In mentioning last week the Union Theatre production of 1066 and All That, which opens tonight in Manor House Gardens, Solihull, I unwittingly linked two people who had appeared in the show in the past - both as Henry VIII.
My reference to Barry Lankester, who took the role in a production by Birmingham University graduates and BBC people soon after the war, prompted a note from Mary Daniels, widow of my former friend and colleague John Daniels - with evidence.
John, who covered the amateur stage for the Evening Mail for many years, was Henry VIII at the age of 11 in 1948, in the same era as Barry Lankester's performance. John appeared with the Boldmere Junior School Children's Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, founded by his father John H Daniels, who was headmaster there, and Sir Barry Jackson, of Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Mary still has the hat that John, who died in December 1999, wore for the photograph. Moreover, and perhaps even more remarkable, her father and John's father were friends, so she was taken as a child to see her future husband in his regal role and as the Common Man.
The production was reviewed by one of John's predecessors in the theatre world at the Mail, Claude L Westelle - who also went out of his way to praise him in a hand-written letter addressed to "The Very Uncommon Man."
