Bill Shankly actor prepares to deliver a blast from the past

Mar 27 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

Jonathan Watson who is set to play Liverpool Manager Bill Shankly in the Shankly Show 198

THERE were gasps of amazement  from the assembled press conference as actor Jonathan  Watson  gave a taste of his portrayal of Bill  Shankly.

The sound was not from the  assembled media, but from the  legendary football manager’s own   flesh and blood.

His granddaughters Pauline  Robinson and Emma Parry, with  their own young sons all  proudly  wearing Liverpool shirts  emblazoned with the name  Shankly, said it was  “spooky” to  hear such a blast from the past.

Emma Parry said: “Everybody  always does impressions, but it  starts to slip after a few lines as  it  is such a hard accent. But he was  absolutely spot on. It was like I  was

Scottish performer Watson was in the LFC press room yesterday – what was the boot room back in Bill Shankly’s day – being officially unveiled as the star of The Shankly Show, a new one-man play reflecting the career of the man widely thought to be one of the greatest football managers of all time.

Although keen to avoid the more famous “Shanklyisms”, he recalled an anecdote he had prev-iously performed on the Scottish comedy show Only an Excuse in an impressive take on the footballing hero that left his family close to tears.

On perfecting the role, he said: “It’s part of your training to have a good ear – it’s just a question of listening to sounds and keeping them in your head. Probably with Shankly, it’s getting the rhythm, that staccato stop-start. The show isn’t about doing Shanklyisms, hopefully it goes deeper than that.

“Obviously he had a tremendous charisma and made a real impression on people. It’s things like that we are trying to get into the play.

“It is quite daunting but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I have done one-man shows before but there is a feel to this that is very different in the use of archive footage. It has got such a fresh feel to it.”

Writer Andrew Sherlock said his star came recommended by impressionist Alistair McGowan.

Mr Sherlock said: “When he walked into the room and started doing a few words we thought ‘this is the man’. This is some-thing special. Knowing Liverpool, his family and friends and people who knew him well will be watch-ing, we needed someone who cap-tured the spirit of the man. For us, Shankly isn’t just about football – his great legacy went far beyond that.

“What he gave the city was a sense of self-belief, pride, and a sense we could get forward.”

The premiere is at the Liverpool Olympia April 24. Tickets from 0151 263 6633 and www.liverpool olympia.com

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk