Acting
When I left school I went to the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art against the will of my solicitor father who favoured Mrs. Hoster’s Secretarial College.
I spent two very happy years there learning to fence, faint, slap faces,
breathe, project, weep, laugh hysterically and all the other skills that an actor needs. I played a variety of parts in the end-of-term shows and also wrote sketches and plays for my friends which we produced ourselves.
One of my first professional jobs was at the Intimate Theatre, High Wycombe, which was struggling to survive. While there I co-wrote (with John Chitty) a revue designed to save the theatre, but which actually closed it.
I spent two very happy years there learning to fence, faint, slap faces,
breathe, project, weep, laugh hysterically and all the other skills that an actor needs. I played a variety of parts in the end-of-term shows and also wrote sketches and plays for my friends which we produced ourselves.
One of my first professional jobs was at the Intimate Theatre, High Wycombe, which was struggling to survive. While there I co-wrote (with John Chitty) a revue designed to save the theatre, but which actually closed it.
Repertory seasons followed at the Palace Theatre, Watford (run by Jimmy Perry, of Dad’s Army fame) and the then prestigious Connaught Theatre, Worthing which tried out new plays as well as the old chestnuts.
'Doctor In The House' - Palace Theatre, Watford with John Clegg, John Newbury, Jimmy Perry and Valerie Newbold
Eliza in 'Pygmalion' - Connaught Theatre, Worthing
It was while I was at the Connaught Theatre that I met Ted (later Lord) Willis who I was to meet again when I was an officer of The Writers' Guild of which he was President.
Disturbed school girl in Ted Willis' play 'Farewell Yesterday' - Connaught Theatre, Worthing
My work at Worthing led to jobs in television where I worked with Arthur
Askey, Robert Morley, Beryl Reid, Jimmy Edwards, Ronnie Barker and Phyllis Calvert amongst others.
Askey, Robert Morley, Beryl Reid, Jimmy Edwards, Ronnie Barker and Phyllis Calvert amongst others.
I also appeared in several second feature films playing, as I did in television, an assortment of nurses, air-hostesses, dreary daughters, gangsters molls and French maids, the fodder for young actresses in those days.
These low-budget films were made in about a fortnight and the same pool of actors tended to appear in them. They provided a cinematic equivalent of weekly rep and were a valuable starting ground for writers as well as actors.
These low-budget films were made in about a fortnight and the same pool of actors tended to appear in them. They provided a cinematic equivalent of weekly rep and were a valuable starting ground for writers as well as actors.
'The Trunk' with Phil Carey
'Richard The Lionheart' with Dermot Walsh
In 1962 I was cast as one of the juveniles in the comedy “Goodnight Mrs. Puffin” which starred Irene Handl and ran for eighteen months in the West End.
Although I was on stage most of the time my part consisted of about twenty speeches, most of which were “Oh Mummy, don’t upset yourself,” or “Oh Mummy, please keep calm.” It was then I decided that my mission in life would be to write challenging parts for women.
During the run I had time in the day to do some writing. My first sales were sketches for BBC radio’s “Monday Night at Home” presented by Basil Boothroyd of 'Punch'.
I also wrote and submitted a radio play with no idea about the
technique of radio writing. It was turned down. However, they thought I was worth encouraging, so I was summoned to the Script Department where I was given advice about writing radio drama. This included the warning, “Never write more than two women in a scene. They catch each other's tone.”
I went away and wrote a play, set in an old people's home, with a cast of six women and one man. They bought it.
Acting credits
Theatre
Seasons at Intimate Theatre, High Wycombe (1958); Palace Theatre, Watford (1958-59); Connaught Theatre, Worthing. (1959-60)
Appearances at Richmond Theatre and Theatre Royal, Lowestoft. (1960/61)
Tour of new play “Never Say Die” (1960)
Tour and West End: “Goodnight, Mrs. Puffin” (1961/62)
Television
Little Women (BBC, Children's) - (1958)
The Mad O’Haras (BBC Childrens’) - (1958)
Dixon of Dock Green (BBC) - (1959/60)
The Voodoo Factor (ATV) - (1960)
Garry Halliday (BBC Children's) - (1960)
Playbox (BBC Childrens’) - (1960)
Arthur Askey’s Treasured Volumes (AR) - (1960)
A Life of Bliss (BBC) - (1960)
Comedy Playhouse (BBC) - (1963)
Bold as Brass (BBC) - (1964)
The Valiant Varneys (BBC) - (1964)
Sergeant Cork (BBC) – (1964)
Red Sky in the Morning (STV) – (1964)
Appearances on “Late Night Line Up”, “Call My Bluff” etc.
Films
Some Like it Cool (Michael Winner) - (1961)
Richard the Lionheart (Danziger Films) - (1961)
The Gentle Terror (Butcher Films) - (1963)
The Trunk (Donovan Winter) - (1963)
Evidence in Concrete (Edgar Lustgarten’s "Casebook") – (1964)
....and others of which I have no record.
Radio
Wednesday Caller (Afternoon Theatre) – (1964)
Destination Fire (serial) - (1965)
Dear Girls (serial) – (1965)
Regular broadcasts for Light Programme’s “Roundabout” as Penny Worth, a comic character I invented and played.
____
I gave up acting in 1965 when I started writing full-time.
I also wrote and submitted a radio play with no idea about the
technique of radio writing. It was turned down. However, they thought I was worth encouraging, so I was summoned to the Script Department where I was given advice about writing radio drama. This included the warning, “Never write more than two women in a scene. They catch each other's tone.”
I went away and wrote a play, set in an old people's home, with a cast of six women and one man. They bought it.
Acting credits
Theatre
Seasons at Intimate Theatre, High Wycombe (1958); Palace Theatre, Watford (1958-59); Connaught Theatre, Worthing. (1959-60)
Appearances at Richmond Theatre and Theatre Royal, Lowestoft. (1960/61)
Tour of new play “Never Say Die” (1960)
Tour and West End: “Goodnight, Mrs. Puffin” (1961/62)
Television
Little Women (BBC, Children's) - (1958)
The Mad O’Haras (BBC Childrens’) - (1958)
Dixon of Dock Green (BBC) - (1959/60)
The Voodoo Factor (ATV) - (1960)
Garry Halliday (BBC Children's) - (1960)
Playbox (BBC Childrens’) - (1960)
Arthur Askey’s Treasured Volumes (AR) - (1960)
A Life of Bliss (BBC) - (1960)
Comedy Playhouse (BBC) - (1963)
Bold as Brass (BBC) - (1964)
The Valiant Varneys (BBC) - (1964)
Sergeant Cork (BBC) – (1964)
Red Sky in the Morning (STV) – (1964)
Appearances on “Late Night Line Up”, “Call My Bluff” etc.
Films
Some Like it Cool (Michael Winner) - (1961)
Richard the Lionheart (Danziger Films) - (1961)
The Gentle Terror (Butcher Films) - (1963)
The Trunk (Donovan Winter) - (1963)
Evidence in Concrete (Edgar Lustgarten’s "Casebook") – (1964)
....and others of which I have no record.
Radio
Wednesday Caller (Afternoon Theatre) – (1964)
Destination Fire (serial) - (1965)
Dear Girls (serial) – (1965)
Regular broadcasts for Light Programme’s “Roundabout” as Penny Worth, a comic character I invented and played.
____
I gave up acting in 1965 when I started writing full-time.
