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Episode details

Radio London,20 Jan 2025,12 mins

Rediscovering the chequered life of author Frank Norman

London Uncovered

Available for over a year

Novelist, playwright, painter, criminal. In the words of his grandson, author Frank Norman certainly had an 'interesting' life, to say the least. He was best known for his acclaimed prison memoir 'Bang to Rights' (1958) and the smash-hit musical 'Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be' (1960). But Frank Norman was also a talented painter, having discovered art while behind bars, immersing himself in classes and books from the prison library. Now, two venues in Soho are celebrating the life and work of the late Frank Norman, through a double exhibition, and the re-publishing of his photographic memoir 'Soho Night & Day' (1966). So who was this eccentric man of many talents? BBC Radio London's Robert Elms has been finding out from Norman's grandson Joe Daniel.

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