I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago when he was a guest at one of my annual Elstree Film Evenings. Those events took place from 1984 to 2008, and I had great fun hosting and organising the evenings and bringing back old stars and character actors to Borehamwood. I have just been watching that marvellous yet tormented star of yesteryear Charles Laughton, who started as an extra at Elstree Studios in the 1920s. I invited actor Ralph Fiennes to unveil the plaque at Elstree Studios. Films like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare, both shot in Borehamwood, are good fun, but I salute the real people and not film stars who lived through those terrible years.