Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Actress known for nuanced Northern mum roles, then starred in the film The Mother, and later in the TV hit Last Tango in Halifax.
On the island
Eight records
she changed my life because after my husband died in nineteen eighty one I didn't know which direction my life was going.
Every time I hear it, I can't believe it.
this makes me think of the sea and the stars and dancing with my father on the roof.
I love this so much I play it over and over and over again.
this guitar seems to talk, and it's like saying I love you and thank you and it's just been wonderful having you for my son.
I find it really hard to talk about you without sounding as if I'm in love with you.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:29Your career has taken off in the last ten to fifteen years, which is the wrong way round. Do you think it's the right way round?
No, I think it's the right way round, actually. I didn't have huge stardom, you know, like movies and things like that when I was young. And so things have just got better and better, and it's wonderful.
Presenter asks
6:13Does it take a whole load of confidence to get up and do cabaret?
Other people Oh, I love it and I can wear what I like. You see, I don't have to wear all those awful skirts and jumpers. I have a very sparkly dresses.
Presenter asks
6:38Has it annoyed you over the years to be bundled into terryline trousers and aprons?
Oh. Yeah. And I with it always being below stairs. No, well, you know, I worked. I'm a jobbing actress and so I'm very, very lucky because I just have worked. Yeah. Yeah.
The keepsakes
The book
The Complete Works of George and Ira Gershwin
George and Ira Gershwin
I don't know whether I'm allowed this. Because it goes with my luxury. But I want the complete works of [Ira] Gershwin, which is a music book.
The luxury
My luxury is a piano. You see, and then I could sit there and I could learn the songs. I could learn to play them. I might learn to play Rhapsody in Blue.
Presenter asks
As a little girl, didn't you ever wonder why your mother was thousands of miles away and you were on your own?
No, I never felt on my own. But I think it stood me in quite good stead. I think this is really why, if you want honestly, I've never remarried. I think basically I'm a loner. I'm quite surprised I ever got married in the first place, but I think I am, really basically, a loner, and I think that comes from my childhood. You know, we didn't analyse things then people didn't analyse themselves. It's only now. I think why am I like this?
Presenter asks
13:48Do you like the temporary nature of acting jobs?
I love meeting lots of different people and I love the fun of not knowing who you're going to be with in six months' time. I hate the idea of knowing where I'll be in a year. And I I think acting becomes an addiction. Having said I really didn't want to do it, once you've done it, it's like alcohol. You think, Oh my gosh, I really need more.
Presenter asks
20:23What was the impact on you of caring for your husband and your mother while bringing up your son?
It was very, very difficult. I don't want to be gloomy about it, but one day I was in the garden and I was crying in the hedge. I don't know whether I should tell this really. But and the lady came up in the next house and said, Anne, you can't be a good mother and a good daughter and a good wife all at the same time. It's and I I did feel stretched very thin, you know. I don't want to be self-pitying at all,'cause I've I'm so lucky I've had the most wonderful life.
“I didn't have huge stardom, you know, like movies and things like that when I was young. And so things have just got better and better, and it's wonderful.”
“I'm seventy eight now. I I thought I would be really ready and a different person. And it it absolutely hasn't happened. I s in my head I'm still about forty-three.”
“I think basically I'm a loner. I'm quite surprised I ever got married in the first place, but I think I am, really basically, a loner, and I think that comes from my childhood.”
“I was in the garden and I was crying in the hedge. I don't know whether I should tell this really. But and the lady came up in the next house and said, Anne, you can't be a good mother and a good daughter and a good wife all at the same time. It's and I I did feel stretched very thin, you know.”
“I said to my son, he'll hate me saying this, but this guitar seems to talk, and it's like saying I love you and thank you and it's just been wonderful having you for my son.”