Who is Brian Cleeve anyway?
An extract from my biography of Brian Cleeve
Brian Cleeve was a star of Irish television during the 1960s. In that first heady decade of RTÉ’s existence Gay Byrne might have been top of the tree, but Brian was not far below him. By the early-1970s, however, Brian Cleeve was gone from our TV screens. Details of how and why are inside this book. But Brian’s own explanation is summed up in the title, Television doesn’t like rebels. And Brian was a rebel.
Today when I recall Brian I remember his impressive unconventionality. Once, as I waited to meet him in Dublin, I saw him striding across a bridge about 200 metres away. As usual he was being pulled along by his dog, Ru. Brian was easy to spot that day as he was wearing a bright red shirt and canary-yellow trousers. I think his trainers were an unflashy blue. I, on the other hand, was dressed in my usual grey business suit and black shoes. As I observed Brian approaching in his vividly-coloured attire I said to myself, “Now there’s a man who doesn’t give a shite what people think of him!”
It was not just his clothes – it was everything. Sometimes, when he ‘broke the rules’, he had to endure more than just dark stares or snide comments. Inside this book you will find lots of examples of the trouble he got into as a result of his rebellious spirit. Occasionally the consequences were very serious indeed, like prison time.
However it was not just Brian’s unconventionality that appealed to me. After all there were lots of unconventional people around at the same time, some I admired, others I did not. I don’t want to single out any of these people, even those I like, but Brian Cleeve stands alone in my eyes.
Brian was always a non-conformist - a ‘rebel’ to use his own term - who gave me ‘permission’ to think, really think. He showed me how to break free from the customs and assumptions tying me down. He read. He thought. He felt. More than anyone else I have known, these often led him into unusual territory. Could there be anything more unusual than listening to God?
The God I encountered as a result of knowing Brian is very different to the figure I was taught to venerate (and fear). Sometimes I have to pinch myself - can this be real? It feels like standing on the seashore gazing out at a vast ocean. What would it be like to be in the sea, not just looking at it? That I am even thinking these thoughts is thanks to Brian.
None of this means that Brian was some sort of ‘plaster saint’ who never got it wrong. He was a fallible person like the rest of us. Each reader can make up his or her mind about specific episodes. For me, Brian’s very humanity makes him more admirable, not less.
Brian was a good and wise friend. On several occasions his advice was literally life-changing. For example I spoke to Brian about my decision to leave my permanent job at the bank. He urged me to hold out for a good financial settlement before I ‘jumped ship’. At the time this meant little to me - I just wanted out. However Brian’s foresight was much better than mine and his judgement proved to be absolutely correct.
As I reflect on my friendship with Brian Cleeve, I recall the words Arthur Conan Doyle attributed to his fictional narrator John Watson when he was writing about Sherlock Holmes. At the end of “The Final Problem”, Watson refers to Holmes “as the best and the wisest man…I have ever known”.
Hard to top that.