BACK TO THE FUTURE

WHEN John Parry was sent to review a play on the Palace Pier, Brighton, as a newly-arrived Argus reporter he took a shine to a young actress on stage.

The performer received a glowing review for her role, even though she was killed off in the first act and spent most of the play slumped on the floor.

John simply wanted to engineer a meeting with the then-unknown actress, called Judy Cornwell, and his way with words paid off.

Six months later the pair were married at St Helen's Church in Hangleton, Hove, and they have been together ever since. This year they will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

From that early appearance in rep at the end of the pier Judy went on to build a career as an acclaimed actress and writer, best known recently for her TV comedy role as Daisy in BBC's Keeping Up Appearances.

John said: "I took a fancy to Judy, and even though she was killed off in the first act I gave her a very bold mention, outrageously abusing my position.

"With huge restraint I waited a couple of days and went round and knocked on her dressing room door and introduced myself.

"Her mother was with her, which I hadn't bargained for, but I was wearing a tie and apparently Judy's mother thought I was an improvement on some of the people she mixed with. She shooed us off to have a coffee and here we are today.."

John's career also flourished, despite that somewhat biased review and a shaky start at the Argus when he was almost fired for a making a mistake in a court report.

He went on to write for the Daily Express in the Sixties and joined the Tomorrow's World team as an on-screen reporter when the show was first launched. There one of his first assignments was being 'blown up' in a dustbin to demonstrate the benefits of ear protectors.

After Tomorrow's World he moved to Radio 4's World at One programme and became a foreign correspondent, specialising in South African affairs. It was an exciting, but sometimes dangerous time. Twice he was threatened at gunpoint and was ordered out of South Africa after falling foul of the authorities because of his reports from the black townships.

In contrast, in 1982 he landed his dream job when he was appointed as the BBC's first arts correspondent. With a long-

standing love of the arts it was perfect for him, and he travelled widely for 14 years in the job, interviewing top film and stage stars and leading figures throughout the arts world.

Four years ago John decided it was time for a change and left the BBC to work from home in Brighton as an arts writer. He contributes to a range of publications including The Spectator and The Times, and is also a trustee of Brighton and Hove Arts Trust.

Now he has come full circle, returning to the Argus with his new weekly column.

Before Christmas John filled

in temporarily while regular columnist Lis Solkhon was away and his columns produced such a response he was invited back. Lis will remain in her regular Monday slot.

It is a task that John relishes. He said: "I want to get at things that everybody is talking about over the dinner table. I want to be able to say in public what people are saying privately. My dinner table will be this column.

"You can be aggressive and hard hitting as long as you are honest and straightforward."

John, 63, grew up in Loughborough and first came to Sussex in 1960 when he was stationed at an Army camp in Maresfield, near Uckfield, as part of his national service.

At weekends he and his Army mates would travel down to Brighton and the town was a revelation to him.

John said: "I had never seen anything like Brighton, I found it a wonderful, lovely stimulating place, and I decided this was the place to be.

"I had always wanted to be a journalist and I wrote to the editor of the Argus asking for a job. I just got lucky."

He and Judy both still love the area and have lived in the same elegant Victorian house in Brighton for 30 years. The couple have a son, Edward, 33, who is an actor based in Los Angeles.

John has fond memories of his early days at the Argus, where he worked alongside Annie Nightingale, who went on to become a Radio 1 DJ, and the late Jack Tinker who became the Daily Mail's renowned theatre critic.

He said: "Annie was the first person I saw. Here was this glamorous blonde walking around the newsroom and I immediately made a beeline for her, but within minutes I was warned off that she was someone else's girlfriend.

"It was a wonderful time, because of things like covering Glyndebourne. I had never seen an opera, but I loved opera music, and I was dispatched off to Glyndebourne.

"At that time the Argus was the owner of one car, which was shared between reporters and the advertising department. I parked up at Glyndebourne in this clapped out old Ford Popular between the rows of Bentleys and Jags and scuttled away hoping nobody would notice."

He added: "There is a wonderful symmetry about coming back to the Argus. It is lovely to come back after 40 years."

When John and Judy first got together friends thought it would never last. They have both found success in different fields and, in many respects, are complete opposites, but John reckons that is what makes them such a good team.

He said: "I tend to get a bit pompous sometimes, I am a traditional kind of bloke. Judy is full of life and fun and knows exactly how to deflate me and how to handle me.

"When she goes over the top, which is not often, I can bring her back down again."

After he made the first approach it was actually Judy who proposed to John within weeks of their meeting and she laughs about the review he wrote about her.

Judy said: "I thought 'What a discerning man' when I read the review. I thought he must be very very wise to give me such a rave review considering I was a body for most of the play. I didn't realise it was because he fancied me.

"When I met him I just knew he was the one, and I was right."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.