The obituary of Jean Alexander (17 October) brought back many memories. I first met Jean in December 1954. I had joined the company at the Scala, Southport, for that year’s pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Only on the first day’s rehearsal did I learn that I was cast as Father Bear (I was 30). Jean was cast as Mother Bear.
To my question about costume, the designer told me to make myself a bear’s head (brown felt and wire provided). Jean was similarly advised. So we quickly formed a bond: without previous experience, how do you make a bear’s head? But we did. Our reward was to be cast as a fox and a panda in the following year’s pantomime – and yes, we had to make the heads for those as well.
The rest of the year we were learning a three-act play each week and performing it to a remarkable standard. Mostly they were Lancashire comedies, thrillers and farces – the sort of material that became the stuff of TV series. But TV was then in its infancy. Remember, it had been only the previous year that Elizabeth II’s coronation had startled a population gathered round a limited number of black and white TV sets. Jean was a delight to work with – always reliable and talented, with a wide range and wonderful comic timing. I had the pleasure of working alongside her for four years.
Donald Pelmear
London