On 23 February l937 a small boy of seven arrives at Victoria station, London. Here he is met, as arranged, by his uncle, a man he has never seen before though he has heard an intriguing plenty about him – that he is very amusing and also famous, a national hero. The boy doesn’t understand his own present situation. Why has he had to come to this distant foreign country and undergo an immediate name-change, from Andrei to Andrew? Why did his father, who travelled with him for a whole fatiguing week across Europe from Romania, abandon him in Paris, rather than accompany him to London himself? Why did he have no proper leave-taking with his mother, that affectionate, devout woman, mysteriously referred to in some quarters as the ‘Debt-Collector’s daughter’? Answers to these questions are not to be given him for many years, and comprehension of the dreadful realities behind them won’t come until adulthood. But one thing about his new life is clear to him that first evening in England. Being taken care of by his uncle will bring nothing but happiness. Uncle Rudolf, his father’s brother (and earlier unrequitedly in love with Andrew’s mother) is every bit as remarkable as reports have made out, and is, quite transparently, a good man as well as a celebrity.
Rudolf Peterson (formerly Rudi Petrescu) enjoys fame as an operetta star, but it is an ambivalent enjoyment (the fame itself being as solid as that state can ever be). His tenor voice, later to be captured for eternity on the Golden Age label, is matched by good looks, and brings romance to thousands. His rewards include good money, offers from Hollywood, and knickers in the post from love-struck female fans.
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