Samuel West on father Timothy West: "He taught me to lean in and love life in all its detail"
"He loved working nearly as much as he loved not working, spending time on old railways, canals, travelling and exploring."
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
One day after I post the announcement of my father’s death on social media, it has a million views and more than 5000 replies. A huge outpouring of love and respect for this extraordinary man’s extraordinary life, for hundreds of different jobs from thousands of different people, the vast majority of whom never met him. Of course many of them mention Edward VII, Brass, The Monocled Mutineer and one or more of his four King Lears. But then you get condolences from the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, the Talyllyn Railway, the Labour Party, the Friends of Clevedon Pier…
Although we worked together 13 times, I probably learned more from Da about life than about acting. He taught me that enthusiasm – for almost anything – was cool. He taught me that touring this country, professionally or otherwise, is beautiful and we should all do more of it. And he taught me to lean in and love life in all its detail: he used to say "Always do as much research as you can, because even if only ten percent of it is useful, the more you do, the bigger the ten percent is."
He loved working on new plays, with young directors, and on Eastenders in an atmosphere of tight turns and quick study. He was a great company member: people wanted him in their gang.
He loved working nearly as much as he loved not working, spending time on old railways, canals, travelling and exploring. He adored being surrounded by Juliet’s, Joe’s and (eventually) my children – and he lived long enough to get to know his four great-grandchildren, all of whom at some point lived in the flat below his house.
If there’s one thing that sums him up, I think it’s Great Canal Journeys, which made such a difference to the latter part of his and my mum’s life. When I’m on the canals, as the inheritor of his face and his tiny eyes that disappear when we smile, I’m always asked by passing boaters to send their best to him and Pru. He maintained that GCJ was a show about industrial architecture. We knew it was really a love story, tested by my mum’s dementia and seasoned with all the attendant scrapes and narrows and minor irritations of 61 years’ marriage, but held together by great cables of respect, companionship and love.
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