Cliff Richard 

Four Reports Of A Violent Assault

On September 26th 1996, at least four British newspapers published a report of a violent assault by Cliff Richard on the actor, Jimmy Johnston. 

The Daily Mirror report was the first that I became aware of - it was credited to Anton Antonowicz, and was highlighted as an 'EXCLUSIVE'. Their editor at that time was Piers Morgan and he would probably have been the one ultimately responsible for the big, bold heading: 'BIFF RICHARD', and sub-heading: 'Stage fight star breaks actor's nose' that appeared above the text of Mr.Antonowicz's report, the first of these - a silly, moronic pun on Cliff Richard's name - likely to have substantially undermined the seriousness with which readers would consider the actual, reported details of the attack. As Leonard W. Doob, in his 1935 book 'Propaganda' wrote (emphasis mine):

'..The importance of a headline, moreover, is due to the fact that it evokes within the reader a definite attitude toward the article before he has read a single line. In general, it may give a concise but relatively accurate summary of an article; a summary that is objectively false; the suggestion of an opinion that will arouse an attitude; or additional information or an opinion that is not contained in the article itself. Since any headline will arouse some kind of an attitude in most people, any one of these devices may cause an individual to read a particular article.. through the arousal of auxiliary attitudes.. Unfortunately many Americans are only headline readers; and so their entire impression of the content of an article will be derived from this inadequate source...' 

I found another version of the Daily Mirror report on British Newspaper Archive - presumably from another edition - which did not have the claim to be an exclusive. It also had a different caption for the small accompanying image of Cliff Richard, and the amount of content in the piece had been edited down somewhat.

Also, on British Newspaper Archive I found three further newspaper reports of the assault: Daily Record - main heading and sub-heading 'SIR BIFF RICHARD!' and 'He wallops actor on Heathcliff set'... Gloucestershire Echo - 'Cliff in fist fight'... Sandwell Evening Mail - 'Cliff clobber'.

Here are some basic details of the four different newspaper reports, followed by the complete text of the first Daily Mirror one, without the headings and image/caption:

Daily Mirror: 

Referred to Jimmy Johnston having had a  '..bashed nose, a gashed eye needing two stitches and a sprained ankle...' after the attack.

Quoted this Cliff Richard comment - "As I was smashing Jimmy's head I suddenly realised I was quite enjoying it..."

Quoted Mark Borkowski - "..A doctor was called to patch up his nose and bandage his leg. He also gave Jimmy a tetanus jab because of the dirty floor..."

Daily Record:

'..a cut eye, broken nose and sprained ankle...'

'..a doctor had to be called into the rehearsals to give him stitches, bandage his leg and patch up his nose...'

Gloucestershire Echo:

'..a broken nose, a cut eye needing two stitches and a sprained ankle...'

Sandwell Evening Mail:

'CLIFF Richard accidentally hit a co-star in the face rehearsing a fight scene for his new musical Heathcliff, to be launched at the National Indoor Arena on October 16. Jimmy Johnston, who plays love rival Edgar, had to have stitches in a gash over his eye and also had a bruised nose and sprained ankle.'

Daily Mirror

'CLIFF Richard belted out a new smash hit - and broke a fellow star's nose with his flying fists.

Showbiz's Mr Nice Guy finally turned nasty while staging a fight scene with actor Jimmy Johnston for Cliff's musical Heathcliff.

Asked for "more realism," the 55-year-old singer shocked even himself by wading in with a vengeance.

Stunned Jimmy, who was sent reeling backwards over a chair, ended up with a bashed nose, a gashed eye needing two stitches and a sprained ankle.

And yesterday Sir Cliff, sporting a beard for his stage role, said: "As I was smashing Jimmy's head I suddenly realised I was quite enjoying it. It terrified me. I'd lost it completely. I just stood there shocked."

Jimmy - who plays Heathcliff's love rival, Edgar - said: "Cliff was coming at me like a prize-fighter. If his neck were thicker, you'd swear he was Mike Tyson...

"I'm feeling pretty bruised and my nose still hurts. Hopefully, there won't be a re-match."

Show spokesman Mark Borkowski was amazed at Sir Cliff's dramatic display at Ealing Studios.

He said: "Everyone went into a state of shock.

"Poor Jimmy went flying. A doctor was called to patch up his nose and bandage his leg. He also gave Jimmy a tetanus jab because of the dirty floor.

"It's not the kind of thing you'd expect Cliff to be involved in. But he's very passionate about the role. Certainly there are no tensions between the two men. Maybe, Cliff mistook Jimmy for a critic!"

Derek Ware, the show's fight director, said: "We were aiming for realism - and we certainly got it."

Heathcliff - to be launched at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on October 16 - has already raked in more than £5million advance sales with 250,000 tickets sold.

Last week, touts were offering £49 seats at £500.'