I had to leave school at 14 because my father got injured in the mines and I had to support my family. I was an undertakers assistant, then a plasterer, before doing my military service in the RAF. All the while, I was doing amateur dramatics and dreaming of getting a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Wishing kindness and compassion to all living creatures.

When I was 11 I played the part of Rumpelstiltskin and my teacher told me I would make a great actor.

My dream is to own a Hockney - I'm a Yorkshireman, and his vibrant colours are a good example of how the north-country people are vibrant and colourful.

Life is a re-discovery.

In the Arctic I met some Russian sailors on a submarine and they chorused, "Gordon's alive!"

In the news this week, the polls continue to slide for Gordon Brown and some people are saying he's dead and buried. But I think the opposite - I say GORDON'S ALIVE!