IN MY EXPERIENCE…
Nigel Havers
The actor, 74, talks about meeting the Rolling Stones, collecting stuffed fish and choosing Jackanory over Hollywood
by KATHRYN KNIGHT
What were you like as a child?
I was a little dormouse at first, very quiet. I went to boarding school at six, which means learning to look after yourself at a very early age. I got beaten on the third day, so after that I just kept my head down and didn’t say much for that first year. When I look back at that little boy I do feel rather paternal towards him. But then I smartened up, and I got on with it. And actually I became head boy. Not a very good one. I let people smoke and do all sorts of things.
What’s the best piece of advice your parents gave you?
They never gave me any advice about anything! But I was very lucky in that I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I stuck to it. In fact, my brother was instrumental with my career because he wanted to be a lawyer, which my father – an eminent barrister – was very glad about. So my brother was the serious, intelligent one, and I could disappear off the map and become an actor, which I did. To this day, my brother looks at me as if to ask whether everything is all right. We’re very fond of each other, but although he’s only 18 months older, the gap could be 20 years.