Larry Lamb hasn’t seen his daughter for over 46 years.
The former ‘Gavin & Stacey’ star welcomed a little girl named Vanessa into the world in 1969 with his then-wife Anita H. Wisbey, whom he met at the age of 20 when he was working abroad, but he’s only ever seen the brunette beauty once.
He explained: "Anita remarried when Vanessa was three. So I wasn’t included because she had a stepdad. I don’t even know if she knows I’m her father."
The 69-year-old star would love to have a reunion with his daughter in the near future but he doesn’t want to reach out to her first in case she wants nothing to do with him.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: "I don’t know if Vanessa and I will meet up some day. It’s not for me to go delving into her life. But the thought that she might have already made me a grandfather has often crossed my mind.
"Her birthday is so close to mine that every year I think, ‘She’s another year older.’ "
The ex-‘EastEnders’ actor met Anita at a christening in 1968 – when he was 20 and she was 25 – but she accidentally fell pregnant and he urged her to have an abortion.
She refused to get rid of her baby and Larry agreed to marry her in a split-second decision as she was about to get on her train from Frankfurt, Germany, to England.
He explained: "Of all the things in the world I didn’t want, I certainly didn’t want to be married. But it seemed the right thing to do."
The then-couple tied the knot at a register office in Wood Green, North London, and Anita agreed to move to Germany to be with Larry.
However, their marriage didn’t work out and Vanessa moved back to England to have her baby.
Larry – who found out about the birth of his little girl by his father – met his daughter once when she was seven months old when he returned home for a flying visit.
He said: "I sat for an hour with this little piece of me in my arms. My guilt, my sadness, my fears all turned over. I knew that this tiny being was there because her mum wanted her there. I’d made my decision and I’d walked away. I’ve never set eyes on my daughter since that day but I’ve never forgotten that hour I spent with her."
Larry went on to wed Linda E. Martin, with whom he has 36-year-old son George, but their marriage didn’t work out either and they divorced in 1996.
He is now in a relationship with Clare Burt, whom he’s been dating since 1996, and has two daughters Eloise, 17, and 13-year-old Eva.
He said: "I’m the partner of someone only a year or so older than my long-lost first daughter. That’s the price for taking more than 40 years to get it right."
Larry Lamb hasn’t seen daughter for 46 years
