Who says times are tough? (From Borehamwood Times)

Who says times are tough?

11:41am Friday 25th September 2009

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While he prepares for the Elstree Screen Heritage quiz night, PAUL WELSH looks on with envy as Simon Cowell’s 50th birthday bash draws near.

The place to be on October 3, so I am told, is Wrotham Park in Barnet.

This palatial mansion has often been used as a film and TV location but on this occasion it is the locale of Simon Cowell’s 50th birthday bash.

The modest affair is being organised by his mate, billionaire Sir Philip Green, who is reportedly splashing out £500,000 on the occasion — who says times are tough?

Philip is rumoured to have coughed up £4 million to celebrate his son’s bar mitzvah and even paid Rod Stewart £750,000 to sing for 40 minutes at his own 50th birthday.

With millions unemployed and pensioners struggling on fixed incomes, is such wealth a bit much or am I just plain jealous?

Poor old Simon is no doubt a bit perturbed by becoming half a century old, especially in a business that is all about youth. I drove past his old family home in Elstree the other day and recalled a statistic I had just read.

Apparently had Simon been raised there 100 years ago, his life expectancy would have been an average of just 49 years. The only good thing for celebrities of that era was they never needed cosmetic surgery and they did not live long enough to develop the Hollywood hates of wrinkles and hair loss.

I really liked Simon when I organised his plaque unveiling at Elstree Studios three years ago and he has certainly come a long way since he was a lowly £15-a-week runner at the studio in the late Seventies.

However, I must admit to finding the latest series of X Factor a bit boring, although it is still fun to laugh at the self-deluded useless singers and the ever-present sob stories. Of course, the judges get to see only a select few of those wannabe pop stars. Applicants turning up for the mass open auditions are first weeded down by junior assistants who refer the best and a selection of the worst to a senior assistant. The odds of appearing on TV are pretty slim, but the show is getting ten million viewers so you can’t knock success.

I arranged and hosted more than 20 plaque unveilings to honour film stars and directors at Elstree over a 12-year period, yet only two were from the music business.

I chose Simon as he started his career at the studio and was a local boy made good. The other was Sir Cliff Richard, who as well as being a hugely successful recording artist, made his films in Borehamwood such as Summer Holiday and The Young Ones.

I had planned the next one to have been a world-famous pop star but it was not to be, so I will not mention his name. Only one actor declined to be a recipient, I accept for a good reason, and only one person turned down my request to be a guest unveiler. That was Tom Cruise when I asked him to unveil the one honouring Stanley Kubrick. Instead, the star of A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm MacDowell, agreed to do it.

It is great to see that legend of another era, Dame Vera Lynn, topping the album charts at the grand age of 92. The irony is that she will not receive any royalties as her hits of yesteryear, such as We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs Of Dover, were recorded more than 50 years ago.

However, I understand the record company will make a substantial goodwill payment to the grand old lady, who became a national treasure in our bleakest days.

Last but not least, this is your opportunity to have some fun and support Elstree Screen Heritage and our efforts to preserve our film past.

We are organising a film quiz at the Hertswood Centre, in Potters Lane, Borehamwood, next to the school on Saturday, October 24.

It is designed for all ages and involves questions easy and hard about old classics and modern movies. There will be prizes, popcorn, film clips and a paybar.

You can enter a team of up to five people for only £3 per person and details can be obtained by phoning 020 8207 3719 or visiting www.elstreescreenheritage.org I hope to see you there.

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