Black Country comedy agent Reg Summerfield celebrates 50 years in showbusiness
He's been in showbiz for nearly 50 years and he's booked shows for comedians Ian 'Sludge' Lees, Ken Dodd and Bob Monkhouse.
Now Reg Summerfield, from Bilston, who started as a promoter and agent in 1968, is celebrating 50 years in the industry with a show for charity next week.
The 80-year-old said: "I worked at Bilston Football Club's social club and from there I worked at the Oasis nightclub, which isn't there any more.
"I was offered a role at the club and the man he kicked out of the job before me was Roger Allen, who had a reputation for finding Slade.
"I then started booking acts all across the Midlands."
The Black Country agent said Ian 'Sludge' Lees was a good friend of his, adding: "Sludge and I had some good laughs and he will be missed.
"Ian came to me and asked if I could find him some club bookings and I put him on some Sunday morning stag shows in working men's clubs in Wolverhampton and he did those for me.
"I remember I found Sludge a booking in Derby and I went down there with him.
"He was great company and he was cracking jokes all the way there and after he performed, and on the way back – he was going to a nightclub in Cannock – his car broke down.
"It was pouring with ran and he said 'stop in the car, leave it with me'.
"He put his head up and said he looked like a girl with his curly hair and 20 minutes later, he came back and he locked up the car and we went to the nightclub in a taxi.
"He said, after we had a few drinks, 'I've ordered a taxi' and he paid for me to get a taxi from Cannock to Bilston.
"He did a few charity shows for me and he was a great lad and I'll never forget that."
The 80-year-old said he recalled working with Bob Monkhouse, Kenny Baker, Harry Secombe, Frank Carson – and even remembered meeting a young Lenny Henry.
He said: "On a showcase in Bilston, a young man came on stage there and he was only a kid and he came up to me in around 1968-ish with his mother and he said 'what do you think mister?'
"I said 'don't give up your day job' and that later turned out to be Lenny Henry."
Reg will put on a show at The Emerald Club in Wolverhampton on November 2 from 8pm to raise money for the British Heart Foundation after his sister Vernoca McEntee had a stroke earlier this year.
The show will feature Mike Dennett, who performed with Laurel and Hardy when he was 10-years-old, along with other acts.
Tickets cost £8 and for all enquiries and tickets, contact the club on 01902 351419.
