Linda Lusardi's Very Special Birthday Present

« previous

“My next scene was a big dialogue that goes on for twenty minutes and at the end of it he ends up going for my throat. Not at all like My Fair Lady, it's much heavier, and the funny thing was that Philip did the whole scene with the script in his hand. I was so new to the business that I just had to keep telling myself to pretend I was still in the rehearsal room, and just carry on.

“I got wonderful reviews and they just slated poor Philip for stumbling over the lines. It had never happened to him before, and fortunately it's never happened since.”

Sam recalls Philip's contribution to Linda's This is Your Life. “They were telling me what incidents had happened, and I thought that Philip would never turn up in a million years, but he was fantastic. He went on last - top of the bill at the end of the show - and he told that story. I thought it was wonderful.”

This is your life

“It was the Christmas This is Your Life,” says Linda. “They surprised me on stage where I was playing the wicked queen. They kept the audience and everything. Lionel Blair was talking to the audience, as he always did, and then he said that we had a special guest. That was when Michael Aspel came on.

I knew it was somebody's This is Your Life. I looked at Lionel and thought it couldn't be him because he'd just introduced Michael… and he was looking at me! Sam had tears running from his eyes and I thought, Oh… it is me! Then I just burst into tears, thinking it doesn't happen to people like me. Then I thought that I hoped they hadn't got the kids out of bed, because Jack was only a baby and it was about ten o'clock by then.”

Both have had work commitments that have taken them away from home: Sam's long run with musical theatre and Linda's appearance on Channel 4's The Games. The Games was a big hit with the children, who were avid viewers. “Yes, they did watch it. One of the stipulations that I had was that I would be able to phone home at least once a day… I wasn't going to do it otherwise. I used to phone home about 8' o clock in the morning and the kids would say: 'Oh mummy you tried really hard!' and I'd say I was sorry I didn't win. They always said: 'Oh it doesn't matter - at least you tried'. So they loved it. I think it was half term week actually, so they sat down and watched it every night. They had their popcorn ready to cheer on Mummy.”

continued »

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9