Another job saw me in Shropshire working as an assistant to a superb man in his 80s. A friend’s father. Six weeks work out in the countryside, a million miles from city life and acting.
I’d retired from acting at this point…age 25. I ran to my agent’s office with a new sense of mission, threw myself in front of her and exclaimed that the acting world was to lose me. Yes, tis true, I shall never act again. I had the most wonderful unexpected response…my agent said ‘No’.
I tried to explain that I was not bringing her money, that she would never buy a yacht from my salary, and besides I was leaving (dramatic scarf sweep). “I am”, I repeated, “never going to act again.” She accepted and said she’d be there when I got back.
So…I moved to Shropshire, my friend loaned me her car, and it wasn’t until I drove into the driveway four hours away from my London flat, that I contemplated what I had done. Left everything I knew and landed at the house of my friend’s parents, Bob and Mary.
I had a great introduction to their house. We had seafood chowder, I choked on a fish bone, and then couldn’t shift it, I coughed so much I went red, nearly threw up, had to excuse myself and pull out a two inch bone wedged in my actual throat. Ice most definitely shattered, I started my work.
Fact: chasing an 80 year old man is not easy.
Independent, strong willed and male. A man who has not only raised three children but has also owned and successfully managed his own business should not take kindly to a twenty something year old looking after him. So for the first week I skirted around him, peering out at him from windows. He had injured his shoulder, was in the process of recovering from surgery and was therefore not allowed to lift heavy things. He’d lean down to pick up a piece of farm machinery and I’d spring out from behind an apple tree or jump from a tractor. I’d make a great spy!
Bob and Mary were amazing to work with, a wonderful team, and so generous. They had two dogs, Merry and Molly, 2 cats Mickie and Fritha, an orchard, vegetable patch and fruit garden. I never ate so well in my life. Bob and I developed a great friendship that saw us laugh and shout at each other within the same five minutes. He allowed me to drive us about in his car and we visited the best places. Not only did I get the best driving lessons of my life, I learnt about a whole new realm of shopping…we went to see mechanics and wholesale garden companies with big machines and heavy things! We ran lots of errands, chatted and laughed.
The reason this great team needed someone like me in their life, well they were downsizing from a farmhouse they’d lived in for 40 years to a smaller home. So I was on hand to help with whatever needed doing. I remember one talk with Mary where I had to ruthlessly choose the five of her eight wicker baskets that would be sent to charity.
A lady called over one day to visit Bob, to say hello and check up on him after his surgery. As she was leaving in her car she asked him if he wanted a duck. I was overjoyed, a new pet to play with. Bob looked in the boot, then pulled out two ducks tied together at the neck - a male and female – dead. Shot fresh that morning.
Shocked we walked back in to the house to finish our tea, Bob swinging the ducks back and forth in his hand. He then placed them over the chair so they hung either side, partners in life and death. I had never seen a dead duck before and instant fears of having to pluck a duck consumed me. But apparently ducks have to hang for a few days before you can eat them.
I am not a vegetarian but I’d quite like to be…you see I once ate a marshmallow that tasted of cow's hoof!
Yes, so the acting career…well when I finished that job, I went on tour with a theatre company…for two years.
Lesson learnt: I should give up acting more often!
