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Sad news that Rodney Bewes has died. He was a complex and interesting man, who I loved as a child and met twice as an adult. Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads is one of the all-time great sitcoms and whilst James Bolam may subsequently have had a more high-profile career, I don’t think either actor topped their performance in this show. That the pair fell out is a shame, but not too unusual. They were clearly very different people in real life and wanted different things from their career. Neither comes out of it that well: Bolam seemingly wanting to leave the past behind and refusing to allow repeats, Bewes seemingly unable to leave the past behind or respect that decision. Bolam is foolish for treating the sitcom snootily, but Bewes perhaps churlish to complain about repeat fees (especially when interviewed sitting in the rather lovely garden of his sizeable house). Warnings to all in show business to hold on to perspective, but people in showbiz don’t listen. I must say I still love both actors regardless and can totally understand why they rubbed each other up the wrong way.
Bolam came close-ish to playing Felix Yusupov in “I Killed Rasputin” before deciding it wasn’t right for him (It was a large and demanding part in a Fringe play -it would have been unbelievable if we’d got him) and Bewes auditioned for the grandad in “You Can Choose Your Friends.” I’d have loved to cast him and in many ways he was perfect, but it didn’t quite work out. He’d done a lot of work for the audition and made notes about how he saw the character developing and working. But this is a bit like turning up at a first date with an engagement ring. His ideas weren’t quite right for the project, but it also it suggested he might want more input into the script than was wanted. Ultimately he didn’t quite get it. So he didn’t get it. Looks like I will never work with a Likely Lad.
The other time I met him, I wrote about in this blog and then adapted into
a Metro article. Delightfully he had claimed that Jimi Hendrix had played on the brilliant Likely Lads theme tune. I did some research then and that seemed unlikely, but did Bewes actually mean the theme tune to “Dear Mother, Love Albert”? It was nice to see the mystery resurrected in death and a few people started chatting about it on Twitter, including Danny Baker, who, whilst acknowledging Bewes tendency to embellish a story thought it might be true -
providing a link to the song in question. Others vowed to look into it.
And if nothing else, true or false, Bewes would be delighted that his story telling led to such speculation and research. His obits and maybe to an extent his own evaluation of his career suggest that his post-Likely Lads career was a disappointment. But anything would be a disappointment after that. You have to hold on and let go in the right way. Letting go completely seems as bad as hanging on for dear life. But it sure is a tough balance to find.
And whatever else happened (to the likely lads) no one can take singing with Hendrix away from him. Unless he didn’t. In which case they still can’t.
