U.S. filmgoers may recall him in supporting roles as sinister KGB officer MAJOR PRIBLUDA in GORKY PARK and Dr. GEDDES in LOCAL HERO, but to Scottish audiences, RIKKI FULTON was a genuine comedy and acting legend. Not only in his own right, but also alongside another giant of television and theatre, JACK MILROY, in their iconic alter-egos of FRANCIE & JOSIE, the work-shy Glasgow layabouts.
Back in the merry month of May, 1982, I had the good fortune and great privilege of meeting Mr. Rikki Fulton in JOHN MENZIES (when said establishment was situated near the bottom of Glasgow's Buchanan Street, across from FRASER'S), and, for all those interested in learning how your humble host managed to rub shoulders with the great man himself, I shall now recount exactly what transpired.
I'd just stepped out of the lift on the ground floor, having been in the record & book departments on the first, when I spied a familiar figure leaning on the counter at the stationery section. "Rikki Fulton!" I gasped (more to myself than anyone else) in sheer disbelief at seeing a principal member of showbiz royalty mingling with mere mortals. (I was only 23 at the time, so can surely be forgiven my youthful exuberance.) Rikki Fulton, whom I'd seen in The FRANCIE & JOSIE Show on TV back in the 1960s, right in front of me - in the actual, living, breathing, pulsing flesh. I'd thought such figures used servants or emissaries for menial tasks like shopping, but apparently not.
He appeared to be writing something and, thinking he was signing an autograph, I approached (having calmed down a tad) and meekly asked if I, too, could have his autograph. "As long as it's not on one of these!" he said without missing a beat, smiling and indicating the cheque to which he was applying his name. Clearly my cue to laugh at his witty and apropos remark, but I was still too stunned at seeing him in person to respond with appropriate appreciation for his quick-thinking, ad-libbed riposte, so merely stood there like a fart in a trance.
I got a scrap of paper from the girl serving him and, smiling in the most friendly manner, Rikki asked my name. "Gordon" I managed to stammer. I'd regained my composure somewhat by the time he handed me the paper inscribed "For Gordon, Rikki Fulton", so I thanked him, then said: "Sorry to have bothered you". "Absolutely no bother at all" was his warm and genuine response before moving toward the exit. No minders, no entourage - just an ordinary, everyday guy out shopping. Of course, in truth there was nothing ordinary or everyday about him - the man was a showbiz titan and comedy genius.
I still have that little piece of paper, tucked safely into the protective clear sleeve of my FRANCIE & JOSIE vinyl LP by GOLDEN GUINEA. Yet available on CD on ELM Records - CDELM4123.) And whenever I recall that moment, a warm glow comes over me at the thought of it. Rikki Fulton was the epitome of the perfect gentleman; kind and gracious to a stumbling, bumbling, pain in the @rse fan and treating me as though I were doing him a favour. I'll tell you, a lot of so-called celebrities in whichever field of endeavour you care to mention could learn a thing or two about how to behave to the public from the legend that was - that is - Rikki Fulton.
