Farewell, Dear Friend!

Eric Lindsay

November 13th, 1929 – June 18th, 2021

I awoke on Saturday to the sad news that our very dear friend Eric had passed away. Strangely, he had been on my mind as I lay in bed the night before and I intended to write to him in the morning. I had no idea that he had taken ill four days earlier and been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital, where he stayed until peacefully heading off on his final adventure.

I first met Eric on August 3rd, 1997 when I interviewed him for a Bela Lugosi biography I was working on with my friend Frank Dello Stritto called Vampire Over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain. Eric had the distinction of being the last actor to play the role of Renfield opposite Lugosi during the 1951 UK revival tour of the stage play of Dracula. They toured the length and breadth of the UK together for six months, during which time Eric received rave reviews. While researching the book, I had no idea which, if any, of the cast of Dracula were still alive or where they were, so I started a letter-writing campaign to try to track them down. One day I answered the phone and a voice said, “My name is Eric Lindsay. I understand you are wondering if I am alive or dead. I am happy to inform you that I am very much alive.” Once I had convinced Eric that I wasn’t a lunatic, we arranged to meet for an interview. I travelled down to London from my home in Bath to meet him in his flat, where he very kindly and patiently answered my many questions for a whole afternoon. He became so energized that he frantically paced the room acting out the scenes from his life. It was a magical private one-man show. At the time, I had no idea that it was the beginning of a friendship that would last for over 23 years.

After the interview, Eric would phone me almost every week to have a chat about the progress of the book and life in general. When I moved to Japan and he to Thailand, we kept in touch by letter and email. Although he had not met them at that point, he never failed to send birthday cards to my son and my wife. My son especially looked forward to the Christmas cards Eric sent to him every year.

I forget exactly when it was, but there came a time in the 2000s when the effervescent Eric that I knew appeared to evaporate. He became very frustrated with the inactivity of his life and the growing limitations imposed by age. By then fully retired, he simply didn’t have anything to keep that wonderfully creative mind of his occupied. I suggested writing his life story, but he dismissed the idea. He said he didn’t have the ability to write and that no one would be interested in reading about “an old fart like me!” Undeterred, I persisted in trying to persuade him to put all of those marvelous adventures down on paper, but Eric wasn’t having any of it! Then, out of the blue, he came up with the idea of us writing a vampire novel together – he would write whatever came into his head and I could tart it up. As you can imagine with Eric, his idea for “The Reluctant Vampire” wasn’t for some flowery gothic tale, but something “a little pornographic and dirty” set in the coffee bars of Soho. We spent some time throwing ideas back and forth until Eric wrote the first couple of pages. It might have been wonderful, but the project ground to a halt right there because while we had been discussing ideas for the novel I had continued to pester Eric into recording his many adventures. He didn’t have the patience to write his biography, so I suggested blogging as the perfect medium for him to write about his life whenever he felt like it. Again he repeatedly rebuffed my efforts. He had mastered email, but blogging was a step too far.

Being ever bit as stubborn as Eric, I was determined to get him to set down his memories. So I offered to set the blog up for him and keep it going until he no longer needed my help. I think more to shut me up than anything else, he eventually agreed and we finally got this wonderful blog up and running in 2012. Despite his initial skepticism, Eric soon became a passionate blogger, leaving the idea of the novel to fade away. It was really rewarding to see how much pleasure the blog gave him, not only in sharing his priceless memories, but also in how it helped to reconnect him with so many friends from throughout his life.

I last saw Eric in October 2016 when he visited Tokyo. Despite the many things to see and do in Tokyo, he didn’t do any sightseeing. He just wanted to spend the time with my family, especially as his visit coincided with my son’s 14th birthday. We had an all too brief, but wonderful time with him. After he moved back to England and settled into life as a resident of the Charterhouse, Eric was enthusiastic about showing me around his new home when I was next in England. I would dearly have loved to have had the opportunity to see him one last time, but fate conspired against us.

Although deeply saddened by Eric’s passing, I am consoled that during his final years at The Charterhouse he seemed to find a contentment which had perhaps been missing since the loss of his beloved partner Ray Jackson in 1989. Eric didn’t realise his wish of passing away on October 25th, the date Ray passed away, but they are finally reunited.

Throughout the highs and lows of his life, Eric achieved so much, but I think that his greatest achievement was to simply be a wonderful human being. He enriched the lives of so many people, earning in return their fierce loyalty. He will truly be missed by us all. Happy trails, Eric!

– Andi Brooks

 

Mel Brooks and his London Stage Version of “Young Frankenstein”.

I decided to see “Young Frankenstein” before it closed because I was enamored with the film, which I saw four times, and I think that Mel Brooks is a genius, a brilliant comic, a great writer, and a very clever film director. All that in just one small package which spells ‘MEL BROOKS’!

  

Mel Brooks

Well I should have saved my money. The best thing about the Show was the Curtain.

