Birthdays

The journalist and broadcaster Barry Norman has written ten novels and is thinking about another. He says: “I’m pondering, letting some thoughts gestate.” Meanwhile, he is preparing for another tour with his one-man show in the autumn. He explains: “I bore the pants off people for 45 minutes with my talk, then answer questions for another 45 after the interval.” This time he is going to talk about some of his favourite films and show a few clips. He reckons that he has seen about 12,000 films, but won’t name a favourite. “It depends on my mood,” he says. A former showbiz writer and Today presenter, Norman hosted various film programmes for the BBC for 25 years until 1998. His memoir And Why Not?, named after his catchphrase, was published in 2002. He will be dining with his wife and his elder daughter Samantha on his birthday. He says: “I haven’t bothered much about birthdays since I was 21, except perhaps at the beginning of a decade. They just mean you are another year older, don’t they?” Barry Norman is 73 today.