Well it looks like we have all held onto the wreckage and spring has arrived, so after several months I can once again sit in my garden and enjoy the fresh air.

This I look back on two film actors who had three things in common but little else. You may not have heard of them but stay with me. They both started in movies as child actors at Elstree Studios in the 1930s, both became MGM stars in Hollywood and both had their ashes scattered on the Pacific Ocean.

The first is Peter Lawford, who outside films was also known as a member of Sinatra's rat pack and brother-in-law to President Kennedy. He had a strange upbringing as his mother disliked him and for his first few years dressed him as a girl. He got a lucky break when they were visiting Elstree Studios in 1931 and a director was having trouble with a child actor. Seeing Peter he offered him the part, and no doubt seeing pound signs his mother agreed.

By the end of the 1930s his family took him to Los Angeles and he soon got a contract at MGM, where he proved a success in musicals and lightweight films. Peter was to return to Borehamwood as a star in 1952 to film at MGM's British studio and returned again in 1969 to appear in One More Time, directed by Jerry Lewis and co-starring Sammy Davis Jr. It was not a great film but by then Peter was an alcoholic and drug user. His marriage to Kennedy's sister had ended in divorce. He felt extreme guilt about not responding to his friend Marilyn Monroe on the night she died, which is part of several conspiracy theories .

He was also expelled from the Rat Pack, including their night club act and films, when Sinatra blamed him for an incident. Kennedy was due to visit California and was expected to stay at Frank's house and Frank made many expensive changes to the property. However, at the last minute Kennedy decided to stay at Bing Crosby's home, a rival of Frank's since the 1940s. Sinatra blamed Peter and they never spoke again.

President Kennedy was not the all-American good Catholic family man as portrayed at the time and I doubt he would have survived as a president today. He was connected to organised crime, a serial womaniser, user of people and not a well man, needing a back brace and suffering from a long-term illness. In those days the media tended to avoid such matters.

Peter's career descended downwards and he died broke and broken in 1984 aged 61. His ashes were buried near Marilyn Monroe's grave but a few years later were disinterred as funeral bills had not been paid. They were scattered at sea, which was a sad end to a riches to rags life.

Roddy McDowall was another boy actor at Elstree Studios in the late 1930s before his family moved to Hollywood. He was signed up by MGM and was an instant hit in films such as How Green Was My Valley and Lassie Come Home. The former was about a Welsh mining village and Roddy told me that it always embarrassed him when people would write saying they recognised the village in Wales, when in reality it was all filmed in California.

Roddy had a great career, although being gay he had to be careful about being 'exposed' in those stupid days when such things could get you sacked by MGM unless they decided you were worth protecting if you were good box office. He was well-loved by fellow stars, who included the likes of Liz Taylor, who felt comfortable confiding in him.

Later in his career he enjoyed success as a guest star in various television series and playing an ape in a series of Planet Of The Apes movies.

I still have a letter from him from about 1997 where he told me he had fond memories of his childhood days at Elstree Studios and next time in England we should meet up at the studio. Sadly, he was shortly afterwards diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away aged 70 in 1998. His ashes were scattered over the Pacific.

Two children who began their careers at Elstree Studios and went onto experience stardom at it's best and worst. One day I must write a book about the real-life tales behind the careers and making of movies at Elstree, but I doubt I will ever get round to it. Anyway, enough from me and until next time enjoy the sun.