Andrew Tyrrell

The son of actors Angela & Norman Tyrrell (Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, BBC), Andrew appeared in John Boorman's 'Catch Us If You Can' (a post-'Hard Day's Night' vehicle for UK pop group The Dave Clark Five) after casting approached his father for a role. Norman couldn't make the dates, but Andrew - aged 12 and with no acting experience whatsoever - could, and somehow ended up landing the role of Louis's son. Andrew's contribution - so central to the film that if you blinked you'd miss it - should have taken 3 days to shoot. However a spat between Dave Clark and the Assistant Director left Mr Clark with a cauliflower ear, and cast & crew sat around for four days waiting for the swelling to subside. Of course, this was great for Andrew who - on location at Tynings Farm near Cheddar, England - found himself on a proper farm (albeit one dressed to look like a Wild West ghost town), and in the company of Mr Boorman's two blonde daughters. AND being paid £3 a day! Close observers will notice that Andrew spends most of the film sitting out of harm's way on a horse. Just as well, really: his one proper scene, with Barbara Ferris, Dave Clark & David Lodge, took 35 takes (no really!), even though he himself was the acme of professionalism and delivered his single line, 'Dad, dad - there's a bloke and a lady to see you!', perfectly every time. However it was clear that his parents' talent for drama had somehow sidestepped Andrew, settling instead on his sister, Kate. Andrew's real passion has always been music, first as a player (7 years as Principal Percussionist with Rambert Dance Company, work with BBC orchestras and English National Opera, plus a Top Ten hit and a gold disc with panpipe group Incantation); then as a composer and conductor (commissioned orchestral and choral works on TV & radio, ballet scores for the Edinburgh Festival, and piles of stuff for youth groups); and more recently as a teacher and animateur (composition projects, percussion ensemble work, UK A-level Music/Music Technology). Andrew recently moved home, as it happens to within a few miles of the Somerset farm that witnessed his film debut and swansong. You might expect the place to be full of autograph-hunters at weekends, but curiously no. Still, he wanders up there from time to time, just in case.