Q&A with Barry Norman

Hello Barry, like quite a few of us on here, I am widowed (last year). I find myself reluctant to go out or meet new people-it's just not the same without your sidekick is it? My question to you is, did you find this after your wife died, and was there anything that helped in that respect? Thank you.

Hi Barry, I read you are a smoker. Not many of us about these days. Have you ever tried to give up? Do your children/grandchildren nag you about it like mine do?!!

dear barry i wondered who has been thr trickiest person to interview when you were doing the fllm shows i remember watching anne bancroft on wogan and feeling very sorry for terry because she completely froze and couldn't say a word. has that happened to you? or has anyone been unpleasant or rude?

I was taken aback to read somewhere that you are 80. What are your thoughts and experiences of getting older?

I read a story in the daily mail some time ago about your late wife and was struck by your tribute to her. I found it very moving and it is certainly something many of us here can empathise with. I would like to ask, if I may, whether writing about your loss helped and how you have coped since. I am not sure whether being in the public eye has made any difference?

ha ha apparently I got the book title wrong! But it doesn't change the question other than that!

Just saw this on Twitter so hope I am in time to ask about your catch phrase. I saw that you have used it for your book. Do people come up in the street and say "And why not?" all the time?

Please forgive me but since Spitting Image whenever I hear your name I have a flashback to your puppet (not just you it's the same with lots of people if that helps!)

What did you think of it?

The theme tune for the Film programmes was iconic in my view (I am humming it now). Did you find yourself lying awake in bed singing it in the small hours? I think it's called an earworm but I may be wrong!

Hi Barry! Do you have grandchildren? How old are they? Are you involved in the childcare much?

Hello Barry! Did you find it hard to get into journalism without a university degree? Would you say its harder now for young students, than it was?

Expect you have answered this many times before but what are your favourite five films in any order and your favourite five actors?

PS It was Walthamstow which caught my eye as 2 DDs have houses there!!!

Jean I wonder if you might prefer to move or copy this to one of the grandparenting forums - I believe there is one on long-distance grandparenting as I suspect many people might have missed this on this Q/A for Barry Norman thread. Good luck with it.

I am a mother whose adult daughter has married and settled in Australia.
Though I am not yet a grandmother my daughter and her husband will be starting a family in the next few years but they will all be so far away that I'll have very little contact with them and my grandchildren. I'm sure this is a common problem and would like to contact other people in my situation.
Together with another mother whose son is also in Australia we would like to start support group. Our website is:
http://www.spaceparents.net
We would like to hear from anyone in our situation who would welcome any communication and mutual support.
Please spread the word.

With your huge knowledge of the medium, I wonder whether you'd agree that the memory of films seems to be getting shorter. I remember happily watching Garbo and Keaton and so on when I was young in the sixties even though these films were made many decades before I was born.
Although David Lean just about stays in the momory with films such as Lawrence of Arabia, I wonder for instance why Fred Zinneman has been largely forgotten. Even a great film like A Man for all Seasons has yet to make it to Blu-ray release and is rarely seen on TV. Even From here to Eternity has only just made it. Presumably the market is simply too small and interest for such titles equally small. I' d be interested in your views.

Barry, your film programmes were the highlight of our viewing back in the "old days", and have never been surpassed. In all your years, who do you remember most fondly among all those movie people you have met - and is there anyone who you really dreaded interviewing?
There used to be a "Museum of the Moving Image" on the South Bank years ago, and I was amused and delighted to take part in a mock interview with you there - it was really well done.
Thank you for so many happy memories.