Hello everyone and once again you are reading my recollections which probably means you are mad but have taste. Writing this column is a lonely task as obviously I do it alone hunched over my typewriter or nowadays computer, without ever seeing my 'audience' . However, that thankfully means you can't see me, which is a blessing. I can go out on Halloween trick or treating without a mask and still scare people but I rather enjoy my laughter lines and wrinkles because I have earned them.

I have never understood why so many in showbiz turn to cosmetic surgery or wear wigs to become mutton dressed as lamb. I blame the industry for wanting to dwell on youthful looks rather than respecting that we all age. Okay, you may have a double chin, bags under the eyes or less than pure white teeth but that is the reality. Young television executives tell me the viewing public demand everyone to look great on screen but are the public really that hollow?

Personally I wish they did not use a photo of me on my articles. Firstly because I am not a 'celebrity' but just someone who writes about stars and other matters. That space could allow more words. Secondly I think the photo was taken about 10 years ago and, alas, time has taken its toll.

I am sometimes asked what it is like to interview stars and what technique I use. Actually I have not interviewed a star for years but thankfully still get to meet a few on occasions. To be honest I would be useless today as we now live in a world of 'celebrities' and young stars I have never heard of and am out of touch. I have stopped watching the Oscar ceremony as the names and films are unfamiliar to me but that is what happens when you become, as my younger pals say, an old fossil.

The first star I recall interviewing was 45 years ago at Shepperton Studios. His name was Peter Cushing, and what a gent. Believe it or not I was young at the time but he was a joy to interview. We talked about his career in Hollywood, appearing with Laurel And Hardy and Carole Lombard plus, of course, his Hammer horror films. He kindly spent an hour talking to me and I tape recorded the conversation, but as with other taped conversations with the likes of Edward Woodward, Gary Kurtz, Yootha Joyce, Trevor Howard and Donald Pleasance to name a few, they must go with me to the grave for copyright reasons beyond my control. When you record an interview you must get the written consent of the interviewee, which I never did as they were just memory aids to me for writing up the interview.

When interviewing stars working at Elstree Studios I employed the tactic of asking about Borehamwood-made films from their past to warm them up. Hence I was able to ask stars like Sophia Loren, David Niven, Charlton Heston and others about their past movies. When I met Ingrid Bergman you can imagine how bored she was answering questions about Casablanca and Bogart. However, she warmed to questions about her Borehamwood movies like The Inn Of Sixth Happiness, Anastasia and Indiscreet.

My big regret today is that I was rarely photographed interviewing the star. I recall a unit photographer snapping me talking to Michael Caine on the set of The Fourth Protocol at Elstree Studios, but unlike today the idea of asking for an autograph or a selfie, to use a modern term, was considered unprofessional. Nowadays I would love to have an album of photos of my interviewees over the past 45 years but then again that is just an ego trip. My apologies for name dropping once again but then again younger readers will not recognise the names anyway. That is showbiz!