OSCAR SPEECH

 A really boring thank you, thank you page that will only be of interest to those whom I know really well.

I’ve never made a movie and am not likely to, so I will never have the opportunity to make that Oscar speech I dreamt about as a kid but if I were to make one then it would definitely include the following people whose friendship, support and guidance helped me to have such a blast.

Firstly, I would like to thank Field Marshall Viscount Bernard Montgomery, after whom I am named, for allowing my Dad leave from the army in February of 1944.  Needless to say, a big thank you to my Mum and Dad who took full advantage of that leave to welcome me into the world in October of that year.

To the crew at my first major studio, especially Paul Bookless, printer extraordinaire who taught me that a good printer can make a bad photographer and a bad printer can ruin a good photographer.  He stood by me through thick and thin at the studio off Baker Street in London and never once gave up – I could never have asked for a more loyal, supportive friend.  And during that same time period, The Gang – the very special Heather Charlton whom I first met when she was modelling on a photoshoot and, 48 years later, we are still close friends.  Heather introduced me to Ron Jones from Lintas, a dear, dear man without whose commissions the studio would never have survived.  The third member of The Gang was Phil Babb, the studio’s senior assistant, a special guy with a mischievous glint in his eye who has become a very fine photographer in his own right.  Here’s to all the parties, the champagne and laughs we had together.

To Joe Prock at Texas Instruments who was always such a pleasure to work with in Europe and was responsible for bringing me to Dallas, Texas, for TI campaigns in the US.  And Mike Lyons, whom I first met at JWT in London and was a main source of commissions for me whilst he was with Ogilvy Mather in Houston.

To John Grant in Denver and Anne Wilkes Tucker, the curator emerita of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, for their mentorship and generosity when I first started to concentrate on my own personal work.

One of the delights of my career are the friends I have made over the past 50 years, a special collection of crazies whose inspiration, support and encouragement pushed me to grow professionally in particular  Marilyn Muller, Judy Summers, Don DePasquale and Vern Gillum.   You all have a special place in my heart.

And to three women to whom I owe so much that a thank you seems quite inadequate – my mother-in-law Doreen Albert, there are no words to truly describe this amazing woman and what an impact she had on our life; my Aunty Sue Hammerson who encouraged me to follow my dream when I first turned to photography and well beyond, and of course the most special woman of all, Marilyn, my wife of 53 years who has put up with so much $”!+ and stood by me regardless (she is the Gemini who keeps this Libra balanced and still laughs at my jokes even though she’s heard them a thousand times) – to all of you 

MY THANKS 

(camera cuts to me in overflowing bubble bath holding up a cardboard cut out of an Oscar – and fade) 

PS   I would have included my children Rachel and Joel, but someone muted the mike, the orchestra started to play really loudly and the cameras cut to a commercial.