He has battled alcohol and depression, but as Brian Conley returns to the stage he reveals how he has overcome his demons with a smile

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Brian Conley loves turning life into theatre. He dressed as a knight in shining armour to propose to his wife, Anne-Marie, borrowing props - including a horse - from Pinewood Studios and surprising her at their front door with a choir masquerading as carol singers.


When they married in 1997, there was more drama and spectacle: their wedding car, hired from the West End musical in which Brian was later to star, was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Brian enjoys the grand gesture. Discretion, compromise and understatement are not his style. Performing came instinctively to him.

The Music Man: Brian Conley stars as the smooth-talking, bogus band leader Farm buildings and field agriculture, washington, countryside

The Music Man: Brian Conley stars as the smooth-talking, bogus band leader Farm buildings and field agriculture, washington, countryside

From an early age he courted attention and enjoyed eliciting laughter. 'I was two years old and we were staying at a holiday camp,' he recalls. 'I went up on to the stage and pretended to go to the loo behind the trombonist. Even then I liked making people laugh. It gave me licence to be loud. I still love comedy.'

Conley is a man of diverse talents. His first TV job was as the late Kenny Everett's warm-up man. His career has since traversed the disciplines of stand-up comedy, movie and theatre acting, TV presenting and West End musical.

He was commended for his lead performance in Jolson The Musical, which won an Olivier Award, and now he has returned to musical theatre to take the lead role in Meredith Willson's The Music Man at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

Brian plays the fast-talking racketeer, 'Professor' Harold Hill, who hoodwinks parents into believing he can rescue their errant offspring through his supposedly life-changing music programme, the Think System.

Taking their money, ostensibly for instruments and uniforms, with the promise of forming a brass band, he skips from town to town before his credentials are questioned and his fraud exposed. The show fits Conley's criteria for a good night out. 'It's pure escapism, wonderful, up-lifting fun. It has the feel-good factor. It's the job of theatre to raise morale,' he says.

He doesn't believe tragedy and gritty realism are compatible with entertainment. When he departed from his usual milieu to star as reclusive agoraphobic Bill in David Farr's mordant comedy Elton John's Glasses ten years ago, he was almost unrecognisable as himself.

'Why would people pay to go to the theatre and come out wanting to slit their wrists?' he says. From this we can safely deduce he won't be cast for a role in King Lear any time soon.

Musical star: Brian Conley in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Musical star: Brian Conley in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

For years both his professional and private persona were relentlessly up-beat. Since his schooldays when he deflected attention from his dyslexia by cultivating his role as class jester, Brian has been the clown. So ingrained was the act that, when his adored dad, Colin, died aged 59, from bowel cancer six years ago, Brian did not know how to grieve.

There was an extraordinarily close relationship between father and son. Colin, a former London cabbie, was Brian's manager, driver, mentor and inspiration. He lived out his own thwarted showbiz ambitions through his son.

'My father had a fine operatic voice. He could have gone professional, but he lacked the confidence,' explains Brian.

When Colin died, Brian stifled his aching sadness by drinking. 'A year had passed since he died and I was not feeling right. I was having anxiety and panic attacks and drinking heavily  -  a bottle of wine a night and three Jim Beams.

'I'd never drink while working, but I did afterwards, to come down from the high of a show. When I was playing Jolson there was a standing ovation every night. I'd come off buzzing and the drink was self-medication. I believed it was helping me relax. But it wasn't helping the mourning process. It was like trying to put fire out with petrol.

'I went to see a psychologist. I said to him: "I feel rubbish, I'll do anything to feel better", and he told me I'd have to quit booze. I'd just booked a holiday to Antigua, so I said I'd stop when I came back. He said: "Don't you think you'll always have an excuse not to stop?"

'But I didn't want to say goodbye to alcohol. Then I started stuttering over lines. I thought: "That's it. I'll just have shandy." It took me eight months to get to a point where I could go out socially and not think about having a drink.

'Now, four years on, I'm teetotal. Not drinking doesn't bother me. The money I spent on therapy was the best couple of grand I've ever spent. I feel better, I get up early, I take my daughters to school.

