I must start this week by paying my personal tribute to the late great Sir Donald Sinden, who lost his long fight against cancer, albeit at the grand age of 90, which is a good innings.

I had the pleasure to meet Sir Donald at several events over the years and when you chatted he was the same off screen as on.

There was always that element of the theatre actor about him and with just cause,  as he spent several decades successfully treading the boards of the West End and performing Shakespeare.

I think his style of acting has perhaps faded today and I know he was never keen on television, although he enjoyed two successful series.

Once we were attending a salute to Norman Wisdom at Pinewood Studios and the host Morris Bright got us both to stand up and take a bow.

It was 1997 and I had just got my MBE, but more importantly, Donald had just got his long due knighthood.

I still recall telling him that a photograph signed by him, Clark Gable and Grace Kelly had just sold for £500. He joked: “Well, I am responsible for at least £5 of that value.”

The photograph was from a film called Mogambo, shot on location in Africa, and with the interiors filmed at the old MGM Studio in Elstree Way.

It was a remake of a 1930s hit called Red Dust, with Gable playing the same lead role, but with Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner replacing Mary Astor and Jean Harlow.

The 20-year gap between the movies had taken its toll on Gable, but he remained the King of Hollywood and still managed an affair with Grace Kelly — but which of her leading men did not?

It was not a happy film for Ava Gardner, who was in a bittersweet marriage to Frank Sinatra and at one point returned to London for an abortion.

The director was Hollywood legend John Ford who, owing  to his Irish roots, decided he did not like English actors.

Sir Donald was cast as the young man in the story, but told me Ford was hard to work with and it was not a happy memory.

I think Sir Donald’s best film was the 1950s Ealing movie The Cruel Sea with Jack Hawkins, although others best remember him for his screen comedy roles.

The last time I saw Sir Donald was at John Mills’ memorial service and now he has joined that ever-growing list of 1950s stars of the silver screen taking their final bows.

Meanwhile, the celebrations of 100 years of film production in Borehamwood continues with several more events.

We have the MGM studio walkabout and the première of the documentary at the Ark Theatre, plus a special supplement being published by the Borehamwood Times to celebrate the centenary.

The display at the museum has come to an end after a successful extended three-month run and new welcome signs at the main road gateways to the town should be erected soon.

We also have a plaque to unveil at the BBC Elstree Centre, where it all began back in 1914.

I believe there are also to be some radio and television tributes along with a special screening of Blackmail at the British Film Institute.

This year is flying past and I never imagined Elstree Screen Heritage and the Elstree Project — with vital support from the studios and councils — would achieve so much, but we have a lot to be proud of in Borehamwood and it is worth celebrating.