My life with 'Bilko' - a daughter's memories

The BFI London has a new cocktail, the Jenny Piccolo, named after the boy-crazy teenager in Happy Days. It's probably not a huge money-spinner given that the ingredients are crushed mint, lemon juice, ice and sparkling water. But it's the creation, and tipple of choice, of Cathy Silvers, who played Piccolo in the hit comedy for three years and is the daughter of legendary comedian and Sgt Bilko star Phil Silvers. Her London visit is primarily to speak at a BFI tribute to her father, who died in 1985, marking the launch of The Phil Silvers Show DVD box-set, showcasing his bravura performance as the scheming master sergeant on a US military base.

"Dad loved London," she recalls. "He loved being here, he loved the people. He was an incredibly intellectual man and was appreciative of the wonderful Brit sense of humour. I wouldn't have missed it."

Silvers - one of the comedian's five daughters - is wearing a long black dress, slashed to the knee, which is teamed bizarrely with army boots. But they are not any old military footwear but the ones she wore in the 1996 film starring Steve Martin in the Bilko role. She played First Lieutenant Monday and sitting around with co-stars Martin, Dan Ackroyd, Phil Hartman and Chris Rock was reminiscent of her childhood.

She grew up in the family's Beverly Hills home, where neighbours included Lucille Ball and Milton Berle. Johnny Carson's son, Jim, was her best friend. Her father was often away working. "We had lots of nannies," she remembers. "Dad would come and go between shows. I didn't see him that much.

"When we did go to dinner he was mobbed. We tried to go to special places where we knew we could be a little private, but then all his friends were there - Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra. Everyone would pour in and I would hear these phenomenal stories."

One story Phil Silvers told his Rat Pack friends was how, as a child of eight, he had witnessed a Jewish gangland killing in his native Brooklyn. "Dad had begun singing in the breaks in the silent films in the movie theatres and had got quite a name for himself. He was asked to sing at a just-sprung murderer's party. The guy was called Little Doggie, because he would crawl around on hands and knees and bite people.

"Just as dad got up sing, these two guys came in and shot Little Doggie dead at his feet. Dad jumped over the body and ran home. But not before he said, 'Will I get still get paid?'

"At that time and in that area, that was where the Jewish mob was formed. Dad was known as the comedian and the big guys told people to leave him alone. He used his humour and it probably saved his life."

From the first show in 1955, Bilko was as popular in the UK as it was in the States - where it won three consecutive Emmys - with the BBC re-running the 140-odd episodes until 2004.

Silvers says that "he was a great ad-libber and eventually the writers would leave gaps in the script purposely. Dad told us that when they were filming, the cameramen would laugh so much that the writers used to come down and help steady the dollies [mounts]."

The show was also a breakthrough for the portrayal of racial integration on prime-time TV. "The producers told dad it would be an all-white cast. Dad said, "Fine, then I won't be doing the show. At that time the armed forces had loads of black guys and dad knew it wouldn't be realistic to do it without that."

An avowed Anglophile, her father was aware of the show's devoted following here and used to "put in Anglicisms just for the British audience".

But there was a darker side. Phil Silvers had a reputation as an inveterate gambler, once losing his week's earnings in Las Vegas on the first night of his run. "It greatly affected him and his relationship with his wife and children," his daughter concedes. Having seen the dangers of addiction at first hand, she gave up drinking 15 years ago, using the 12 step programme with Alcoholics Anonymous. He was also a largely absent father after her parents divorced when she was five. Yet she speaks of him with fondness and is passionate about keeping the legend alive.

As Bilko pre-dated her birth, Silvers watched the repeat broadcasts growing up - and indeed still does. Her favourite episode? "The Court Martial, where Bilko recruits a chimp into the platoon and then has to court martial him. He was worried that it wouldn't look plausible but it was probably the funniest episode ever."

Although her father was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Silvers did not learn anything of her heritage until university. Her mother was the non-Jewish actress, Evelyn Patrick, and her parents had agreed that if they had boys, "dad would take them to temple and if girls, mom would take them to church.

"My first class at university was history and I studied ancient civilisations and the Jews because I always felt cheated that I didn't have a history and understanding of Judaism. I fell in love with a Jewish man when I was young - you know that time when you think it will be forever - and I thought I would marry him and have that Jewish lifestyle. But I ended up marrying a doctor down the road, who was Presbyterian."

That ended after nine years. She married entertainment lawyer David Fullmer in 2001 and they have five children, the eldest of whom, Lily and Alexander, joined her in London for the DVD launch. These days she has her own internet based TV programme, The Healthy Living Show, and advises private clients on healthy lifestyles.

"When I met David, I had to make a decision to stay at home. Prior to him I was working. I did many sitcoms. I got into the health business about seven years ago. which I can do from home."

Her career had taken off after she was spotted in a college production by Dudley Moore, a family friend, who recommended her to his agents ICM, who put her up for the role in Happy Days.

"It was fantastic, the best work experience of my life. I'm still friends with lots of the cast and, of course, the best part is I got to work with my dad." That was in an episode where Phil Silvers played her fictional father.

His appearance came as a surprise, as he had not told her he had been cast. "Everyone just stopped still. The writers were on their knees. He was their idol.

"My dad, who was the greatest comedian to have lived, played my dad in the greatest comedy show next to his show. It was like a twilight zone but totally wonderful."