I played with Sir Winston Churchill in a lift by myself when I was four years old.

I made a record with a band called The Insects when I was 13 years old. It was terrible.

At 25, I was invited to lunch at the classic Hollywood haunt, Chasen’s in Los Angeles. My host was a well-known producer. As we entered, the Maître D’ came up to my host to say Frank Sinatra was having a birthday lunch and extended an invitation for him and his guest to join his party. My host advised me to be cool and not to fawn or be star-struck. Mr. Sinatra was the epitome of graciousness and introduced himself, his wife Barbara Marx, and the long table of famous people. The last person was a bald gentleman who resembled Mr. Magoo. “Last but not least Mark, this is Max Factor.” I lost it. “Max Factor,” I cried out. “There’s a Max Factor?!” Mr. Sinatra turned to my host. “Who is this Limey who doesn’t blink at a table full of Hollywood royalty but freaks out at meeting Max Factor?”

One morning I showed up to work at Jim Henson’s house, which doubled as our office, and found a man sitting with his feet up on my desk. I assumed he was Jim’s driver and asked him to take his feet off and wait outside. Jim then came into the room and said he was not going to the studio and did not need a driver. “The chauffeur” was actually Steven Spielberg, who had come for a meeting. Spielberg had the last laugh, though. Six months later, while queueing outside the Beverly Hills Hotel valet parking, he leaned over to ask if he could give me a lift — and whether he should wear his chauffeur’s hat.

I have scuba-dived since I obtained a licence at 16. My teachers were the crew of Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso during their downtime. Many years later, I did a show with him and John Denver in Moscow.

One of my greatest passions is cooking. I love to host dinner parties and be with friends.

I have dual nationality, UK and Swiss, speaking fluent French and some German and Italian. My first TV series, Crossbow — 72 action half-hours — was about the adventures of William Tell, a nod to my ancestry.

I am allergic to wool!

I have been fortunate enough to visit 120 countries. However, I still want to see Antarctica.