There is no buzz like performing for a live audience.

I wasn't being offered as many films or TV work or theatre work and so my automatic answer to that was to have a drink that would send me to sleep. From the late seventies onwards, I really wasn't in a fit state to do any work of any kind. But, thankfully, I actually became sober on March 6, 1989, and thank God I've been sober since. It is now no problem for me and I'm thankful for that journey because I have learnt one hell of a lot. At the height of my drinking, which I would say was the mid to late eighties - and by then I'd had a serious drinking career for a good ten years - I wouldn't drink immediately on getting up in the morning, but come midday my brain would tell me that I wanted a drink. Then, if I was at home, I would constantly have in the fridge a big bottle of dry white wine, which I would drink a lot of. The only reason I drank that was because I thought that you can't smell wine on your breath. So if I was driving my car and got stopped they wouldn't know that I'd been drinking. Then come the evening I might have had a few beers and white wine and maybe some spirits as well. I went in a drying out clinic thanks to Pete Townsend, who ran a charity for drug addicts and alcoholics. Within six hours of getting out - and I'd been dry for six weeks - I drove to the off- licence to buy a bottle of champagne to celebrate the fact that I had stopped drinking. Now that is a typical alcoholic's behaviour. Within a month, I was back to square one again. I was willing to try anything to stop killing myself and this friend said come to this meeting, Alcoholics Victorious. We use the Bible to get references for everyday living. That night I went home and I can honestly say I prayed to the God of my understanding. I got up the next day and it got to about six in the afternoon before I realised how many places I'd passed where I could have had a drink and didn't even think about it. I have never wanted to have a drink since. Show less «

I spent the seventies and eighties in a drunken haze.

At an age when most youngsters are preparing for their GCSEs, I was suddenly a jet-setter, briefly the toast of Hollywood and London's West End. My immature wishes and naive opinions were treated with respect. It was all so flattering and seductive that if you were not careful, you came to believe that you really deserved instant superstar treatment. That was part of my problem. That, and an addictive craving for booze, which was to do me and my family so much harm ... I can remember going to parties where the 'nibbles' were great bowls of LSD, marijuana, cocaine, uppers and downers. I remember my jaw dropping when I saw for the first time the stunningly sexy young ladies who were hanging on my every word. As an inexperienced teenager from Hounslow, West London, it took me some time to realise that these charming creatures were professional hookers, there only to flatter and to do anything I wanted. In fact, I was a traditional working-class lad and I stuck to the booze. But down the years I paid a heavy price. Show less «

I was taken to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act. But when I came out of hospital, I began drinking again. On a typical day I'd consume half a bottle of vodka and a couple of bottles of wine. Despite all this, I honestly believed I was in control. I'd sign on for Unemployment Benefit and use that for drink. I would constantly have a drink within three feet of me so I could be unaware of what was going on around me. At the same time I was expecting a phone call from Spielberg saying, 'I want you to be in my next movie!' It was insane. Show less «

I was smoking since I was twelve. The people around me - the agents, personal and business managers - could hardly say, "You can't have a drink." I was employing them, after all. By the time I was nineteen I thought I was God. Show less «

Until I was diagnosed with mouth cancer, I'd never heard of it. What I learned very quickly was that my lifestyle had made me a walking time bomb. I was a heavy smoker and an even heavier drinker and apparently together they are a deadly mixture. Show less «

My parents were working-class and couldn't afford them. At 12, I was treated as an adult at "work" and it was difficult for me to switch from that role at home. I grew up too quickly. Show less «

I was never really sober. I just topped myself up every day.

I'd definitely be up for EastEnders. Just the same as I would if Coronation Street was offered. Either way, it would be like going back to my roots. Show less «

I was the leader of the gang and we got up to a lot of escapades for the whole year we were making it. But Carol Reed was an excellent director and he knew how to deal with us. Show less «

A lot of people try to blame the fact that I was successful at a young age. I don't agree with them. I firmly believe that it wouldn't have mattered what career I'd have chosen, I'd have ended up with a drinking problem. I think it was just in my genes. Show less «

It's very hard not to let fame affect you because you are continually being told how good you are. After a while you begin to think there must be some truth in it because all those people can't be wrong. Show less «

You have to reach your own personal bottom line, and the time wasn't right for me at clinics. I joined Alcoholics Anonymous, and don't consider I have a drink problem any more. I might have a low-alcohol lager but that's all. Show less «

I'm thought of as a celebrity. Everything I've ever done . . . has been for children. As long as I was working constantly, that was fine, because, although I don't have any children, I do relate better to them than adults. Show less «

I guess I'll go to my grave as the Dodger, but at least I've made my mark on show-business history. (1996) Show less «