| Glen Michael | |
|---|---|
| Born | Cecil Buckland 1926 Devon, England |
| Residence | Ayr, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Ethnicity | British |
| Known for | Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade |
| Spouse | Beryl |
Glen Michael is a former children's television presenter and an entertainer. His career at Scottish Television spanned several decades with the popular show Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade. He was born in Devon, England, but has found the majority of his success in Scotland.
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Born Cecil Buckland, in 1926, Glen Michael began his career as an entertainer on stage for the army, and working his way up with his many successful shows that encompassed his talent for comedy, in particular, impersonations. Upon leaving his native England for the theatre circuit of Scotland, he found further success in stage shows with noted Scottish comedians Rikki Fulton and Jack Milroy. Michael also made an uncredited appearance as "Larry" in the police drama The Blue Lamp in 1950; he and his date witnessed the shooting of Jack Warner (Dixon of Dock Green) as they entered a cinema.
Glen Michael eventually turned his attention to television, starring in many Scottish Television productions and dramas including :
He also starred in several one-off plays for the BBC and STV.
Michael achieved success with his own show, which he presented, produced and wrote Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade (for a Short while Glen Michael's Cavalcade) began a record-breaking run of 26 years starting on 6 April 1966.[2]
Cavalcade has been broadcast on a two other ITV stations, Westward in 1967–70 and has also made it on to Grampian TV in the early 1970s and again the ealry 1980s. Originally broadcast as Cartoon Cavalcade between 1966–73, series went out on during the week around 5pm until 1970 when it moved to Saturdays. From 5 January 1974 [3] the programme moved to its Sunday afternoon slot and renamed Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade. From January 1989 – December 1992 it moved to fixed slot at 10:45 most Sundays.
The show is still fondly remembered by many people in Scotland as their first exposure to many famous cartoons such as Asterix and Bugs Bunny. The show is also remembered for Michael's companions Paladin the talking lamp, Totty the Robot and dogs Rudi and Rusti. The programme also included superhero cartoons, which would be introduced by "The Space Teller"; Michael's disembodied head (often wearing a crown) seemingly "floating" in space. The readings of children's birthday cards that viewers had sent in was also very popular, with Michael also sending birthday cards personally to those who could not have their cards read on air. From late 1966–86 the show also broadcast on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, but was changed to only New Year's Day from 1988.
Michael presented a popular weekly show on Saga FM every Sunday, playing songs from stage shows and classic records. When Saga FM was bought by Real Radio company GMG Radio, Michael decided not to move across to Smooth Radio.
Michael also starred in several pantomimes with Jack Milroy and completed many enjoyable runs at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow, the Gaiety Theatre, Ayr and the Edinburgh Kings in various productions and plays.
Michael made a brief cameo in an episode of the BBC series VideoGaiden, playing himself in a speaking role. In the episode, Michael receives a coconut and some flowers in the mail (in an attempt to recreate the Nintendo game Animal Crossing) and sends a thankful letter in response.[4]
With the end of "Cavalcade", Michael continued working, taking a touring version of the show around Scotland to primary schools. As he continued to entertain more generations with games and cartoons, he was assisted by his wife of many years, Beryl. He has however now retired from these activities.
He lives in the Ayrshire community with Beryl and has two children, Yonnie and Christopher, and three grandchildren, Grant, Fraser and Mark. His son, Chris Buckland, is a film editor who has worked extensively on STV productions such as Taggart. He can often be seen at Somerset Park attending Ayr United matches.
Mark Millar, writer of the comic book Kick-Ass, helped Michael to get a cameo role in the film version of the comic-book series.[5] Miller said that Cartoon Cavalcade inspired him to become a writer and none of his comic books would exist if it wasn't for Michael and his show.[6] However his part was cut from the final edit.[7] Michael said, "I never expected to be in it at all. I think it was meant as a gesture. I think they were trying to make me feel like a real star. I had a trailer which was as big as a coach."[6]
Michael did attend the premiere of the movie in London.
In 2008 Michael released an autobiography called Life's a Cavalcade, in which he tells how he worked his way to becoming a performer, his life in the army and how he ended up in Scotland.