A door which inspired Larry Grayson to create one of TV’s greatest catchphrases is going to be preserved for posterity, a council has announced.
The unique artefact – which inspired his line “Shut that door!” is going to be saved for posterity after it was discovered bricked up inside a historic building in Redcar.
Grayson, who was one of the biggest names in show business in the 1970s and 1980s, was famed for exclaiming “Shut that door!”.
Famous line
But the Generation Game presenter came up with the line well before he hit the big time, first coining during his days working the summer season at a seafront theatre in Redcar.
His act was interrupted when a door on to the beach kept flying open in the wind, prompting him to come out with the immortal line.
It got a laugh and Grayson developed it into part of his act. The venue was turned into a cinema called the Regent but it has been closed for almost a year after structural faults were found.
The door – which had been bricked up – was recently uncovered during work for a wider regeneration project.
“The story is, Larry was working under a previous stage name, Billy Breen, in the summer season and the door, which opened directly to the beach, kept flying open,” said Neil Bates, Regent manager of 26 years.
“He just shouted ‘Shut that door!’ and got a laugh and kept using it. It was an in-joke for the Redcar crowd, but it obviously worked elsewhere.”
Grayson’s 96-year-old friend Joyce Dowding, who lives in Redcar, said it must be the right door “because it was the one that opened on the beach”.
She said Grayson – who died in 1995 at the age of 71 – was a regular at the Regent, or the Glasshouse as they called it at the time.
“He used to lodge on Queen Street and would love walking along the promenade and meet people in the King’s Cafe,” she said. “He loved Redcar.”
Ms Dowding has a photo of Grayson taken in his dressing room at the London Palladium, with him holding a painting of the Regent.
She said: “He was more or the less the same off stage as on. He was just ordinary. He was very considerate of people. He was just Billy.”
What happens now?
The door is going to be kept in storage and preserved.
“This is an amazing find – a real piece of entertainment history,” said Carl Quartermain, Redcar and Cleveland councillor for culture, tourism and communications.
“And it’s more great news for the Regent after the announcement that its future is guaranteed.
“I’m looking forward to the day that its doors are no longer shut but open for generations of movie lovers to come.”