Glen Michael


Glen Michael, born Cecil Buckland, is a former children's television presenter and an entertainer. His career at Scottish Television spanned several decades with the popular show Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade. He was born in Devon, England, but has found the majority of his success in Scotland.

Early career

Born in 1926, Michael began his career as an entertainer on stage for the army and worked his way up with his many shows that encompassed his talent for comedy, in particular, impersonations. Upon leaving his native England for the theatre circuit of Scotland, he found further success in stage shows with Scottish comedians Rikki Fulton and Jack Milroy. Michael also made an uncredited appearance as "Larry" in the police drama The Blue Lamp in 1950; he and his date witnessed the shooting of Jack Warner as they entered a cinema.

Television years

Michael eventually turned his attention to television, starring in many Scottish Television productions and dramas including:
He also starred in several one-off plays for the BBC and STV.

Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade

Michael achieved success with his own show, which he presented, produced and wrote Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade/ began a record-breaking run of 26 years starting on 6 April 1966. Cavalcade has been broadcast on at least three other ITV stations,
Southern Television: 1966–1967, Westward: 1967–69 and Grampian TV also broadcast the series in the early 1970s and again the early 1980s. Originally broadcast as Cartoon Cavalcade went out on during the week around 5 pm until 1972, when it moved to Saturdays. From 6 January 1974 the programme moved to a Sunday afternoon slot and renamed Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade. For a period between September 1985 – April 1986 the series went out on a Saturday morning at 11.15, before return to Sunday afternoon. From January 1989 – December 1992 the series was reduced to 30 min fixed slot, broadcasting on Sundays at 10:45 am, but on a few occasions was moved to later time slot.
The show is remembered by people in Scotland as their first exposure to many famous cartoons and for Michael's companions Paladin the talking lamp, Totty the Robot and dogs Rudi and Rusti. The readings of children's birthday cards that viewers had sent in was also very popular, with Michael also sending birthday cards personally to those who could not have their cards read on air. In 1966, then again from 1970 onwards the show also broadcast on most Christmas and New Year's Days, until 1989. One last New Year special was broadcast on 1 January 1991. Scottish Television replaced the show with a number of new kids programming including Skoosh and Wemyss Bay 902101.

Other work

Michael presented a weekly show on Saga FM every Sunday, playing songs from stage shows and classic records. When Saga FM was bought by Real Radio company GMG Radio, Michael decided not to move across to Smooth Radio. Michael also starred in several pantomimes with Jack Milroy and completed many runs at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow, the Gaiety Theatre, Ayr and the Edinburgh Kings in various productions and plays. Michael made a brief cameo in an episode of the BBC series VideoGaiden, playing himself in a speaking role. In the episode, Michael receives a coconut and some flowers in the mail and sends a thankful letter in response.

Later life

With the end of "Cavalcade", Michael continued working, taking a touring version of the show around Scotland to primary schools. He was assisted by his wife of many years, Beryl. Mark Millar, writer of the comic book Kick-Ass, helped Michael to get a cameo role in the film version of the comic-book series. Miller said that Cartoon Cavalcade inspired him to become a writer and none of his comic books would exist if it wasn't for Michael and his show. His part, however, was cut from the final edit. Michael said, "I never expected to be in it at all. I think it was meant as a gesture. I think they were trying to make me feel like a real star. I had a trailer which was as big as a coach." Michael did attend the premiere of the movie in London. In 2008 Michael released an autobiography called Life's a Cavalcade, in which he tells how he worked his way to becoming a performer, his life in the army and how he ended up in Scotland.