‘The harder you work, the luckier you get’: Actor Melvyn Hayes came from a working-class background and ended up starring alongside Cliff Richard
Veteran actor Melvyn Hayes is best known for appearing in three films starring Cliff Richard in the 1960s, and in the television series Here Come The Double Deckers and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum in the 1970s.
One of his first films, No Trees In The Street, has recently been released on DVD and Blu-ray by Studiocanal.
Since the death of his third wife, Jayne, two years ago, Melvyn, 89, a father of six, has lived with his daughter in London.
What did your parents teach you? you about money?
That it doesn’t grow on trees, that nobody gives you anything in life; You have to work for it, and if you’re lucky, the harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.
I come from a working class family. At one point, my dad worked at a fairground and the guy at the booth next to him said, “I have an idea for places where people can spend their holidays together under the same roof.” Would you be interested?
‘No, I’m going to buy a little shop,’ Dad said to… Billy Butlin. Dad’s store was a men’s clothing store, and when jeans became fashionable, he said, “There’s no way I’m buying them, they won’t last.”
What was your first payment package?
It was two pounds 15 shillings a week, as a 15-year-old courier delivering parcels in Fleet Street.
My first theater job was doing Indian Rope Trick at the Comedy Theater in London. He disappeared twice a day for £5 a week!
Have you ever fought to make ends meet?
As a teenager I had appeared in a few things on TV when I signed up to the Brixton Labor Exchange.
I told him: ‘I think you’ve made a mistake with my money,’ and they told me out loud: ‘No one makes a mistake here, son.’ Just because you’re on TV…
I replied: ‘Well, you’re wrong, you’ve given me a pound too much.’ You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.
Heyday: Melvyn Hughes and Windsor Davies in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum
Have you ever turned down a job you regretted?
Yes, I had made the 1961 film The Young Ones, and two years later I was offered another Cliff Richard film, Summer Holiday. I applied for billing along with others like Richard O’Sullivan and was told no so I turned it down.
Later I approached them on my knees and begged them for the role and they said yes.
At the West End premiere, I asked the associate producer if he would have come back to me if I had resisted, and he said, “Of course, we needed you, but we weren’t going to let ourselves be dictated to.” actors.”
have you ever been Did you pay stupid money?
Yes. In 1957 I was paid £5 a day to make the film Woman in a Dressing Gown and my role, which involved delivering a newspaper to a building, was over by the time the opening credits rolled.
What has been the best year of your financial life?
None of them! It hasn’t been a great year, but as I was doing a lot of TV and radio, pantos and summer seasons, the ’60s and ’70s were good.
Are you a spender? or saver?
A little of both. I try to save. I am careful with purchases. I play the National Lottery every week. I occasionally go to a casino and spend up to £300, and I usually break even.
I place my roulette bets on the number 17 and my lottery numbers are my children’s birthdays. I can’t say they are my lucky numbers because if they were lucky, I would have won a fortune.
What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?
In 2004, to raise money for the Grand Order of Water Rats (an entertainment industry charity), I paid £3,000 for a signed photograph of Dan Leno, best known for his pantomime dame roles.
He died aged 43 in 1904 and his ghost is apparently seen in Drury Lane.
Of all the productions you have starred in, which was the greatest financial success?
Summer Holiday, which was made on a fairly shoestring budget but is still popular today.
Do you still receive royalties from shows like It Ain’t Half sexy mom?
I don’t get a cent from summer vacation. It Ain’t Half Hot Mum has been unfairly considered politically incorrect, so it has barely been repeated.
Has a pension?
I have a state pension and a small private pension from Legal & General.
Are you an owner? any property?
No. My late wife used to buy and sell houses. She was good at it. When she died I sold our house on the Isle of Wight, divided the money and gave it to the children.
Donuts? Money to charity?
Yes, for many, including the RNLI and Great Ormond Street Hospital. When I was a four-year-old evacuated in Dawlish, Devon, a kind person from the Salvation Army offered me a cup of tea, so I have always donated to them.
In 2004, when I was the Rat King of the Grand Order of Water Rats, we raised a lot of money for charity.
What would you have done if acting hadn’t worked out?
Hungry, I guess. I don’t know anything else.
You and your wife Jayne used to raise children, how did this affect you financially?
We raised about 50 children over the years. Some would come for years, others just for one night.
We didn’t make any money from it, but it was rewarding to give a lot of those kids a chance at life. We legally adopted two children we raised, ages one and three.
If I were chancellor, What would you do?
I would fire the Prime Minister. He is doing terrible things to retirees. I voted for the Greens.
what is your peak indulgence?
My indulgence is smoked salmon. On Sundays my father used to go to Petticoat Lane in the East End of London to see his family and would buy smoked salmon from a man there.
Dad would ask him to add a little skin and explained to me that this was “so that when I get home I can cut another slice.” When I buy it, I think of him.
What is your number one financial priority?
Not being broke, never having to register for a Job Board again, and making sure the kids are okay.
This December is your 75th anniversary in show business. Would you prefer to start today?
Oh no. I started as a rep on £10 a week. But those days were the best with live television, and when you said someone was a celebrity, you had heard of that person.
A colleague once introduced me on the TV show Countdown as ‘a man who needs no introduction, an icon, the one and only…’. Mervyn Hughes!
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.