Nimax Theatres Ltd., I believe, is the company that owns the Garrick Theatre.

 

 The Garrick Theatre

Instead of acquiring another theatre, as they seem to do like like a baby octopus, they should spend some of their shekels on cleaning up and refurbishing the Garrick Theatre. It is a disgrace! When you sit in the dress circle you expect the seats to be comfortable. Not at the Garrick! The padding has practically worn down to the wood, and those that are in a fairly good condition are even worse, because you can finish up with a spring hallway up your arse!

Last year when I saw Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon in “The Painkiller” at the Garrick, I sat in the dress circle, maybe it could have been the same seat, and finished up with arse ache!  That was a ‘Real Painkiller’ and how appropriate! What a pun that is!

Well, things haven’t improved!

The usherettes stand at the doorway chewing gum and selling programmes, and they do not move. They’re busy talking! and talking! and talking! I think it was about the boys make-up!  They are not interested in showing you to your seat. I was told ‘Row D, Centre!’ by he or she or it. I didn’t know what it was!  All I do know is that usherettes are supposed to usher, move their arses, and take you to your seat. Not stand in the entrance talking and chewing and looking very bored. No wonder the show is coming off!  Most probably they are in the same quandary as the audience because they also don’t know where the rows are. I entered the theatre and couldn’t see a bloody thing! Remember I’m 88, no spring chicken! After stumbling around I found Row D. The aisles and quite a few seats are not numbered. Just a few have faded numbers. So you finish up counting from a number you can see to find your seat.

Nimax Theatres Ltd., do the bloody theatre up!!!

‘This is a fine start to my evening’s enjoyment’, I thought.

The Show itself was not good or really that funny. It was more like a No.1 touring version of the original West End production. In fact, I’ve seen better in the provinces. All I could think was that when Mel Brooks saw it, he quickly collected his money and caught the next plane back to the U.S.A. Very wise!

They were the best of the bunch, and even they seemed to be tired!

 I was so disappointed with the show that I left at the Interval.

I don’t blame the cast or the production. If the seats would have been comfortable and the usherettes would have done their job, maybe I would have seen the whole show from a different prospective

But I have to blame the two usherettes and Nimax Theatres Ltd., who started it all, and got me really pissed off, and put me into such a bad mood!!!  What a disaster!!!

I haven’t talked much about the show, because truthfully  there was nothing really  much of importance to talk about.

NOW “42nd. Street” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. WOW!

That’s, what you call a Show!

I went from the ridiculous to the sublime! The show and the cast are fantastic! You just cannot fault it.

With a cast of over 50, it is a gem and should run for years.

I couldn’t believe that this was the same theatre that I played in when I was ‘ZEE and CO.” with Cannon and Ball when we made the T.V. Special so many, many, many years ago.

Lulu was excellent, you couldn’t fault her.

I left the Theatre a very, very, very happy bunny!  That is what Show Business is all about!  Great Theatre! Wonderful memories of when I was working there. and seeing a wonderfully spectacular show.

 

My Love Affair with B Pictures and Joan Davis

My love for the B picture goes back over 70 years. These movies, which were usually made on the cheap, and filled the programme with a first feature, were to me more entertaining than the main film. Murder, mystery and comedy films were a great part of the B pictures, with such artistes as The 3 Stooges, The Ritz Brothers, and also Joan Davis.          

   I LOVED JOAN DAVIS

 

If you want to know all about my “love affair” with Joan Davis and my life-long fascination with the Orient follow this link:

My Love Affair with B Pictures and Joan Davis

 

 

My 24 weeks with Bela Lugosi in Dracula.

The truth about a show that some said was a flop, yet it ran for 24 weeks.

Bela Lugosi’s 1951 British revival tour of Dracula was written-off as a complete disater, supposedly closing after a few disasterous performances, by Lugosi “historians” for 50 years until my friend Andi Brooks published the true story in “Vampire Over England: Bela Lugosi in Britain.” The play toured for 24 weeks and received many rave reviews. I should know because I played Renfield opposite Bela Lugosi throughout the tour.

You can read about it here: 

My 24 Weeks with Bela Lugosi in Dracula.

 

From Actor To Zee: An Interview With Eric Lindsay

Photo by Barclay Shaw, Las Vegas.

Around 1998 my agent contacted me to tell me that there was an Advertisement in the “Stage” paper. Someone was looking for me. By this time I was “Zee” and not a lot of people knew where Eric Lindsay was.

That is how I came to meet Andi Brooks, who has over the years become my very good and trusted friend. He was living in Bath, and he told me that he would come up to London to interview me for his up and coming book on Bela Lugosi which he was calling “Vampire over London.”

Andi interviewed me again earlier this year. This time we talked about my whole life and career.

I hope you enjoy his interview which you can read here:

From Actor To Zee: An Interview With Eric Lindsay