I was a Lady before I was a Dame

"My mother said to me, ‘You’re no oil painting, my girl, but you have the spark. Thank God you’ve got my legs and not your father’s!’”

"I have always resented the comments that it was I who was the homewrecker of Larry's marriage to Vivien Leigh. Danny Kaye was attached to Larry far earlier than I."

Sad news. Another of our eminent Dames has departed these shores to preside over Fabulon - Dame Joan Plowright.

Never the huge international star her late husband Sir Laurence Olivier became, her world was that of one of the pre-eminent doyennes of the theatre. In her own words:

"You do films if the roof needs mending."

As well as being a fine actress, and instrumental in the overhaul of British theatre - first in the "Angry Young Men" era at The Royal Court, then (as Mrs Olivier) she played a pivotal role in the establishment of The National Theatre - she was also a very witty and entertaining raconteuse, as our late friend Alistair and I discovered when we went to "An Evening With..." the Great Dame back in 2014.

And here she, is, having a great time with her old chums and fellow Dames in one of the most charming documentaries we watched in the last decade:

Nothing Like A Dame [known as Tea with the Dames in the USA] - Who was the First Dame?

RIP, Dame Joan Ann Plowright, the Baroness Olivier.