Redcar Regent Cinema demolition inspires memory 'flood'

The start of the demolition of an art-deco cinema prompted a "flood of memories" the council has said.

Redcar's Regent Cinema opened as a music hall, the Pavilion, in 1928, and was where Larry Grayson, performing under stage name Billy Breen, coined his "shut that door" catchphrase.

It closed in 2018 and a new cinema is now planned for the seafront site.

Redcar and Cleveland Council said there had been a "fantastic" response to an appeal for memories of the place.

Online messages recalled marriage proposals, Charlie Chaplin impersonators, "fire dancers" and usherettes falling as they tried to sell ice creams in the dark.

One woman told how her mother used to take in actors as lodgers, and complained about "stage make-up on the bedding and requests for cooked meals at midnight."

People also recalled the premiere of Hollywood movie Atonement in 2007 after some scenes were filmed on Redcar beach.

Former Mayor Wendy Wall, who took to the red carpet that evening, messaged to say it was "one of the greatest nights of my life".

The Pavilion was where performer Grayson, who went on to host the Generation Game, coined his famous "shut that door" catchphrase, inspired by a door which kept blowing open.

However, one local man got in touch to say his aunt, Joan Foulkes, always claimed to have invented the phrase.

Gordon Middlemiss said: "She told me about it numerous times.

"She lived in South Bank then and was a regular. This one day, it must have been the late 1940s, Larry Grayson - he was known as Billy Breen then - was on and the door kept opening with the wind blowing through.

"My aunt had had enough and eventually piped up, 'Oh, I'm fed up…shut that door!'

"It got a big laugh and Larry took it up."

The door itself was found last year after having been bricked up for decades.

Councillor Wayne Davies, cabinet member for economic development, said: "It's been fantastic to get such a strong reaction from people about The Regent.

"Now we must look to the future and a brand, new venue to create happy memories for generations to come."

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