Trouble at the Turk's Head
N angry woman’s mistake in a Belgravia pub nearly put Gilbert Harding off the air the other day (June 7). Believing him to be Raymond Glendenning, who misled her by broadcasting a wrong Derby result, she cut Mr. Harding’s chin with a glass. While at the Turk’s Head celebrating his 47th birthday, Gilbert Harding was jokingly described to people seeking his autograph as the sports commentator. A woman then blamed him for the confusion over the third place in the race. Treating the matter lightly, he explained later: "I said to her, ‘Do go away,’ or something like that, and she went. Apparently, apart from her objection to the description of the race, the result had caused her some grief and private unhappiness, and she came back. "As the incident occurred about closing time, the eruption went into the street where, by chance, there were four policemen." The two of them went to a police station, and after Mr. Harding’s cut chin had been examined by a police surgeon, he went home, and the woman later left. For the following night’s television panel game, "What’s My Line," his
make-up seemed to be heavier than usual. When the occupation of an horologist was discovered, the challenger began to explain that some clockwork which he produced carried a charge of powder and could fire a bullet. He would not discharge it, he said, "because Mr. Harding does not want two in one day." "The mistake has happened over and over again," was Mr. Harding’s final commént. Raymond Glendenning remarked: "People frequently mistake me for Gilbert." If there is a superficial resemblance in appearance, no one could mistake their voices, and Mr. Harding’s is to have a new public (if that is possible) and a new use, which some might say was not difficult. As part of a campaign against litter in Hyde Park, his recorded voice will come over an amplifier in a boat on the Serpentine: "This is Gilbert Harding, not just talking rubbish this time, but talking about rubbish. , ." Whatever one may think about Gilbert Harding, and rubbish of both kinds, some may be reminded uncomfortably that "Big Brother is watching you" from the shades of 1984.
J. W.
GOODWIN
(London)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 780, 2 July 1954, Page 25
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376Trouble at the Turk's Head New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 780, 2 July 1954, Page 25
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