General, Historical, Scotland

My Dad’s reunion with Eric Liddell

Joe Biden gave a nod to the film Chariots of Fire, in his first address as president-elect, in January 2021 – “Now, together, on eagle’s wings,” Biden told the crowd in Delaware, “we embark on the work that God and history have called us to do.” This line, via Isaiah 40, mirrors the climax of Liddell’s sermon in the film: “They that wait upon the Lord … shall mount up with wings as eagles.” (1)

Eric Liddell (scotland) and Harold Abrahams (england) 1922

When I read the content of President Biden’s first address as president-elect and saw his quotation from the Eric Liddell and Harold Abraham biographical film Chariots of Fire 1981, my mind went back to a nostalgic visit to the cinema I had with my father, just after its release at the Dominion Cinema in Edinburgh.

Alexander Mallas Jones (my father)

During the opening sequence of the film my Dad whispered to me, ‘I don’t recognise Eric there, although there’s a chap in in the middle of the group that might be him’!

And when Ian Charleson did his impression of Liddell, my father said ‘That’s how he used to finish though!’

How could he possibly recognise Ian Charleson, he had never met him? However, it was a link we both shared. Each of us had known one of the principal heroes.

Eric Liddle
Ian Charleson who acted in the film as Eric Liddell

My father, under the watchful eye of their coach Tom MacKerchar, – who is not mentioned in the film – trained with Eric Liddell and remarkably some 40 odd years later, in 1962 when I competed for Great Britain in the Decathlon, my first team manager was Harold Abrahams.

Harold Abrahams as I knew him.
Me, Jack Jones at the front of this group of GB & NI athletes. (note Mary Peters 3rd from left – Olympic Gold Medalist in Pentathlon 1972)

 As I got to know Harold Abrahams, when we travelled together around the country to athletic meetings, we discussed the merits of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas – it turned out his wife was a member of the Doyle Carte Opera Company.

Sybil Marjorie Evers was an English singer and actress. She performed in operettas, operas and plays in London from the early 1920s through the late 1930s, including on BBC radio and television. She married Olympic champion runner Harold Abrahams.

Further relevant information:

Wikipedia search on Eric Liddell:

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run in the heats for his favoured 100 metres because they were held on a Sunday. Instead he competed in the 400 metres held on a weekday, a race that he won. He returned to China in 1925 to serve as a missionary teacher. Aside from two furloughs in Scotland, he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945.

Liddell’s Olympic training and racing, and the religious convictions that influenced him, are depicted in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which he is portrayed by fellow Scot Ian Charleson.

16 thoughts on “My Dad’s reunion with Eric Liddell”

  1. Amazing story, the film or should I say the achievements of Liddell and Abrahams have been an inspiration to me for years 😀😀

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  3. Wonderful post, Johnny. It is so special how your father met up with Liddell
    In the film Chariot if fire. He didn’t look the same but he said the same.

    I also heard the speech by the now President Biden and was so touch by
    those lines that form part of you ur post. On the wings of Eagles…..

    Nice to learn what you been up to, a super runner! I love watching good runners, they fly like on wings. Just barely touch the Earth. It seems. 😊 .

    miriam

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  6. Interesting stuff Johnny! Did you know that Charleston’s double in Chariots of Fire was our Best Man Alan G.B. Lorimer who did some of the running scenes including some at Goldenacre where the international was staged. All we get to see of Alan in the actual film was a rear view of him going round a bend though the eagle-eyed might note that “Liddell” had more of a triple jumper’s posterior than in some other shots?!
    Dark haired Alan (yes still though grey streaks might be observed!) was living in Portobello at the time of filming and arrived at our door with his hair dyed canary-yellow!

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    1. Good to hear from you Sandy, I hope all is well with you and your good lady wife.

      I well remember Alan and had no idea of his either being your best man or his film star status.

      I am still hoping to hold the next Octavian lunch later in the year at the same venue, but until things are more settled that is all I can do.

      All the best to both of you.

      Johnny/Jack/John Jones

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