Suffolk's Charlie Haylock has joined thousands of students to receive a degree from his home county's university.
Charlie, who taught Ralph Fiennes to speak "Proper Suffolk" for his role in the film The Dig, was awarded an honorary degree to mark his role in keeping the county's dialect alive.
The graduation came just days before Charlie celebrates his 77th birthday on Saturday - and after the event he confirmed he might be winding down a bit during the months and years ahead!
After getting his degree Charlie had his fellow students, their families and university staff in stitches as he talked to them about the many meanings of the word up!
After the event he said: “I’m very honoured, overwhelmed, privileged, and have a feeling of both humble and very proud.
"Lots of famous people have had this award, and because lots of famous people have had this award I feel very humble that my name is now amongst them.
"It’s lovely to know that what I have done has been recognised.”
He was delighted to have received his degree alongside English students: "In all my talks and all my books I have tried to demonstrate the richness of the Suffolk dialect and the richness of the English language, and I demonstrated that in my acceptance speech.”
But with his birthday approaching he was planning to wind down a bit: “I’m gradually retiring. I think today really, it is nice to be recognised for what I did, and I know my books have been bestsellers.
"I was on a certain level – BBC Radio Suffolk, regular articles in the East Anglian Daily Times, cartoons in the East Anglian Daily Times.
"Then Ralph Fiennes asked me to be his Suffolk dialect coach on the Netflix film The Dig, and that has taken off.
"I have taken over 170 bookings to talk about The Dig and how for the first time ever we have had a Suffolk accent on the big screen – it’s never been done before. I think that was the catalyst which is why I am sitting here today."
He was particularly proud of his work on The Dig: "The first time I met Ralph Fiennes I told him that we were going to struggle to do a Suffolk accent, and he was surprised.
"I said, all you actors whether it be the big screen, television or radio, if you try and do a Suffolk accent you end up west of Swindon with a touch of Long John Silver and I gave him some examples. I am very proud of what I achieved with The Dig, and so are Suffolk people."
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