A Kentish Lad: The Autobiography of Frank Muir

by Frank Muir

For more than 25 years Frank Muir, in partnership with Denis Norden, produced comedy for radio and television. On programmes such as "My Word!" and "My Music" his distinctive voice became familiar to millions as he displayed an astonishingly well-stocked mind and a genius for ad libbing and outrageous puns. Later, working at the BBC and then at London Weekend Television, he produced television comedy in the 1960s and 70s. He has written highly successful books for children, and two bestselling anthologies of humour. In his autobiography he recalls his childhood in Ramsgate, his time as an air photographer for the RAF during World War II, and his career as a scriptwriter and performer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Humor

427 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy screenwriter and radio and television personality. From 1977 on he also wrote children's books based on his family dog, What-a-Mess. In 1997 he published his autobiography.

Reviews

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amazing that one of the funniest people ever on radio could write such a boring memoir.

[Rob Blackmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people probably remember him as the bow tied buffer on 'Call my Bluff', or from 'My Word' on the radio, but there's more to Muir than these shows. Frank, (together with Denis Nordern), was a talented scripwriter and producer of pioneering comedy shows in the post war years.

In this very funny and readable autobiography, Frank writes about his seaside childhood in Ramsgate, 'you swam in and swallowed petrol flavoured sea water' and later Leyton, 'I was educated in E10 - not Eaton', before moving on to his war service as a photographer in the RAF. It's hard to imagine the dapper Muir in a bomber, strapped on a plank over the bomb bay as it slowly opens... 'I might well have screamed'.

Frank had a sunny (and sometimes surreal) outlook on life, and there's plenty of comic anecdotes, which illustrate his post war life, as he began his writing career with the BBC, while becoming a family man and celebrity. The book concludes with a touching postscipt from his son Jamie.

Very good indeed - this is one of these books that you can dip in to and have a chuckle at any time.

[Bryan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was never a fan of Frank Muir during his lifetime: he was too Establishment for my taste. I inherited this book from my stepfather, Eric Tipping, another Kentish lad, and started to read it for clues to the dear departed, and found them in a love of words. That carried me into the book and its humour carried me the rest of the way, despite that fact that I have precious little interest in radio or television, never mind nostalgia for the way they were. Muir’s wit and wordplay make even the dullest subjects entertaining.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me of The Road to Wigan Pier: vivid, thoroughly absorbing first half, dull second half. On childhood, Muir is spellbinding: describing the types of sweets he and his boyhood friends ate is a high aesthetic adventure. He's less interesting on his journey up the entertainment ladder; an era in which working with Dennis Norden counts as a career highlight.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well, gradually became rather tedious.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Americans know Frank Muir, it's probably because of the aptly titled An Irreverent and Thoroughly Incomplete Social History of Almost Everything, his children's books about the Afghan hound What-a-Mess, or the BBC Radio quiz program My Word!, carried in reruns by many NPR stations. His autobiography A Kentish Lad reveals that his startlingly accurate knowledge of all things literary was mostly self-taught. This appealing and witty book documents Muir's wartime service as an aerial photographer, his chance initial teaming with lifelong writing partner Denis Norden, and his rise from sitcom scriptwriter to head of the Light Entertainment division during the Golden Age at BBC Television.

Whether or not you're familiar with Muir's work, A Kentish Lad will make you smile. His anecdotes make an American reader long to see the shows he and Norden created from the 1950s through the '70s, and wonder whether the network disposed of the recordings as they nearly did the works of Monty Python.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Muir is a hugely talented man, but it also goes to show how large a part luck and encountering the right people plays in a life. The perfect example is his wife of fifty years, Polly. Muir had that Midas touch of turning opportunity to gold. One other plus is to recognise early what general path you want to follow. He knew at six. He gives very little away on the mechanics of his trade: the source of his material, how he and Norden managed to accumulate and develop the humour to conjure up eleven years of TIFH, for instance. An interesting skim through a packed life.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Muir was a British radio and TV comedy writer. I enjoyed his sometimes convoluted anecdotes and insider tales of early BBC and TV, even though many of the references and "famous" people were unfamiliar to me.

[P. W. Lapwing · Rating 1 out of 5]

The unrelenting verbosity probably tells you as much about the man as the contents of the book.

[Jyv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vaguely interesting. It read like anyone's recollections of their life - I was disappointed at the lack of humour. I read through the world war bits and then got a bit bored with it.

[Matt Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its been a while so I probably need to read this again, but certainly remember it as an enjoyable book.

[Dave Calver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good first half; disappointing second half.

[KeenReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was difficult to rate this. The beginning, when Mr Muir described his childhood was delightful and I also enjoyed his tales of hos experiences n the RAF in the war When he was writing about his early days in television my interest flagged. I was beginning to consider whether I should abandon the rest of the book, when my interest picked up again, although the latter part of the book was not nearly as engaging as the first part.

I think the reason for the difference in interest was because his experiences in childhood were relatable. I thought a lot about my childhood memories when I read that section. When he was writing about the war, he knew his readers would not know the people he was writing about, so he wrote little "pencil-sketches" of them, which gave context to his memories.

