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Castaway
1 appearance
British TV actress best known for playing Sharon in the sitcom 'Birds of a Feather' and for starring in 'The Sculptress'.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:30But being normal, as I understand it from everything I've read about you, being ordinary, it's something that you bend over backwards to stress, isn't it?
I haven't got an ordinary job. I understand that. When I go out shopping people obviously recognise me and what have you, but at the end of the day you don't think in every waking moment of that, Oh yes, I'm famous, I'm on television, because I know, you still get your ass worked
Presenter asks
2:29How different are you from Sharon in Birds of a Feather?
Sharon's always got the quick one liners and what have you, and obviously she has because there's a team of writers that have given them. I'm one of these people that after something's happened think, Oh, I wish I'd said that, that'd been really funny if I said that. I'm not as as quick witted as As Sharon is. I think Sharon's much more out of the two girls, out of Sharon and Tracy. Sharon's the more assertive one. I don't think I'm like that.
Presenter asks
6:10How did you do the fat suit for The Sculptress and how long did it take?
Well, they made a suit for me that was basically there was a there was a body double who worked on the sculptress with me that did um a lot of the stand-in stuff. And they made a plaster cast of my body, which is a fairly unusual experience. I turned up one morning and they put this uh body stocking on you. You're in your your underwear. You wear this body stocking, then they cover you with cream. Three gentlemen who I'd never met before that morning um cover you with cream and then they start putting these plaster of Paris strips on you and you stand there and it hardens and then after about an hour they crack you open. But then there's sort of silicon and latex. The the actual bodysuit is foam. And then the chest part was kind of this latex rubber that kind of gave the weight of the chest. And then you just plop that on of a morning. And be glad to get it off at the end of the day, really. Uncomfortable. Well, it it weighed about twelve, thirteen pounds and It did start to become uncomfortable because the weight was all hanging from the shoulders. So putting that on every morning after a while, yeah, it does tend to bear down. 'Cause she had an enormous kind of bosom. That developed into a belly that developed into thighs. And it ma what was wonderful is it makes you walk in a different way, it makes you breathe in a different way. And and Olive, the character of Olive, uses her size to intimidate people. She knew that it had an effect on people that they wanted to keep out of her way, and that's how she used that kind of Hugeness.
The book
Bob Monkhouse
I read it recently and I've read it since again. It's not many books that I've read twice, but it's just a very honest, warm book. There's a lot of nastiness about it, not particularly in show business, but it can be fairly cutthroat. And what comes out of that book is a very genuine, sincere man. And it just made me happy. It makes me laugh. It made me cry with laughter, some of the stories in it.
The luxury
I'm a r I just have to keep washing my hair. I wash my hair twice a day probably. So shampoo, very um Very basic, but shampoo, I couldn't bear my hair to be dirty, that'd drive me mad.
Presenter asks
9:46What was special about Anna Scher's drama club?
It was all improvisation. I mean the lessons would start and then they'd be given, say, the beginning of an argument. Anna would say the first sentence, which could be, oh, I didn't say you could borrow that, or what have you. And then from that, the kids would just work around it. And it just I think it gave kids confidence. It wasn't expensive. I mean, it was, I think, fifteen pence or something a lesson. So it wasn't a drama school. You went there after school and it was a club twice a week, Monday and Wednesday. And then as we got older, we'd go on Friday, which is the professional group. And it was fun, and it wasn't about children wanting to be famous or to be on tele. It was a club, and if you happen to get a job on television from that, so be it.
Presenter asks
19:38You must have analysed the success of Birds of a Feather before now. What do you think it is?
Well originally when the first ever episode went out I mean there were lots of complaints apparently the next day about the language and and what have you and that kind of drifted away by the time. Well it's because the sisters had a sex aid party I think. That's it could have had something to do with that yes and there was mention of marigolds and yoghurts and what have you but it was because it was new and also same thing again. I think it was women being fairly you know risque and saucy but I always thought that that birds was kind of I don't know like the seaside postcards. It's basically there's a lot of stuff there that is innuendo but I'd never be worried about Emily watching it or or anything like that.
Presenter asks
31:08What do you still want to achieve professionally?
I love the fact that you never know what's going to happen next. I mean sculptress kind of came from nowhere and it was incredible and I loved doing it. The thing I love to do is just different stuff, good quality different stuff. I love doing radio as well. I love doing radio plays. they're really interesting and you feel that at the end of the day, cool, yeah, I really enjoyed that. It's the luxury that I've got with with my job really. I'm not working all the time, nine to five. I'm able to be at home with the children. I'm able to be there most of the time. And then if I have got a long stint away, then I'll just make sure that they're they're with me. So whatever comes along next that I'm going to enjoy doing and hopefully can make a good job of really.
“I haven't got an ordinary job. I understand that. When I go out shopping people obviously recognise me and what have you, but at the end of the day you don't think in every waking moment of that, Oh yes, I'm famous, I'm on television, because I know, you still get your ass worked”
“It was all improvisation. I mean the lessons would start and then they'd be given, say, the beginning of an argument. Anna would say the first sentence, which could be, oh, I didn't say you could borrow that, or what have you. And then from that, the kids would just work around it. And it just I think it gave kids confidence.”
“Mummy was early morning cleaner. She used to do that. I mean, before that she'd done catering and stuff and But she used to do early morning cleaning. Yeah, she was always there. When I came home from school, my mum was always there, always had been. There was no keys. Mum was always there. She must have worked very hard to keep it.”
“She was my best friend and she was also and still is she is my my hero. She was just the most incredibly wonderful, warm, loving person. And whenever I hear this song it just sums up mummy for me.”
“I love the fact that you never know what's going to happen next. I mean sculptress kind of came from nowhere and it was incredible and I loved doing it. The thing I love to do is just different stuff, good quality different stuff.”