Bernard Cribbins and T.H. White

There was an unexpected detail in the fine tribute to Bernard Cribbins that Russell T. Davies wrote:

He knew everyone! He'd talk about the Beatles and David Niven, and how he once sat on the stairs at a party impersonating bird calls with T H White. Then he'd add, "I said to Ashley Banjo last week…"

It's hard to imagine the reclusive White as a fixture at showbiz parties. This encounter must have taken place after the musical Camelot was made from his sequence of novels The Once and Future King and he was taken up by Julie Andrews.