FADING INTO THE LIMELIGHT

Peter Sallis (Orion, £18.99)

Although he has played many parts, and his television career stretches right back to the earliest days of TV, most of us will know actor Peter Sallis as Clegg in The Last of the Summer Wine, the world's longest-running sitcom and certainly one of the funniest.

His career also includes playing the title role in Samuel Pepys's Diaries and providing Wallace, of Wallace and Gromit, with a voice.

Peter begins his autobiography by explaining he was inspired to write it by a visit to the mattress department of John Lewis.

He begins his autobiography by dipping into the war years, starting in 1943, when he worked as a corporal instructor at the number one radio school, teaching the theory of radio as this was when he caught the acting bug. He had to wait until the war ended to join RADA. Then, having provided us with a glimpse of those early days, Peter takes his readers through his long and varied career, introducing us to the great theatrical figures he met along the way. These include John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Judi Dench and Orson Welles.

As one would expect, Peter's autobiography is amusing and nostalgic and a grand celebration of his distinguished theatrical career.