Val Doonican celebrates with Max Bygraves (1992)

January 19, 2013

90's Flashback

Teeing off for another year

Max Bygraves joins Lynn and Val Doonican on the golf course for a fun day out to celebrate Val's birthday.

 

On With the Show's

Flashback to Variety Today 1992

By SHIRLEY BROUN

SINGALONG star Max Bygraves has put down even deeper roots in Australia (having spent every summer here for the past 20 years) and has now applied for a permanent resident's permit to save applying each year. This move gives him the right to retire in Oz but will not effect the 69-year-old entertainer's British citizenship.

Max, who `saved the day' at Twin Towns Services Club recently when Peter Allen was forced to return to the USA before schedule due to being diagnosed with throat cancer, was also on hand a few weeks ago to help celebrate dear friend, Val Doonican's 65th birthday at the Twin Towns Sports Club, Banora Point.

It was a fun occasion as the showbiz greats hammed it up for the cameras, pushing each other around on a borrowed set of golf clubs (Val sat down on the job). There were a few drinks and, of course, the traditional cake-cutting ceremony, which saw the duo decked out in party hats and whistles. A good time had by all!

Val Doonican and Max Bygraves ham it up on the golf course.

Val, who this year is also celebrating 45 years in show business and 30 years marriage, was accompanied by lovely and vivacious wife Lynn - an accomplished photographer in her own right. "Val will carry the camera around with him all day and never take a photo, so I try and take a few to show friends at home some of the places we visit," she said.

Unfortunately, Max was on his own as his dear wife, Blossom, was unable to attend due to a stay in hospital.

UPDATE 2013

BORN Michael Valentine Doonican in Waterford, Ireland, on February 3, 1927 and the host of BBC Television's Val Doonican Show from 1965 to 1986, Val was a regular and much-loved visitor to Australia for performances in our `live' entertainment venues. Val is happily married with two grown up daughters and grandchildren. After 62 years non-stop work in showbiz, Val stopped touring in 2009 to give himself more time with family and friends and just to `put his feet up' for a while. These days Val Doonican, 86,  spends his time between his two homes in England and Spain, enjoying hobbies that include watercolour painting, golf and cooking.

MAX Bygraves OBE, born October 16, 1922 at Rotherhithe UK, was a hugely popular English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer who was widely known for his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story". He was probably best known for his `Singalongamax' series of LPs. He made the first of many Royal Variety Show appearances in 1950 and was a much-loved and admired show business personality wherever he went. He toured Australia regularly to packed houses and eventually settled here. Sadly, Max Bygraves, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died in his sleep, aged 89, on August 31, 2012, at Hope Island, on the Queensland Gold Coast, Australia.

Please follow and like us:
, , ,

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

Follow by Email
Facebook
YouTube
Instagram