I tuned into the McCooeys yesterday afternoon, a zoom theatre production of the radio series of the 1950s. I remember the Home Service of the BBC being on in the house and the familiar music that introduced the family, ‘My Aunt Jane’ heralded the ongoing story, Granda and Sara heading the family and steering them through all the ups and downs of life. Two episodes were covered yesterday and Joe Tomelty’s script was full of Ulsterisms, Lulu said there was no straighter nor honester man than Granda. He was the typical head of the household. Or was he? His wife Sara wasn’t a very worldly woman but she knew her onions.
The Centre Stage production was recorded at the Portico of Ards in Portaferry where Joe lived for much of his life. He was an actor, novelist, playwright and theatre manager and although growing up in the small village in Co. Down he chose to feature a working class Belfast family in his play and it shows just what an acute ear for dialect he had.
Originally it was planned to transmit two episodes in June 2020 to mark the 25th anniversary of Joe’s death but it was postponed until this weekend after the sudden death of Joe’s daughter Roma and the impact of the pandemic. Roma was an exceptional woman, actress,, director, producer and artistic director of Centre Stage Theatre Company. She was my friend and a good friend and she was dedicated to keeping her father’s legacy alive which she did most efficiently. Her daughter Hannah Carnegie has taken over the mantle and appears in the series as granddaughter Sally.
Roma’s husband Colin Carnegie is the cut glass BBC announcer who introduces the radio performances complete in black tie and slicked hair.
Dan Gordon plays Granda with Maria Connolly as Maggie McCooey, Christina Nelson as Aunt Sarah and Patrick McBrearty as Willie.
Between 1949 and 1955 The McCooeys were the Coronation Street of Northern Ireland and thousands tuned in. It has been brought back to life in 2021 by producer Micheal Quinn.
‘The Missing Raffle Ticket’ was first broadcast in 1951 when listeners were entertained hearing Granda who was like a bear with a sore heel, fearful of forfeiting the holiday he’s won in a raffle because ‘someone’ has lost the counterfoil.
It’s really interesting to have a look into the radio studio with the old BBC microphones, the sound effects engineer opening and closing the front door and running up and down steps when someone has to go upstairs! Christina Nelson has the most expressive face and everyone acts their part. Everything has been pulled together by Michael Quinn in a most entertaining way and his chat after the two shows is interesting and informative.
The general public performance, was on 20th March (tickets: £10) and streamed live at 3pm. The live recording will be available to view online to ticket buyers until 27th March. For further information and to book tickets visit:www.porticoards.com
In 1960 Ulster Television newsman Ivor Mills was invited to the Ritz Cinema Belfast to attend the morning preview screening of the epic Ben Hur starring Billy Millar. There was great excitement. The press were out in force and personalities were in attendance. As Mrs. Millar from Glengormley, mother of the star, was coming down the steps onto Fisherwick Place, Ivor asked her had she enjoyed the film. “Well,” she confided, “it was a long sit.” At three hours and 42 minutes it certainly was. But every minute was incredible. Before reading Joe Cushnan’s new book on the subject I decided to view the film myself and I was gripped, I was especially fascinated with Mrs. Millar’s son better known to us all as Stephen Boyd.
READ ALL ABOUT OUR BOY
Although this film was probably the height of his movie career, Boyd made over 60 films, Joe writes that not all of them were of such a high standard, indeed some of them were real turkeys!
Joe’s book, Stephen Boyd From Belfast to Hollywood, is a very through account of the actor’s progression from Whitehouse where he was born on 4th July 1931, on to live in Glengormley, attend Ballyclare High school, a heathy young man who loved sport, hockey, boxing and weightlifting. He was also interested in amateur dramatics and joined the Ulster Group Theatre in 1950 and played the part of an IRA man in Juno and the Paycock. He was building a career, became well known as the policeman in the McCooeys Radio Ulster radio series but like many before him the lights of the big city shone brightly inviting him to London where he survived as a busker although it was as doorman at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square that he got his big break. He and actor Michael Redgrave got chatting, Boyd told Redgrave he was looking for acting work and before long he was introduced to a theatrical agent who immediately signed him up as a member of the Midland Theatre Company.
The young man left his native NI as Billy Millar and stepped onto a bigger stage as Stephen Boyd. He proved himself to be a fine theatrical actor and he was offered more and more parts, television work followed where he appeared with stars like Diana Dors, James Robertson Justice and Stanley Holloway.
In 1956 he played the part of Patrick O’Reilly the Irish spy in the acclaimed film The Man Who Never Was, the true story of the body of a young man dressed as a Royal Marine officer carrying false top secret document. The body was launched from a submarine and was picked up off the coast of Spain; the misleading documents made their way to Berlin fooling Hitler and German Intelligence. It was a successful film and Boyd was rated the most promising new comer with ‘his bewitching brogue and his chin dimple’.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MAN
What makes this book so valuable is the research. Joe has contacted stars who worked with Boyd, directors, fans, friends and family and he reproduced their memories as written letters and interviews, there are Boyd’s own words and a very personal foreword by the late James Ellis. The author discovered that Boyd was a popular man who couldn’t put up with insincerity and was apt to speak out. He was 28 when he was cast as Messala in Ben Hur alongside Charlton Heston but he fell foul of gossip columnist Louella Parsons who reported Boyd’s comments on Ulster and Irish politics and the religious situation which may have been responsible for him being denied a Ben Hur Oscar although he did receive recognition as best supporting actor. He became an American citizen but never forgot his family at home, wrote two letters a week to his mother and bought his parents a house in Glengormley which they named Massala. He was a pinup, if you had the poster advertising Ben Hur you had gold dust. He doesn’t appear to be a womaniser, there was talk of an implied relationship between Massala and Ben Hur but no evidence that he was in fact gay. His marriage to Mariella di Sarzana in 1958 lasted only three weeks and he didn’t marry again until a few months before he died when he and long time friend Elizabeth Mills tied the knot.
The details of his experiences in Ben Hur are fascinating, he had to wear lifts in his shoes to measure up to Heston, he also had to wear contact lenses so he’d have brown eyes in contrast to Heston’s blue. The chariot race is famous and it’s breathtaking, Boyd is superb and brave amongst 15,000 extras, five weeks filming, £15m to make and grossed £75m.
There was no shortage of film roles, over 60 in all and he rubbed shoulders with the greats Paul Newman, Dionne Warwick, Brigitte Bardot, Peter O’Toole, Rita Hayworth, Omar Sharif – the list of co-stars goes on. Despite his undoubted acting success he began to fade out of the headlines in the late sixties although he made a comeback in the American series Hawaii Five-O.
This is a very fascinating book, the detail is exceptional and it does homage to a star who never received the acclamation he deserved, especially in his homeplace. On a June day in 1977 just as he was about to sign for a major film with Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris, during a game of golf he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to hospital in the San Fernando Valley but within an hour he was dead. He was only 45 years of age, an undoubted star who preferred being known as a working character actor. Stephen Boyd would have been 90 this 4th July so it’s about time someone took the time to put him firmly on the map. Joe Cushnan has done just that.
Published by FeedARead.com
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