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Celebrating television's This Is Your Life

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THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Maryan Rawicz and Walter Landauer, pianists, were surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, having been led to believe they were there to play the piano while Eamonn surprised somebody else.

Maryan, who was born in Tarnov, Poland and Walter, from Vienna, Austria, first played together in Vienna in 1930 after meeting in Carpathia, where they discovered their playing styles suited each other perfectly. After completing a successful European concert tour, they moved to the United Kingdom in 1935 to escape the growing Nazi occupation of the continent.

Following the Second World War, they became British subjects and carved out a formidable reputation as a two-piano team. They transformed many popular classics into duets, appeared in variety shows, sold tens of thousands of records, made regular BBC radio broadcasts, and toured internationally.

programme details...

• Edition No: 154
• Subject Nos: 154-155
• Broadcast live: Mon 6 Mar 1961
• Broadcast time: 7.30-8.00pm
• Venue: BBC Television Theatre
• Series: 6
• Edition: 25

on the guest list...

• Trudl Senesch-Hoppe
• Henryk Mierowsky
• Mark Lubbock
• Greta Gynt
• Elsie Waters
• Doris Waters
• Ilse - Maryan's wife
• Doreen - Walter's wife
• Tommy Trinder
Filmed tributes:
• Prof Josef Auber
• Kathleen Goodall
• Rudy Vallee

related appearances...

Both:
• Arthur Davies - Jan 1962

Walter Landauer only:
• Alberto Semprini - Apr 1977

production team...

• Researcher: Virginia Ropner
• Writer: Peter Moore
• Director: Michael Goodwin
• Producer: T Leslie Jackson

• names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

Classical Life

a symphony of subjects

A Double Life

two's company

Timeline

the show's fifty year history

Cover Story

Eamonn Andrews reveals his plans as the series ends

Tommy Trinder

Photographs of Maryan Rawicz and Walter Landauer This Is Your Life