Well here we go on another walk down Memory Lane and thank you for your company. I was asked the other day if I miss visiting film and television sets during shooting. Well, to be really honest, not much as I don't really know much of today's stars and for me I loved meeting actors of yesterday. If I was invited to interview the winner of, say, Big Brother at Elstree I would probably agree out of boredom and if there was a free bar and canapes, which now I am a pensioner saves me cooking.

However, my heart would not be in it and I detest this showbiz era of 'celebrities' who frankly are here today and gone tomorrow. I cannot understand the public and media interest but I am of the past not the future.

This week I take you back to the 1970s, which seems like yesterday but to some younger readers is almost prehistoric. In those days I used to correspond with stars of yesteryear. One in particular I recall was the legendary Joan Crawford in her final years when she became a recluse. Joan always answered her mail personally as I think her fans became her life. She had an awful childhood and clawed her way to film stardom via sex, which is an interesting topic in the somewhat odd world of today's Hollywood, but let us leave that aside.

Joan went on to win an Oscar and became a major star before her career declined. Her final film was in England called Trog and was an awful B movie.

In 1974 she was photographed attending an event and when she saw how she looked decided to withdraw from public view for the last three years of her life. Then of course came the infamous book written by her adopted daughter called Mommie Dearest, which damaged her reputation forever. It was a sad end to a successful career but perhaps an unsuccessful life.

Luckily I was also able to meet stars of Hollywood's golden era and one such name was David Niven. He was at Elstree Studios on a television movie called A Man Called Intrepid in, I think, 1979. He was a great storyteller and a real gentleman. I noticed he got nervous before a scene to be shot with Michael York, which surprised me after his 40-plus years in the business. He explained to me that it never got easier and he even got nervous before his famous television interviews as viewers expected him to be witty and regale them with anecdotes.

I asked David about his two very successful autobiographies and how much I could take as accurate. He replied that perhaps not everything was accurate about his life and if a good story happened to somebody else he had pretended it happened to him as it sold books.

David was not given a knighthood because in those days if you lived abroad the establishment thought it a poor show. Hence the honour was denied to the likes of Richard Burton, Ronald Colman and Cary Grant, to mention a few. Nowadays they are somewhat more available as the Government seeks popularity for the awards system.

When I met David I was obviously 39 years younger than I am now so as a young man I asked him for a life tip. I still recall his reply: "Paul, always know when it is time to leave the stage before they get bored with you."

Neither of us knew that shortly after that he would be diagnosed with motor neurone disease and the last couple of years before his death in 1983 must have been awful.

Having corresponded with Joan and talked to David you may understand why meeting a reality 'star' does not rock my boat but then again their fans will never have heard of these old stars and that is life. Until next week, you take care as I enjoy your company.