'And I've learnt to cry; to let my emotions out. I can't believe I thought I'd recover from something as significant as the loss of my father overnight. I'd suppressed my feelings, and the effect was physical. My chest would tighten. I'd feel panic. But I was being British, very stiff upper-lip.

'At my worst I couldn't even say the word "Dad". Now, I cry at the drop of a hat. I get moved watching my daughter's school production of Grease! Therapy has opened a door to my emotions and I'm grateful for that.'

Conley is 46, and the balance between his professional and personal life has reached a point of happy equilibrium. His father's premature death has taught him to decline work  -  such as a role he was offered in East-Enders  -  that would encroach too much on family life. 'Ever since Dad died, I've thought: "There are no medals for working everyday."'

He and Anne-Marie, who is 41, have been together for 18 years and married for 11.

Is he a faithful husband? 'Yes, of course I am. I was 35 when I married Anne-Marie and I'd had plenty of time to sow my wild oats  -  and God, yes, I did sow a few  -  when I was young. That's a perk of being in showbiz.'

Does he find monogamy difficult? 'No, because I love my wife. She is very special. We fit like a hand in a glove. You'd never want to give that up for a one-night stand.'

Brian and Anne-Marie, a former legal secretary, live with their daughters Amy, 11, and Lucy, six, in starry grandeur in a £2.5 million Buckinghamshire mansion with swimming pool and tennis courts. And they have bought a beachside cottage in West Sussex, for weekend retreats and from which Brian will commute to Chichester while he plays the Music Man.

I love my wife: Brian Conley and his family

I love my wife: Brian Conley and his family

He sings snatches of hits from the show  -  Seventy-Six Trombones, Ya Got Trouble, 'Til There Was You. They are songs, from the original 1962 film starring Robert Preston, that Brian grew up with. He enjoys their sing-a-long familiarity.

He applauds, too, the revival of the traditional variety performance. Long before Britain's Got Talent became staple ITV family viewing on Saturday evenings, Brian hosted a smaller talent search on BBC2 called Let Me Entertain You.

The format was similar to its star successor, but, much to Brian's chagrin, the BBC abandoned it, believing there wasn't enough home-grown talent to feed it.

Brian would have welcomed the chance to join the judges on Britain's Got Talent. 'I've been entertaining for 35 years in every genre,' he says, 'People who have to give their opinion on the acts should have put in some time themselves.

'It amazes me that Piers Morgan should be part of the panel. If you're going to criticise, you have to be able to do it yourself. What's Piers got? I think his biggest talent is that he's very friendly with Simon Cowell,' he adds wryly.

Brian, meanwhile, continues to entertain: on TV, stage, cruise ships and at corporate events. Performing is in his blood, and at one stage most of his family worked in entertainment.

Let me Entertain You: Brian Conley with co-presenter Christine Bleakley

Let me Entertain You: Brian Conley with co-presenter Christine Bleakley

Before his cab-driving days, his dad worked for 25 years as a rigger supervisor at the BBC. Lynn, Brian's sister, was in the Corporation's costume department, and his brother, Alan, is a floor manager for Ant and Dec and Jonathan Ross. The family was raised in a council flat in Kilburn, North-West London  -  mum Pauline was a dinner lady  -  and although Brian never made an impact academically, he says he felt 'privileged' to know from the off where his future career lay.

He abandoned formal education and went to drama school in Acton, West London. From there he joined a comedy show band, then 'jobbed around' before landing the slot with Everett.

Have his children inherited his performing gene? 'Whenever I do panto, Lucy wants to be the fairy's assistant. She comes on stage and I say: "Have we met before?" and she says: "No daddy!"

'We were in Pizza Hut and I'd just had my eyes lasered, so I was wearing sunglasses. Lucy took them off and announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Brian Conley!"'

Clearly he is a besotted dad. We know he is always in the audience, teary-eyed, to watch his kids' school productions, and even if they fluff their lines and miss their cues he thinks they are incredible.

As such, he understands the premise that underpins The Music Man.

'The parents say they will tar and feather Harold Hill if they don't see any improvement in their kids' musical ability. But when they come to watch their offspring playing, they love every minute  -  for the simple reason that they are blind to their children's faults.'

• The Music Man is at the Chichester Festival Theatre until August 30. For tickets call 01243 781312 or visit www.cft.org.uk

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in