Bernie Newnham
One day our crew had our next day standby cancelled – pretty rare. We were in TC8 and Michael Parkinson was going to interview Muhammad Ali. It all went very well, and ended to huge applause. Ali’s band of heavies appeared and escorted him off stage right – straight into the camera store, a dead end. A few seconds later, with applause still going on, they re-appeared looking very sheepish and shuffled off to the corridor exit. Don’t remember anything about the interview.
Peter Combes
Rather earlier – 1963 probably – I remember Cassius Clay taking offence at a question in a live interview and storming out of the Lime Grove studio. It made national headlines the next morning, and those of us who had been in the studio while the scene was rehearsed kept quiet about it.
Derek Martin
That was “Sportsview” with Peter Dimmock, I believe. At the end of the transmission after the rehearsed exit from Studio G, Cassius Clay came back and thanked everyone in the studio and made sure to shake everyone’s hand – a moment this 18 year old never forgot!
Ian Hillson
Peter Dimmock:
"…I’ll never forget Cassius Clay – as he was then – he took us for a bit of a ride,
I asked him a question which I didn’t think too awkward – it was penetrating and he said ‘I’m not answering questions like that’ and walked out.
He was very clever and it got tremendous publicity the next day,which he thrived on in those earlier days before he became Muhammad Ali…"
Derek Martin
Peter Dimmock might have said that but it was definitely rehearsed – even down to which door he was going to storm out of!
Ian Hillson
I’m sure it was rehearsed – it was Dimmock’s take on things that amused me. Maybe that’s how he rose to great heights in the Beeb… and the rest of us didn’t.
Pat Heigham
I’m fairly certain I was on the crew that day and I think it was LG ‘E’. We were all a bit startled at his performance, thought him very rude. (He did a John Nott before the latter copied him!)
Sure it was ‘E’ as we did the odd extra interview before the “Come Dancing” judges set up later. (Judges in the studio, and 2 OB’s from the dance venues fed in).
My other story about the man reflects badly upon me. I was booked by the Film Unit to record a cake presentation by Ali to a kids club. As we followed him in, there was so much noise leaking around my cans that I thought the Nagra was in record, in the first switch position. Clicked round once without having time to see if the tape was rolling. It wasn’t! The editor rang me at home: "Where’s slate 7, Pat?" He sent me the roll to prove that I’d goofed.
Derek Martin
Must have been a different occasion, Pat. Definitely G and we thought he was great! It was just before he fought Henry Cooper at Wembley; he had decided that he would take ‘Enery in round 5 so he asked which camera he should hold his outstretched fingers – indicating 5 – to. Absolute star.
He stormed out of the door halfway down the right-hand side, towards studio H (?)
Peter Combes
A few days later, the comedian “Wee Georgie” Wood decided to “storm out of the studio”. That was rehearsed, too.
Geoff Fletcher
I didn’t join BBC TV until Oct 1963 so the Dimmock incident was before my time.
Derek Martin
He didn’t change his name to Ali until he became World Champion in February 1964.
Geoff Fletcher
I have a memory of Muhammad Ali having a falling out with an interviewer in G just after he changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
The interviewer kept calling him “Cassius”, and after several warnings about this blunder, Ali upped and left.
David Brunt
There’s a surviving interview with Harry Carpenter where he accidentally calls him “Cassius” several times. Ali gets a bit mock angry by it, but it’s clearly an accident.
I think that dates from around the time of the Cooper fight.
Geoff Fletcher
The Ali v Cooper fight took place on Saturday 21st May 1966.
