THERE aren't many actors who can say they had all four Beatles signed up as members of their fan club.

But Victor Spinetti, star of a stage production of The Lavender Hill Mob, can claim that - as well as being one of the Fab Four's best friends.

Victor was on a plane with the band when they were told there was a crowd outside from the Official Victor Spinetti Fan Club of America.

"John said, 'We're really impressed Vic and we want to join up'," Victor said.

"So I wrote to the woman who ran the club and signed them up, and Brian Epstein too."

Victor starred in the Beatles' films Hard Day's Night, Help and The Magical Mystery Tour.

He first met the band in 1963 when John and George approached him after his Tony Award-winning performance in a Broadway production of Oh! What a Lovely War.

"George said 'You've got to be in all our movies' and I asked why. He said 'me mam fancies you and if you're not in them she won't come and see them'."

Being linked to the Beatles often made appearing on stage during the 60s tricky.

"One night there were girls in the back row screaming for me just because I knew the Beatles.

"I said to them I'd give a 10-minute seminar on the Beatles after the show if they'd be quiet.

"I didn't mind. I know what it's like to hunger after information like that. When I was younger it was Flash Gordon and Rita Hayworth.

"After one show there was a crowd of screaming girls and Warren Beatty thought they were for him, but they were shouting for me. And this was in the 60s."

Victor stars as souvenir maker Pendlebury, who helps bank clerk Henry Holland, played by Clive Francis, to steal gold bullion from the Bank of England by turning it into model Eiffel Towers.

Thomas Clarke wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for The Lavender Hill Mob in 1951.

"When he was writing it he rang the Bank of England and asked them what the best 6

6 way to steal gold bullion would be. And they told him!" said Victor.

"It was written after the war, when there was rationing, to lift people's spirits. And it still works today. Where I'm performing at the moment is near that terrible train crash at Potter's Bar. I spoke to some of the audience afterwards and they said for two hours they forgot about the train trash and had an enjoyable evening."

Victor gives Pendlebury a hint of the Abergavenny-born actor's Welsh accent which, along with his Italian name, caused some problems earlier in his carrier.

"I was told 'you'll have to change your name because we don't have that many parts for waiters and criminals'."

Victor has had a wide-ranging career - from working with Richard Burton in numerous productions including Under Milk Wood, to providing the voice of villain Texas Pete in children's cartoon Super Ted.

Now, after starring in The Lavender Hill Mob in Cheltenham's Everyman Theatre, he'll be touring the States to promote the new DVD of Hard Day's Night, which includes his own commentary on the making of the film.

The Lavender Hill Mob: Everyman Theatre, Tuesday, June 18, to Saturday, June 22.