Watching TV star Larry Lamb and his son George lark about for the cameras their bond is obvious. But here, in his own words, Larry, 62, reveals the tormented childhood that made him a bad father - and how his son saved him.
"I wasn't born a good father. I wouldn't have been a good father at all if it wasn't for George's mum, Linda, 62, and George himself. My own childhood wasn't great. I was dominated and bullied by my father, Ronald, and every day, from the earliest time I can remember, I watched my parents rip each other apart. I had a younger brother and my job was always to try to stop my mum Jessie and my dad fighting. There was no real violence, just a lot of psychological bullying, screaming, rowing, and my dad was always at the centre of it all.
In fact, my EastEnders character, Archie Mitchell, was based on my dad, who was deeply screwed up. He'd had a terrible, aggressive, dark relationship with his own father, and when he became a father himself in his 20s he had no clue what to do, except continue what he knew. I hated the period my parents were married and then, when I was nine, my mother left. She walked out with my baby sister, leaving me and my brother with my dad.
I know now it was something she had to do to survive herself but, at the time, I was this little boy left with a man I hated and I was raging with anger at her. It took years before I began to rebuild my relationship with my mum. There's a lot about my childhood I don't even like to think about. I grew into quite a good-looking boy, but inside I was a mess.
At 21, I became a father for the first time to a little girl. I'm ashamed to say my response was to run away, get out of the country, get as far away from my parents and being a parent myself, as possible. I supported my daughter financially, but I didn't have any contact with her. And 40 years on, it's a huge regret. I was a kid. I had no sense of responsibility; I had no sense of who I was. I didn't know what I wanted, I just knew what I didn't want. I wasn't in any sense ready or prepared to be, a father. I think I was terrified of repeating what my own parents had done. I'm not proud of it, but I just ran away.Over the next 10 years, I lived in four different countries, from Libya to France and Canada. I was on a mission to change as much of my own history as I could. I ended up working in the oil industry and, by the age of 27, I was running a division of a huge American oil company in Nova Scotia, Canada. I was earning a fortune, I owned two properties and I was the boss in charge of a huge team of people. But I wasn't happy.
I'd met a woman a couple of years earlier who'd told me I should be an actor. On the strength of that, I joined an amateur-dramatics group, and while I wasn't a great actor, I knew this was what I wanted to be. So in the late '70s I returned to England to do just that. I'd stopped running. I met George's mother, Linda Martin. We married and, in 1979, George was born.
But his birth almost killed them both. Linda haemorrhaged during labour and had to be put in a coma to slow it down. I didn't know if either of them were going to survive, and they almost didn't. It remains one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Still, the real test for me came as George grew from baby to toddler. As he began to assert himself, all that history I was trying to get away from came flooding back.
I'm very proud of my son - he's his own man
My instinct was to dominate and bully him into submission. That's what I did, because it was all I knew how to do. One day, we drove to Richmond Park in Surrey. George was strapped into the back of the car and he started screaming - like toddlers do. I was absolutely furious with him. I jumped out of the car, opened the door, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out screaming and shouting and swinging him round in the air in this absolute fury. George was terrified. Linda got out and shouted at me. She told me then I was destined to have the same relationship with my son that I had with my father.
I was behaving exactly like the man I hated. I was completely stunned. It was the most pivotal moment in my whole life. Right then, I set about changing myself for good. It was the start of another journey for me that ended in several months of intensive therapy and a confrontation with my father at the age of 49, when I told him exactly what I thought of him. It was pretty ugly. There was no resolution from him. When he died two years ago, I didn't go to his funeral. It would have been hypocritical.
George became the most important person in my life. He taught me how to be a father just by being with him, listening to him, watching him. I loved this kid like nothing else. I still do. When I look at him I see a better, more confident, more mature version of me. I'd take George to school on my bike, we'd play football, we'd talk. I always kissed him, hugged him and told him how I felt about him.
