From set life to storytelling with Larry Lamb
The popular actor swaps the screen for the page as he prepares to introduce his debut novel and behind-the-scenes tales to Tyneside Cinema next week
“You can ask me anything, chances are I’ll have a story to tell about it.”
Larry Lamb is a journalist’s dream. Easy to talk to, generous with his time… and half a century’s worth of excellent anecdotes ready and ready and waiting to be deployed.
Best known for his role as steady dad Mick Shipman in BBC comedy series phenomenon, Gavin and Stacey and Albert Square villain Archie Mitchell in Eastenders, the 77-year-old started his long - if late-starting - acting journey on stages across the pond in the mid seventies.
Having turned his back on a burgeoning career working around the world in the oil industry, Larry found his happy place on set.
“I had a lovely house, good wage and was pretty much set up in Nova Scotia - but it wasn’t the life I wanted,” he says. “I had got involved in amateur dramatics over there and a friend told me a theatre in Halifax (the capital) were holding auditions. And that was pretty much that.”
Following theatre jobs which led him to a stage alongside John Lithgow on Broadway, he stepped onto his first film set alongside Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Jackie Cooper for Superman (1978) - playing one of the reporters in the Daily Planet newsroom.
“Ironically, I had to come back to England from New York to play an American,” he laughs, speaking from Lake Windermere where he’s taking a short break from promoting his debut novel, All Wrapped Up.
“They were shooting the second film back to back, so I had an unspeaking part in that one too.”
When Superman III was released in 1983 - starring Richard Pryor alongside Reeve - Larry was called on again, and was given some lines as ‘Miner 3’.
By that point, his small screen career had clocked up a regular role in BBC’s North Sea ferry drama, Triangle (1981-83) as well as appearances in eighties TV classics like The New Avengers, Minder and The Professionals.
Safe to say he had no regrets about leaving his old job behind.
“Of course the life of an actor is largely about rejection - but when you get the job and you step into that rehearsal room or onto that set, there’s nothing quite like it.”
It’s that special experience which Larry is doing his best to convey in All Wrapped Up - a story inspired and informed by the decades he has spent behind the scenes in the TV and film industry.
In the novel, which was released last month, he takes readers into the high-stakes, often chaotic world of a film set.
Set in the Caribbean, the book introduces us to Killian “Killy” Wilde, a seasoned First Assistant Director who Lamb describes as “the keystone to any production” - a man quietly holding everything together while navigating his own quest for connection.
“It’s a story that’s been bubbling away inside me for years - inspired by all the crew I’ve worked with over the decades, the ones who keep things moving no matter what’s going on in front of the camera.
“There’s something beautiful about that camaraderie, that sense of purpose.
“It’s not the actors who are the heart of a film set, it’s the crew,” he continues. “And Killy - like so many I’ve met - is the guy trying to keep everyone safe, on schedule and sane.”
As the story unfolds against a lush but tense Caribbean backdrop, Larry has drawn from real-life experiences, including a stint on a major miniseries (Triangle) in the Dominican Republic where the cast had to be covertly evacuated by plane due to local unrest.
He’ll be telling such stories and many (many) more besides on Monday night at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle.
I’ll have the pleasure of hosting the In Conversation event, which also offers the chance for a meet, greet and book signing with Larry beforehand - depending on the ticket you’ve bought.
“I’m loving getting out on the road,” Lamb says. “These events are a way of saying thank you to the fans, but also sharing this new part of myself. I’ve always had stories to tell - now they’re just on the page instead of the screen.”
Books will be available for signing on the night, and fans will have the opportunity to ask questions about both the novel and Larry’s long acting career too.
Tickets for All Wrapped Up: Larry Lamb in Conversation at Tyneside Cinema are available now via the cinema’s website.