LIONEL GAMLIN - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1966 CO-SIGNED BY: DORIS HARE - HFSID 46834

BRITISH ENTERTAINERS: LIONEL GAMLIN and DORIS HARE
Gamlin, a BBC veteran, extends best wishes to younger employee Patrick Allen. Hare pens a sentiment on verso.
Autograph Letter signed: "Lionel Gamlin", 7½5¼. No place, no date. To "Patrick Allen", in full: "Wishing you a happy time with the BBC (and my other job you'll probably tackle by the time you're my age) as I've always had from the first time I was in "In Town Tonight" to the last drop of (Ad. Ad.). Best ever". Autograph Sentiment signed on verso: "Best Wishes/Doris Hare". LIONEL GAMLIN (1903-1967) was a veteran broadcaster for the BBC. During World War II, Gamlin was the voice of authority heard by the British people on war news and documentaries, including the RAF film Squadron 992. After the war, Gamlin became the voice of light entertainment, conducting interviews on In Town Tonight and also running children's programs. He narrated How to Play Cricket (1949), and appeared in a few feature films. "Ad Ad" is a reference to the British TV satire, Adam Adamant Lives! Since Gamlin appeared on that show during the 1966-1967 season, the reference dates the letter to the last year or so of Gamlin's life. Patrick Allen (1927-2006), born in Nyasaland (now Malawi), had appeared in films since 1952, but was apparently new to the BBC. Welsh actress DORIS HARE (1905-2000) performed in her parents' acting troupe from age 3. She made her West End stage debut in Noel Coward's Words and Music (1932), opposite John Mills, with whom she would also make her last stage appearance 55 years later in a special event at the London Palladium. Hare performed on Broadway and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but may have been best known as "Mrs. Butler" in the popular sitcom On the Buses (1969-1973) and three film spinoffs. Hare received an MBE for her World War II radio program, Shipmates Ashore.