I didn't manage to hold on to my marriage to George's mum. But when we split up, the big thing for me was that George would never have to see us row, never hear a word from me against her, and vice versa. I moved round the corner. George had two worlds and he was at the centre of both of them, he saw us together and there was no bad feeling. I didn't feel guilt about the marriage ending because I thought we'd handled it well. To me, life is a series of relationships, but I think the greatest things I've learned - the wisest words I have heard - have all come from women, and all the women who have played a part in my life are cut from the same cloth. I think men are made special by the women in their life.
I'm incredibly proud of George. He's his own man, he's a very good-looking boy, but he's a wonderful human, too. Being a father to him is just the greatest joy. I became a dad again when I was in my 50s, first to Eloise, now 11, then Eva-Mathilde, now seven. I think that the older you are, the more emotionally prepared you are for fatherhood - although you don't quite have the same energy levels!
One of the most wonderful things for me now is to watch George and my girls together. He spoils them rotten, but he knows when to draw the line with them. When we go out as a family, people think he's the dad and I'm the granddad!
I'm a different dad to my two girls than I was to George. I'm a lot more balanced because I've lived through all those huge changes in myself. I'd say that I finally know who I am now. I didn't know who I was when I had my first child, or when I had George.
One of the most incredible gifts a man can have is to be a father. But you have to understand what a gift it is. I didn't when I had my first daughter. I think about her a lot, but I would never contact her or try to barge back into her life because I was the one who walked out on her and it's not fair to do that. You can't go busting back in - you lose that right to go back looking.
If she came looking for me I would be very happy, but it has to be her choice. And despite everything, I think I've been a very lucky man - lucky to have had the opportunities I've had and lucky to be a father, even if I haven't always been a very good one.
But the greatest thing of all to me is that I've become the father I never thought I could be. I'm not my father. History has changed. And that's down to fatherhood."
Larry as Archie in EastEnders (left) and with partner Clare Burt and their two daughters
Larry is currently making a series of historical films for BBC1's The One Show.
George, 30
'Dad taught me everything I know about women'
'Dad taught me everything I know about women'
George admits to being more vain than his dad
"As a child, I knew my dad was different to the other dads. We grew up in a flat overlooking the market on the North End Road in west London. My dad knew everyone and they'd all stop and chat to him. He used to take me to school every day on the back of his bicycle. All the mums in the playground would instantly swarm over. I can't say how many times I'd be standing at school and some kids would tell me how much their mum fancied my dad. It still happens to me today. The worrying thing is, it's women my age who fancy him - and their mums fancy me!
At parents' evenings, the teachers would swoon round my dad. My mum would have to be the one to say: 'OK, can we focus on George, please.' When my parents split up, I can honestly say I didn't have any problems at all. My dad lived round the corner and I saw him all the time.
The best thing about having an actor for a dad is you get to spend a lot of time with them. The worst is having to watch them when they are out of work and wondering when the next job will come. I think a lot of actors suffer from worry and depression and it's hard seeing your dad go through that.
Girls my own age fancy my dad!
My dad had a lot of complications and struggles in his early life. I think I would have understood it if he hadn't been able to have a relationship with me because of what he went through. I only met my granddad a few times. It makes me sad to think of my dad as a boy because I know how happy I always was because of him. He's incredible for changing himself, changing his learned behaviour and becoming the man he is.
I always have an image of my dad as this vital, powerful man, glowing with health and these incredible looks, yet he was the man who taught me it's right to show emotions. A man can cry and it doesn't make him less of a man. I always kiss my dad because it's the most natural thing to do, but also because I want him to know I love him.
I admire my dad in a lot of ways. I admire him as an actor, because of what he went through and because he got up and left his past. He speaks five languages (French, Spanish, Italian, German and English) and he has the ability to light up a room.
I learned a lot from my dad. I watched the way he treated women. He's a terrible flirt, but he does it in the most under-the-radar way. He's so interested in women and you can see them opening up to him and he's just charmingly reeling them in.
Like my dad, I love women. I believe in faithfulness, respect and trust, I believe in family, but I don't believe in marriage. It's an outdated idea, a form of crowd control and it doesn't work. But my attitude doesn't stop me experiencing heartache.
