This Is Your Life: Dora Bryan 2

Dora BRYAN (1923-2014)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Dora Bryan, actress, was surprised by Michael Aspel during the curtain call of the musical Hello, Dolly! at Manchester's Opera House, from where the programme was then recorded.

Dora, who was born in Oldham and began acting with her local Repertory Company, moved to London in 1945, where, in addition to regular stage work, she was cast in minor roles in several films before her big break with The Cure For Love in 1949.

She continued to balance film and television work - winning the Best Actress BAFTA award for her role in A Taste of Honey and landing her own television series, According to Dora - with more stage work, appearing in musicals such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Charlie Girl And Follies.

Dora Bryan was a subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions – previously surprised by Eamonn Andrews in April 1962 at her Brighton home.

"Michael – what are you doing? Oh you can't do that! Well I'd have had new eyelashes if I'd known!"

programme details...

Edition No: 752
Subject No: second timer
Broadcast date: Wed 25 Jan 1989
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 17 Jan 1989
Venue: Opera House, Manchester
Series: 29
Edition: 15
Code name: Honey

on the guest list...

company members of Hello, Dolly!
Bill Lawton - husband
Daniel - son
Georgina - daughter
William - son
Katie - daughter-in-law
Sheila Hall
Eileen McNeil
Tom Parkinson
Larry Grayson
Liz Smith
Robert Stephens
Rita Tushingham
John Broadbent - brother
Cyd Charisse
Nicholas Parsons
Eartha Kitt

production team...

Researcher: Sue Green
Writer: Roy Bottomley
Directors: Brian Klein, David Clark
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

with thanks to Marcus Bagshaw of the Grange Art Gallery and Museum, Rottingdean, for his contribution to this page

related pages...

Dora Bryan

first tribute

An Actor's Life For Me

spotlight on the stars

Life Second Time Around

surprised again!

The Night of 1000 Lives

a celebration of a thousand editions

Daniel Lawton, son of Dora Bryan, recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in an exclusive interview recorded in October 2013

Dora Bryan This Is Your Life Big Red Book

Photographs and screenshots of Dora Bryan This Is Your Life - and a photograph of Dora Bryan's big red book

Dora Bryan recalls her experience of This Is Your Life in her autobiography, According to Dora...

After a happy and successful tour of Charlie Girl... it was suggested I should revive Hello, Dolly! at the Playhouse Theatre in Nottingham. It was to be directed by Paul Kerryson, a new young director. Then we would do a national tour.

It was a wonderful production. In fact, I felt in lots of ways it was better than the London production. Unfortunately, on our opening night in Manchester my troublesome cough turned into bronchitis. Against doctor's orders, I struggled on for twelve weeks. But the doctor was severe with me after seeing some X-rays and said I would have to take two weeks off.

I was duly bundled up in blankets and Bill drove me home to Brighton, to my bedroom overlooking the sea. I rested there for two weeks, and then the doctor pronounced me fit enough to return to Manchester and carry on with the show. I can't say I felt fit enough, though, but the doctor said he thought I would be fine if I took it easy.

Little did I know that the doctor was being pushed by the This Is Your Life company to get me back to the show. It was all planned to do a second This Is Your Life on me. On my first night back I wondered what the TV vans outside stage door were all about, but was told they were doing a documentary on Northern theatres and they hoped I didn't mind the cameras backstage and in the auditorium. I never suspected a thing. After two weeks in bed I was only concerned about getting through the performance. It was a packed theatre and a wonderful audience, so when I took my call at the finale the applause was wonderful. Then I saw Michael Aspel walk on stage. More applause: the audience knew what was happening, but I had no idea.

My first thought was, 'How dare he: he'll spoil our curtain call!' I never noticed the red book. I just said, 'Michael, do get off the stage, please.' Then came the famous line: 'Dora, this is your life.'

I answered, 'No, no, Michael, I've been done before,' as I had, exactly twenty-seven years previously. I was exhausted by the time the show was recorded – so much for the doctor's advice to take it easy!

The audience stayed on and there was a party afterwards, so it was 2.00 am before I could leave. My brother had been flown over from South Africa again but, as I had seen him and my sister-in-law a few months previously, it was not the enormous surprise it had been the first time round. In fact, the whole programme didn't hold the same excitement the second time.

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Dora Bryan was starring as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! when Michael Aspel walked onstage at the Opera House, Manchester. He presented the Life there and then, on 17 January 1989.

The audience was delighted, because 'Our Dora', born just a few miles up the road in Oldham, has been a firm favourite since she started her career at Oldham Rep. When she was assistant stage manager there, she didn't care for the heavy 'mood music' in the interval of a production of Ibsen's Ghosts - so she changed it for a swing recording of 'In The Mood'.

With her and Paul Nicholas in Charlie Girl was, of course, Hollywood's Cyd 'the legs' Charisse, who spoke to Dora from Beverly Hills.

From her dressing room in Follies at London's Shaftesbury Theatre we heard from Eartha Kitt. Larry Grayson arrived in Manchester, and so did Robert Stephens, who played Dora's shady boyfriend in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey.

Thirty-two years on we flew in from Canada the actress who had been Dora's daughter in that film, Rita Tushingham, to say 'Hello, Dora!'

Series 29 subjects