I Look At It Like This

Alton Douglas is a broadcaster and author who has appeared in virtually every major theatre in the U.K. and was responsible for hundreds of television warm-ups. He is the voice behind several cartoons and children's toys etc. He was educated at Saltley Grammer School. After spending his National Service as a trombonist, with the band of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, he played in local bands for some time before forming his own group. In order to present something different from the average dance band he began to break up the sets by telling the occasional joke. In time it became a natural progression for him to become a full-time comedian. Over the years he played Dame in panto, Principal Boy opposite Helen Shapiro, appeared in summer shows (including a spell as Principal Comic with the world famous 'Fol de Rols') and played most of the major cabaret venues and theatres in the U.K. (appearing with Paul Daniels, Vera Lynn, Roy Hudd, Frankie Vaughan, Edmund Hockridge and many more). He also acted as warm-up comic for over 1,000 TV shows including 'The Golden Shot', 'The Peggy Lee Show', 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em', 'Terry and June', 'New Faces', 'Lunchtime with Wogan', 'Up the workers' and "Are you being served?". Over the years he has acted in training videos, recorded voice-overs for hundreds of radio commercials, been the voice behind several cartoons and children's toys, written showbiz columns and reviewed jazz records and shows and appeared in such TV programmes as 'Angels', 'Seconds Out', 'Crossroads', 'A Soft Touch', 'Muck and Brass', 'The Golden Shot', 'The Knockers', 'The Original Alton Douglas', 'Nights at the Swan', 'Watch This Space', 'The Barmaid's Arms', 'Open University', 'Property Rites', 'Big Deal', 'Newshound', 'Murder of a Moderate Man' and 'The Bretts'. In 1979 he was asked to host the BBC Midlands TV inter-town quiz series 'Know Your Place' as writer and quizmaster.

"Just the perfect combination of jokes and stories from a show biz life that are secret no more." Ken Windsor