Mixed Fancies

Brenda Blethyn

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780743478069
• eBook ISBN: 9781849835640

Born in Ramsgate during the 1940s, Brenda Bottle was the youngest of nine in a poor but close family. She left school to work as a secretary for British Rail, where she met her husband. But by the age of twenty-seven, the marriage was over. Brenda left her job and with the little she had saved, enrolled at Guildford Drama School. And so her life as an actress began. One of Britain's best-loved actresses, Brenda Blethyn has dazzled in a vast number of roles, including her performances as downtrodden Cynthia in Mike Leigh's SECRETS AND LIES and as the man-eating Mari Hoff in LITTLE VOICE, for which she received Oscar nominations. On stage, television and film she has worked with our greatest writers and directors -- Alan Bennett, Tom Stoppard, Sam Mendes, Peter Hall -- and actors -- including Michael Caine, Jude Law, Julie Walters, Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor and John Hurt. Brenda is one of Britain's finest character actresses, famous for playing her roles with social realism and warmth, wit and humour -- characters her audience empathise with. She has the same warmth and humour off screen too; a wonderfully down-to-earth person with a fascinating history. Told with sparkling wit and engaging honesty, MIXED FANCIES is the compelling story of her journey from the Plains of Waterloo to the National Theatre and on to television, Hollywood and stardom.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Author Biography
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• 1 Life on the Plains
• 2 Keeping the Home Fires Burning
• 3 Esoteric Cogitations
• 4 Life at Pam's
• 5 Going to School
• 6 Pocket Money
• 7 'Hey Joe, say, where d'you get them fancy clothes?'
• 8 Moving to Nixon
• 9 Making my Way
• 10 Alan
• 11 Blossoming
• 12 I'm a Professional Actress!
• 13 The Passion
• 14 Onwards and Upwards
• 15 Losing Dad, Finding Mum
• 16 The Man in the Hood
• 17 Going West
• 18 Farewell, My Sweet
• 19 Red Carpets
• 20 In for a Penny
• 21 Honours Even
• 22 First-class Treatment
• 23 Strange Times
• 24 Stamina
• 25 Endurance
• 26 Counting my Blessings
• Appendix - List of Work
• Index
• Plate