Robert Lindsay remembers 'extraordinary' teacher

Robert Lindsay said he owed his acting career to his school teacher

Actor Robert Lindsay returned to his home town in Derbyshire to remember a "truly extraordinary" teacher, who he said he owed his acting career to.

The star of BBC TV shows Sherwood and My Family visited an exhibition dedicated to John Lally, his former art teacher at Gladstone Boys' School in Ilkeston.

Lindsay, 75, said Mr Lally also organised drama classes and encouraged him to go to acting college, adding: "I owe everything to him."

The exhibition, which tells Mr Lally's story and features more than 15 of his paintings, will run at Erewash Museum until 26 April.

John Lally taught Lindsay at Gladstone Boys' School in the 1950s

Mr Lally taught at the school in the early 1950s and later became headmaster before retiring in the 1970s.

Ilkeston-born actor Lindsay said meeting the teacher was a "milestone" in his life and it was thanks to his encouragement that he applied to drama college.

He said Mr Lally would organise performances allowing his talents to shine, adding: "Thankfully, he believed in me.

"I'd been told by my careers advisors and maths teachers that I'd never be employable."

'Inspired young people'

Mr Lally, who died at the age of 80 in 1994, had a passion for abstract painting and after his retirement helped found Erewash Museum in Ilkeston, where a gallery bears his name.

The John Lally: Artist and Teacher exhibition features items relating to his career at the school including photographs, drawings and the "iconic school badge" he designed.

Of the tribute, Lindsay said: "I have such great memories of Mr Lally that I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Becca Everett, deputy leader at Erewash Borough Council, which runs the museum, said: "John Lally's love of art inspired many young people to embrace the subject.

"His paintings show how he took inspiration from his surroundings, his teaching career and local history.

"He was also inspired by different art styles and he had a remarkable talent for creating unique views and subjects using watercolour."

Mr Lally was also a founding member of the Ilkeston and District Local History Society and chair of the Ilkeston Arts Club.