track: I Ain't Got Nobody by Louis Prima Book: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Luxu...

Helen Mirren

27 Nov 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Helen Mirren.Favourite track: Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth Book: The Bhagavad-Gita Luxury: Silk underwear

P D James

20 Nov 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer P D James.Favourite track: St Matthew Passion (First Chorus) by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Middlemarch by George Eli...

Rosamond Lehmann

13 Nov 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Rosamond Lehmann.Favourite track: Nunc Dimittis by Burgon Book: Letters by Marquise de Sevigne Luxury: Writing Materi...

Thomas Allen

06 Nov 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is baritone Thomas Allen.Favourite track: Concerto in C For Violin, Cello, Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Jane Eyre by Cha...

Rt Hon. George Thomas

30 Oct 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Tonypandy, George Thomas, now Chairman of the National Children's Homes, was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1983. He was invited to...

Mike Harding

23 Oct 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is comedian Mike Harding.Favourite track: 2000-Year-Old Man by Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks Book: The New Oxford Book of Englis...

Geoffrey Grigson

16 Oct 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is critic Geoffrey Grigson.Favourite track: She Never Told Her Love by Franz Joseph Haydn Book: The Oxford English Dictionary L...

N.Busch, J.Kuchmy, M.Parry, M.Wilson

09 Oct 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaways are members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.Book: Books by Hector Berlioz, Charles Dickens, Hugh Johnson and a cookery bo...

David Lloyd Jones

02 Oct 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is artistic director of Opera North David Lloyd Jones.Favourite track: Symphony No. 9 In C by Franz Schubert Book: Journal by E...

Wilbur Smith

25 Sep 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Wilbur Smith.Favourite track: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Oxford English Diction...

Carlo Curley

18 Sep 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is organist Carlo Curley.Favourite track: Wie Lieblich Sind Deine Wohnungen by Johannes Brahms Book: Cookery book by Julia Chil...

James Loughran

11 Sep 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is conductor James Loughran.Favourite track: Mir Ist So Wunderbar by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Comprehensive world airways tim...

Claire Bloom

04 Sep 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Claire Bloom.Favourite track: Soave Sia Il Vento by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by M...

Duke & Duchess of Devonshire

28 Aug 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaways are the Duke & Duchess Of Devonshire.Favourite track: You're The Top by Ethel Merman Book: Books by Beatrix Potter and Cha...

Carl Davis

21 Aug 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is composer Carl Davis.Favourite track: Hm, hm, hm! (from The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Short Stories by An...

Donald Sinden

14 Aug 1982

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Donald Sinden.Favourite track: Symphony No. 6 In F Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: A History of Architecture on th...