When he started writing about his TV years, he was writing about people who were famous back in the day and people who his readers would know (or rather, they would have known their public personas). So it would have irritated his readers if he kept describing the people he wrote about. Unfortunately, I don't have any memories of the people and shows he was writing about, so his anecdotes didn't have much (or any) meaning for me. My interest began to grow again because when I was a child I had seen some of the later programmes he wrote about and I could remember (albeit vaguely) the personalities he wrote about. That made all the difference.

Eventually, I decided to give it three stars because I loved the section that described his childhood and RAF years so much. I can see myself re-reading the early part of the book, but I probably would not read about his post-war life, because I can't relate to a lot of it.

[Benedict Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusual for an autobiography, in that the childhood years are not the most vivid or fresh part of the book. Instead the book comes alive during the war year's with Frank's attempts at breaking into photography leading, in a round about way, to a career in show businesses. Having just read Marty Fieldman's far more open autobiography, Frank Muir covers some of the same post-war working class entertainment opportunities but implies the associated sex-industry without simply stating it. When his writing partnership with Dennis Norden ends, Muir finds himself as a TV commissioning executive. Something which seems to have killed his passion for writing TV and radio. Instead he moves into the world of writing books in the 1970s, just as the wave of UK comedians he had first commissioned start to dominate comedy internationally.
And then the vividness goes, we return to the almost dreamlike structure of the first few childhood chapters. With no sense of time passing, or urgency, Muir seems to drift through his last 20 years, with the book being completed after a series of strokes. My paperback copy includes a short afterwards by his son, in which Frank Muir's funeral is described.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love an old showbiz autobiography, especially one written by someone with the writing pedigree of Frank Muir. Sadly though this book, whilst entertaining in parts, didn't live up to my expectations if truth be told. There were a few nice anecdotes dotted through the early portions, but as time went on I felt the author was growing tired and desperately reaching for the word count. Especially with the last chapter, which was made up of random passages of varying quality that seemed to limp towards the final three paragraph hurrah that couldn't come too soon for this reader.
I'll still hold fond memories of Frank Muir, but sadly, none of them will be about this book.
Tony Schumacher

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable nostalgic trip down memory lane by the famous comedy writer in the post war world of radio and later TV.Many half forgotten names,stars,programmes are discussed in a kind and friendly way,anecdotes are dropped in so it’s a pleasant and informative read.He also ends with advice about life and modern TV, discussing the role of luck and the thinness of programming today.It’s of course only of interest to oldies who remember him.His later books which cover social history in an amusing but true way may outlive him.A nice chap.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful book by a very funny man who managed to preserve his marriage and family and morals during a period in history when, at its inception (lack of the aforementioned) others were actively, outwardly and persistently beginning to practice otherwise. Frank Muir was that rare talent who did not resort to vulgarity to get laughs. He was also a World War 2 veteran as well as a dedicated family man. British film and theater lost a gem when Muir passed away at the end of the 1990's.

[Andrew Wiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have stated the first half or so covering childhood and the air-force years paint the type of picture of life I enjoy reading about.
The second half was tougher to get through, listing programs and people with the odd tasty morsel of a humorous anecdote to keep you going.
For reference I knew a fair few of the names and shows mentioned but mostly from reruns and retrospectives in the 90s as almost all the material was originally broadcast before my time.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, well written autobiography by a man who was famous in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies for his work in radio and television. A look at life in the past from the 1920s when he was born to the 1990s when he died. I hadn't heard of him or of most of the shows he worked on and in, but I recognised some of his co-workers' names. (Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Hattie Jacques, Peter Ustinov, etc). Very enjoyable.

[Fionn Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Frank Muir is an intelligent, interesting writer and his telling of anecdotes made me laugh out loud. A comedy writer for radio and TV, he valued people, his wife, children, grandchildren, friends; and realised that he was rich in so many ways (thanks to a friend pointing this out to him later in life). I'm so glad he wrote this - published shortly before he died. Highly recommended reading, particularly if you remember him from TV "back in the day".

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrible book. I was so disappointed. I remember Frank as so funny on Call My Bluff, so it's a shame the book is so boring. Of course, he died very shortly after completing it, so perhaps that accounts for it.

[Emma Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book when I read it a long time ago. It contains some hilarious anecdotes. Definitely worth a look if you enjoyed My Word.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful autobiography, the best I have ever read.

[John Aitchison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being beyond a certain age I could relate closely this book and enjoy recalling the eras, shows and personalities Frank Muir writes about. It rewarded me with a happy journey down memory lane.

[Judi K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vaguely interesting. It read like anyone's recollections of their life - I was disappointed at the lack of humour. I read through the world war bits and then got a bit bored with it.

[Steve Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing jaunt through the author's life. The anecdotes are excellent and the memories of the early days of radio and TV are always interesting and fascinating, all told in Frank Muir's inimitable style. As with a lot of showbiz autobiographies, the book gets less interesting as you read on but clearly Frank Muir was one of those one of a kind people who would have been wonderful to know.
An excellent, amusing and witty read.