Gary finally lands his cinema role
He did not go to see a film until he was 12 years old even though his father was chief projectionist of the ABC Cinema in Wolverhampton.
But Gary Stevens has more than made up for his late conversion to the silver screen, and has just fulfilled a dream to own his own cinema.
The former Bilston boy, one of 10 children, says: "Coming from such a large family, my parents couldn't afford to take us to the cinema.
"It was very much a treat and the first film I ever saw was Grease. But that was it, I was fascinated – not so much by the story but more how the picture got on to the screen and where the light came from."
Gary told parents Kenneth and Eileen of his initial ambition to become a television cameraman but was advised by his school to get work experience – in the projection room at his local cinema.
"That was quite ironic, given my connection," he says. "In fact my mum worked there as well, as the chief cashier, but I still had to apply to the manager like anyone else for permission to go and observe, which I did after school and at weekends.
"The ABC became my second home."
Gary, aged 44, who grew up in Middleway Road and went to Etheridge School, now Moseley Park, worked at several picture houses in the region, becoming the last general manager of the Kings Cinema in West Bromwich before it closed in the 1980s.
From there he moved to the Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton, taking over the Apollo Cinema in Stafford in the mid-1990s.
His longest stint at one place was the Regal in Leamington Spa where he stayed for 14 years, taking it from one screen to six before going on to open the seven-screen Apollo Cinema at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch.
His most recent role has been in operations management for Merlin Cinemas in Devon and Cornwall.
Now he will be in charge of his own picture palace, the Hollywood Cinema in Fakenham, Norfolk, which was built in 1855 as the Corn Hall and also served as a magistrates court and a library before being given over to films.
Gary says: "I'm passionate about old cinemas. The Hollywood has a wonderful nostalgia to it. Multiplexes are very nice and very comfortable but they are functional, they lack the personal touch.
"Owning my own cinema is a dream come true. Unfortunately, a bit like working in a chocolate factory, I'm so busy now I hardly ever get a chance to taste the goods."
