Arnie Wilson started hunting down “big names” after being hired by a news agency to telephone titled people and charm them into divulging stories he would sell to Fleet Street gossip columns. But the 'celebrity' landscape was changing. Instead of targeting lords, baronets knights and their ladies, he was determined instead to find 'real' celebrities, persuading them with a combination of cheek, charm and chutzpah to divulge funny and intimate anecdotes for publication.