I had a unique experience with her which was a great life lesson that has remained with me ever since.
Nearly 30 years ago aged 15, I had a weekend job at BBC Radio London (GLR) answering calls for the phone-ins. I also collected guests from reception & made them a tea, hence I got to meet a lot of well-known stars of TV, film, sport & politics. At 15, that was a real buzz and at school on Monday my mates would want to know who I’d met that weekend!
So June Brown was a guest one Sunday & was entirely charming & unpretentious when I’d collected her.
This show had a well-known presenter (I won’t name him as I don’t want this to reflect badly). During the show they’d have a mix of chat & music.
A call comes in & the guy interrupts me & menacingly says “write down this address”, and told me to give it to the host & tell him that his house is on fire, then hung up.
I sat in the control room with the producer & explained what happened. To my horror, he told me to go in & tell the host, appearing too scared to do it himself.
When the next song starts I go in & break the news. The host thanked me & walked out!
So I’m left in the studio with June Brown. The producer urges me to play a jingle & then another song when the current one finishes.
So I sit in the host’s chair & make idle chit-chat with TV royalty. As the song is coming to an end the producer says we need to carry on with the show after the song. He turned down my suggestion that he should do it!
June could tell I was a bit nervous. I’m 15, a schoolboy. My broadcast experience was a bit of hospital radio & DJing in local pub but here I was live on the #bbc with a legend!
She couldn’t have been more calm & reassuring. She smiles, winked & said that it’ll be great. She says just to put the mics up & invite her to continue her story.
She filled the time brilliantly, with me making the right noises as & when! I wasn’t memorable.
I learned from her the importance of trying to be calm & composed backstage when I’m MCing or speaking, as there’s always new presenters who are nervous, so my demeanour could negatively affect theirs if I’m flapping.
Anyway, at some point the host returned & we swapped seats without the listeners knowing & I went back to the quivering producer (who BTW got a very loud rollicking from the host for not stepping up!)
That producer taught me how NOT to act in a crisis, when you need to step up.
I taught myself that even if you’re really uncomfortable, be calm & do it anyway! A lot of success happens from having the nerve to do what others won’t.
But from June Brown I learned how someone so esteemed can be so kind, sensitive & supportive. She did nothing to spook me & we ensured the listeners knew nothing of what drama was going on.
I never met her again & doubt she remembered it, as it seems she was like this on every TV set, but it was a great life lesson that left me with a hugely positive memory of her. A top human.
