Medicine, Business & Music
11/03/07 - Dr. Brunjes. Argus article - Click to enlarge
I could say I’ve lived three lives: medicine, business and music
DR HARRY BRUNJES
DOCTOR, BUSINESSMAN AND FORMER PROFESSIONAL PIANIST
(50, lives in Ovingdean)
11th March 2007, Harry has enjoyed a varied career In medicine and business but, as a younger man,
he was a talented pianist who performed In theatre and television.
You could say I’ve led three flues – In medicine, business and showbusiness. Locally I’m probably best known for being a former senior partner at a medical practice in Rottingdean. But as a student. my greatest claim to fame was performing as a punk
rock pianist in the Seventies TV show, Rock Follies, which starred Charlotte Cornwell, Julie Covington and Rula Lenska.
Showbusiness Is In the blood. My father. Harty Scott. was part of a big singing act in the Fifties called the Singing Scott Brothers, who performed In the 1953 Royal Variety Show.
I met all the state of the day when I was growing up, including Chick Murray, Tommy Trinder, Dicky Henderson. Frankie Vaughan and Lonny the Lion. They would visit our house to see my dad or I would meet them backstage.
My first taste of showbusiness was in my late teens when I performed as a Red Coat at Butlins holiday camp. Then, after sitting my A levels. I took a year out accompanying Tommy Trinder and Ronnie Carroll on piano in theatres up and down the country.
But when the year was up, I had to think seriously about my carer and plumped for medicine, having gained a place at Guy’s Hospital to train as a doctor. I didn’t turn my back on showbusiness altogether, however, continuing to perform on the stage, both as a pianist and comedian.
I qualified as a doctor In 1980 and spent five years as a junior doctor, mainly at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. I was on duty in casualty the night of the Brighton bombing and worked all night treating the Injured. Margaret Thatcher visited the
hospital the next morning.
I’ve held many medical positions but one of the most interesting was working as a police surgeon in Newhaven. The job entailed visiting police cells to test drink drivers, examining assault victims and investigating suspicious deaths. But it wasn’t a bit like the way it’s presented in TV detective series.
Part of my job Involved willing injury reports and the demand grew so much I decided to set up my own private practice in Harley Street roping in old colleagues from Guy’s. Soon, we were attracting work from all over the country, so I founded Premier Medical Ltd. which provides independent medical opinion to major insurance companies, solicitors, trade unions, motoring organisations and professional bodies. I now employ 150 staff and 250 doctors.
But I haven’t turned my back on showbusiness entirely. For a start, I’m married to singer, dancer and choreographer Jacqueline Storey who I met In 1977 while performing in the Tommy Trinder Show. Jacquie was the English National Ballet Champion at just 16 and headlined in summer seasons and pantos, before taking leading robs in several musicals nationwide, both as a singer and dancer. For many years. she ran a theatre school in Brighton. producing shows and choreographing her own professional cabaret group. She currently works as an adjudicator for the British Federation of Festivals and the All England Dance Competition. She also choreographs and directs many productions at the Theatre Royal in Brighton and Lancing College.
Our four children love performing, too. Our eldest, Emma, is a producer and has worked alongside Frank Skinner and Al Murray, as well as on hit shows such as Grumpy Old Women. Harry junior is a director/playwright for Deckchair Productions. Eric plays guitar with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and Ralph has just left Lancing College and is hoping to read classics at London University.
I’m President of the Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society, the oldest medical society in the country. It’s an academic society made up of physicians and surgeons from all over Sussex and we meet nine times a year to hear a range of speakers. Traditionally, we’ve invited research medics and academics, but this year I’ve broadened the programme to include Sir Christopher Meyer, Sir Donald Sinden, Lord David Owen, Sir Tim Rice and Lord Cecil Parkinson.
These days my business commitments take up most of my time but I often say medicine gave me my career and showbusiness my wife. I suspect for our four children it may be the other way around – showbusiness will keep them in gainful employment.
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