Living life to the max

WHEN veteran entertainer Max Bygraves opens his new tour in York, he'll be hoping not to end up sleeping on a bench overnight at the railway station as happened on a previous visit to the city. He remembers the date well - February 22, 1947 - because that's the day his son Anthony, now his manager, was born.

After performing that Saturday night in York, he went straight to catch a train back to London to see his new-born baby.

"I met a few people and said I'd got a new baby. They said, 'Let's wet the baby's head.' I'm not a drinker, maybe the odd glass of sherry, but I got sozzled," recalls Bygraves.

"I didn't make the train out of York and finished up sleeping on a bench in the waiting room, and then catching the first train next morning at 6.30."

One reason he remembers the incident is that it was the coldest night of the year - not the best time to be sleeping rough.

Bygraves, 81 next month, is just back from Australia where he lives part of the year. He was a little sleepy when we spoke three days after he returned as jet lag was taking its toll. "I can't shake it off," he says. "I have been there 24 times in the last 30 years and it's never really affected me until this trip."

Following a ten-date tour in this country, he's heading straight back down under to tour New Zealand. "It's not like the old days. This is a tour of casinos," he says. "Most of them have theatres and they're very well-equipped with sound and lighting, and far better to play than some of the theatres you have around the world. It's quite a treat to go there."

Until four weeks ago, Bygraves owned an 84-acre property in New South Wales. Now he and his wife Blossom have moved into rented accommodation while their new apartment on the Gold Coast is built.

"I love the weather there," he says. "My wife is a little bit chesty so the weather is better for her. And I like the people. There's always a theatre that wants me and they enjoy my sort of humour."

You can tell from his comments that retirement isn't in his immediate thoughts. He admits he's thinking about it, although prefers to carry on working. "I get some lovely offers - you wouldn't believe it, and this part of my life I could be working every night of the week," he says. Too much travelling can be tiring, but he adds: "I am alive when I get on the stage."

Bygraves can't remember the last time he performed in York, but audiences at the Grand Opera House can be sure he'll bring the city into his act. "There's nothing better than local stuff. Out of that comes great comedy stuff," he says.

He may soon be back on TV too if an idea on which he's working with producer Ernest Maxim gets the green light. "Television has got so dreary. They're all trying to do Big Brother and it's all much of a sameness," he says. "They keep aiming for the youth. There used to be wonderful shows on Sunday nights but they don't do that any more. Now there's an eagerness about anyone who can perform. "The idea is for a series in which I talk about the old days and most of it is linked by the old advertisements. I was in the advertising business before show business. You only have to pick up an old poster for Eno's fruit salts, Craven A, or Nosegay, and you can get ten minutes' material."

As much as he enjoys his time on stage over here, he likes living in Australia and their sense of humour. "They are very self deprecating and put a joke into almost everything. I like them tremendously," he says.

Some of his family live over there too. He still bumps into people who were in the RAF the same time as him and performs at servicemen's clubs.

As well as regular rounds of golf, he's writing a book about a year in the life of an octogenarian. Not that he feels 80. "I really feel like I'm in my 50s," he says. "And nothing stimulates me more than going on stage with an audience and making them happy."

l Max Bygraves - Birthday Show is at York Grand Opera House on Friday. Tickets (01904) 4671818.