NOW AND THEN:An Autobiography.**

LONDON.ROBSON BOOKS,1994.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,glossy,colour+b/w photographic montage upper wrap,and blue+white facsimile author's manuscript extract to rear wrap; with minimal shelf-wear and negligible creasing to edges - no nicks or tears present - miniscule bumping with reciprocal creasing to head of spine/backstrip.Top +fore-edges clean,contents bright,tight and clean with 2 subsequent newspaper clippings re author's thanksgiving church service and contents of will after his death, part-pasted to recto of ffe and bottom,vertical edge of title-page respectively.Clean,bright,plain blue paper-covered bds with bright, crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white eps.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,279pp includes half-title+title pages,author's note,a foreword by Harry Secombe,16pp b/w contemporary photographs and an index. Roy Castle's remarkable autobiography - very funny and intensely moving by turn - is not only the vivid and highly entertaining account of a colourful show-business career but also a work of great courage and style.One of the most popular and versatile entertainers in the business,Roy Castle first trod the boards as a child performer.He writes evocatively of his happy childhood in a one-up one-down in Huddersfield and of the slow build up of his career from the age of twelve; of National Service in the RAF - where he was commandeered to be the camp's barber whilst also learning the trumpet bought for him by his Uncle Harold; and of his triumphant return to show-business as the cat in Dick Whittington at the grand wage of £5 a week.However,playing Dick Whittington's cat was not to be the pinnacle of his career,as he went on through the great days of variety theatre with two years as stooge to the legendary Jimmy James and on to tremendous success in television,including twenty-two years of Record Breakers in which his intrepid feats included the 400-foot death slide from the top of Blackpool Tower and the three-hour-twenty-three minute 'wing-walk' from Gatwick to le Bourget in Paris - all of which he recalls with wit and verve.He also writes with great honesty about his family,his religious faith and,most movingly, about the way in which his successful and 'fun' life was shattered two years ago (then 1994) by the surprise diagnosis of lung cancer - and about his ensuing struggle for life.Roy Castle's bravery has earned him universal love and admiration.His book will bring inspiration and great pleasure to many. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight and value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!