Those Holsten Pils adverts in the 80s? They pretty much paid for my house!
Griff Rhys Jones is a comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter whose long career has earned him a place as one of Britain’s most-loved screen stars, writes York Membery.
The 71-year-old is best known for appearing in Not The Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith & Jones (with his late comedy partner Mel Smith) and presenting the TV series Restoration.
The father-of-two and his wife Jo divide their time between their homes in London and Suffolk. His new tour, The Cat’s Pyjamas, has just kicked off.
What did your parents teach you about money?
I was one of three children, and my father Elwyn was an NHS doctor. I had a comfortable enough upbringing in Epping, Essex, but we were by no means wealthy.
My Welsh parents gave me pocket money, but they expected me to make it last, which I rarely did – so they considered me somewhat financially impulsive, which I have to confess I am to this day. My mum Gwynneth was outraged when I spent all my birthday money on the Beatles’ album Help! in 1965 when I was 12.
Having a laugh: Griff Rhys Jones is one of Britain’s most-loved screen stars
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
In between leaving university and starting work at the BBC as a producer, I took a job as a bodyguard, following in the footsteps of my big, lanky friend Douglas Adams [who went on to write The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy].
My job was to guard an Arab potentate from possible terrorist attack, but it just involved standing around for 12-hour shifts doing next to nothing for a colossal two or three quid an hour, if I recall correctly.
So I didn’t have a lot of spare cash after I’d paid the rent.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
Yes. The advertising industry paid silly money in the 1980s, and after becoming famous thanks to Not The Nine O’Clock News I got to make some lucrative TV ads, rather bizarrely becoming king of the ads for a while.
My long-running series of Holsten Pils ads [in which his character is transported back in time, selling beer to stars of yesteryear such as Marilyn Monroe] pretty much paid for a house I bought around that time.
Mel and I both did a lot of voiceover work back then – you could make a year’s salary by doing half-an-hour’s work. You have to be careful that you don’t become too addicted to such easy money.
Later on, at the height of our Alas Smith & Jones fame, Mel and I were offered a lot of money to move to ITV, but I said to Mel, ‘I don’t feel right about going to ITV [out of loyalty to the BBC]’ and he went along with my decision, though he thought I was mad.
Mind you, the BBC had no compunction about later sacking me.
Drinking to success: Griff’s long-running series of Holsten Pils ads pretty much paid for a house he bought around that time
What was the best year of your financial life?
In 1981 Mel and I formed a radio production company, Talkback, which went on to make a number of hit TV comedy shows like They Think It’s All Over and I’m Alan Partridge.
We made a life-changing amount of money when we sold it in 2000. [Griff, Mel and managing director Peter Fincham shared £62 million.] But the truth is I was already pretty much set in my ways by then, so it didn’t change much.
I’m still happy getting around London by bus, and when I’m touring, like now, I stay at Premier Inns. The best thing about my financial situation is that I don’t have to think about money much, and it allows me to pick up the tab if I go out with friends.
The most expensive thing you bought for fun?
A classic 1948 57ft wooden racing yacht, Argyll, which I got in 2011 for a six-figure sum.
It’s given me a huge amount of pleasure and I race it at regattas including the Fastnet Race. I’ve had a good year, winning the VCYC Mediterranean Cup and the Spanish ‘Mare Nostrum’ trophy
Four-of-a-kind: Griff became famous thanks to Not The Nine O’Clock News
What was your biggest money mistake?
My parents imbued in me a love of bargains, so on a visit to Morocco in the 1990s I haggled with a market trader in a souk until he agreed to sell me a couple of carpets for what I thought was a bargain £800. But he clearly saw me coming because it turned out they were worth just £100!
Later on I was advised to invest a modest amount in a legitimate financial ‘scheme’, but the guy who ran it was a crook and I was left out of pocket.
So if anyone ever approaches me with a so-called ‘investment opportunity’ I just politely say, ‘Not interested, thanks.’
Best money decision you have made?
Buying a rundown house in London’s Clerkenwell in the 1980s, and then trading up to another, north of Oxford Street, in the late 1990s.
The areas became sought-after – it was nothing to do with me – so I made money on both. But my wife and I didn’t buy them as an investment, we wanted somewhere to live.
Will you pass your money down or spend it all?
I’ll pass it on to my two-grown up children – and I’d like to organise my financial affairs so that if I shuffle off first, my wife Jo and our son and daughter, now themselves parents, will get the lion’s share of my estate. But I’m hoping to live to 100.
Do you have a pension?
I have a private pension but I haven’t yet got around to claiming my state pension because I just can’t think of myself as retired. Indeed, my 14-date UK tour is now under way.
Do you own any property?
My wife and I divide our time between our main house in Bloomsbury and a second home in Suffolk. What do I think about the Government’s plan to build new towns? I think it’s a good idea and I’m in favour of more central planning, not less, when it comes to housing. We need more houses.
If you were Chancellor what would you do?
I’d rather leave the UK’s financial policy to the experts, although I’m worried about the fact that as a country we’re not balancing the books.
What is your number one financial priority?
To keep working and not have to think too deeply about money. That’s why I take the 55 bus to Oxford Street and the 38 to Victoria Station.
- Griff Rhys Jones: The Cat’s Pyjamas tour dates: ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/griff-rhys-jones