I've definitely had my heart broken and I hope I have it broken again. You have to feel emotions, don't you? At the moment I'm single. I was in a two-year relationship [with model Karima Adebibe, 25], but sadly it ended recently. She'd have been someone I'd have thought about having children with.
I know I'm going to be a dad. I'm not ready yet, but it's part of my plan for my future. I've had a bit of experience with my younger sisters. I love being with them. If I had a child I'd want the sort of relationship I had with my dad. That closeness, trust and the sense of having your best friend on your side.
I'm probably vainer than my dad. I started going grey at 19 and I was actually quite pleased because it gave me something different. Everyone always loves my hair, I'd never dream of dying it. I guess I have a lot of confidence. My dad taught me how to fake confidence; my mum gave me the real thing. Both of them instilled this sense in me that I could be anything I wanted to be.
I've always loved seeing Dad perform. Most people will think of him as Archie in EastEnders or Mick in Gavin & Stacey, but for me he's best when he's in the theatre. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at 50, which was a big thing for him.
My dad never stops challenging himself. On his 60th birthday we went trekking in the Himalayas, which was pretty special, and travelling to Africa together for ITV2's The Parent Trip was great.
My only criticism of my dad is the way he dresses. We're doing The Clothes Show together this week, but if I'm honest my dad needs to shape up a bit. Part of me loves the way he'll throw a suit over a horrible old T-shirt; the other part of me is so obsessed by clothes I just can't let him get away with it.
I was always very proud of the effect my dad had on people. He gets on with everyone - he was always the hero. One day at school, we cycled into the playground and this boy was holding a cat and crying because he was moving house and they were going to have to get rid of it. My dad hugged him and said: 'Don't worry, we'll look after your cat.' Obviously, he cycled straight to my mum's and left it with her! But that story sort of sums up my dad for me. He's there for anyone and he makes people feel good about themselves."
Larry with a young George
George presents Big Brother's Little Brother, weeknights, 6pm, E4, and Sundays, 12pm, T4.
Quick-Fire Questions
Larry: Do you think you got your looks from me?
George: I'm a real mix of you and Mum, but I've definitely got your nose.
Larry: What's my best quality?
George: How you got through all your struggles with your past.
Larry: What's my worst quality?
George: Your lack of confidence.
Larry: Is there anything about me you'd change?
George: Your clobber.
Larry: If you couldn't have me as a dad, who would you have?
George: My agent, John Noel.
Larry: What's your favourite memory of me?
George: You in a windbreaker and trainers after a run looking powerful and super-glowing and healthy.
Larry: Do you have any secrets from me?
George: Yes, I once got on a bus without paying the fare and got sent to court and had to pay a fine of £80.80.
George: Am I better-looking than you?
Larry: Absolutely. You're a very handsome boy.
George: What's my best quality?
Larry: You're incredibly loving and affectionate.
George: What's my worst quality?
Larry: You are too damn argumentative.
George: Would you alter anything about me?
Larry: No
George: If you couldn't have me as a son, who would you have?
Larry: I wouldn't have anyone else but you.
George: What's your favourite memory of me?
Larry: When I realised, after a traumatic birth, that this baby was going to live.
George: Have you kept any secrets from me?
Larry: You know them all.
By Louise Gannon-fabulous mag.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: BBC, GETTY IMAGES, WENN GROOMING: BRYONY BLAKE MODEL'S HAIR AND MAKE-UP: JO BULL AT MODELS 1 STYLING: LUCIE CLIFFORD STYLIST'S ASSISTANT: GEORGIA KOUSOULOU GEORGE WEARS: THREE-PIECE DINNER SUIT, A SAUVAGE AT HARRODS; SHIRT, AQUASCUTUM; SHOES, KUNI AWAI LARRY WEARS: TWO-PIECE SUIT, BURTON; SHIRT, AUSTIN REED; CUFFLINKS, NEXT; BRACES AND HANDKERCHIEF, TOPMAN; BLACK SHOES, NEW LOOK; PATENT SHOES, STYLIST'S OWN MODEL WEARS: SHOES, DUNE
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