Harold & Madge back together!
Ian Smith and Anne Charleston reminisce about their 46-year friendship and reveal their darkest secrets
Sex scandals, depression, financial nightmares, fraud… Neighbours stars Ian Smith and Anne Charleston have lived through it all and have still maintained their sense of humour. True to form, there were laughs galore, warm hugs and outrageous stories flying when the actors, who became household names playing Harold and Madge Bishop, got together last week.
“We first met on the set of Bellbird in 1971 and – sharing many mutual friends – we often ran into one another at dinner parties,” says jovial Ian, 79, who is nothing like his stuffy TV alter ego Harold.
“We sort of stalked each other’s careers for years,” says Anne, 74.
“We did the rounds of the great Crawford shows like Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police.
“Along came Prisoner. I played some hideous harridan, while Ian multi-tasked: he was a prison official and also the show’s script editor and associate producer.”
HILARIOUS PRANKS
But it was playing Harold and Madge that turned the busy stage and screen veterans into Ramsay Street royalty in more than 60 countries around the world.
Anne joined Neighbours in 1986 as Madge Mitchell – mother of Charlene (Kylie Minogue), with Ian coming on board a year later. “It was great to finally be working so closely together, and we instantly gelled,” Ian says.
“It was so comfortable, which often isn’t the case. My wife Gail and I adore Anne. She’s incredibly kind, always helping those in need. But Anne has a secret dark side as a prankster. When she decided to leave the series in 2000, the writers gave Madge pancreatic cancer, and she died in Harold’s arms. It was a very moving scene, which took all day to film.”
Anne chortles as she remembers the scene Ian walked into. “Knowing it would be harrowing, I decided to lighten the mood by secretly placing handcuffs in my deathbed, and having whips and S&M gear strewn around the bedroom. The look on Ian’s face when he came across a stray handcuff and a leather whip was priceless. We just broke up laughing.”
Amid the camaraderie there were some dark and tumultuous times for Ian and Anne.
Having left Neighbours the first time, in 1992, Anne went to live in Ireland. “But Ian and I were stunned when an audacious UK newspaper ran a headline screaming: Strewth! What’s Harold Up To With Our Madge! with lurid photos showing us simulating sex, our heads
superimposed onto the bodies of porn stars!” says Anne.
“Ian and I were advised to sue, which we did, but that became an ordeal that ran on for years. We lost the case and it cost us both a fortune. To add to the nightmare, I found out my British agent had been ripping me off blind. I was almost financially wiped out.”
Ian has also had his share of hardships, revealing he suffered a devastating breakdown in the early ’90s.
“I was 54 when my mother Connie, who had terminal cancer, told me I was adopted,” says Ian.
“It turns out my birth mother Peg had been raped when she was 13, so I was the product of sexual abuse. I was able to reunite with Peg, which was lovely. But the ordeal sent me crashing into a deep depression.
“It became so bad, at times all I could do was rock back and forth in a chair. I felt completely alone. It was a three-and-a-half year hell before medication and therapy enabled me to emerge from that soup of despair.
“Seeing TV great Garry Mcdonald tell his story of dark depression opened my eyes to the fact I was not alone.”
“Gail [Ian’s wife of 48 years] was an absolute rock, as were friends like Anne. Knowing they were there was hugely comforting.”
Ian, who these days is semiretired after an impressive 58-year career, says if the right role came along he’d probably jump at it.
As for Anne – mum to son Nicky, 48, a theatre entrepreneur and grandma to 10-year-old Nate – she’s loving life back in Australia and would relish another juicy stage or screen role.
“I’ve been acting since I was 18, and I’m sure they’ll have to carry me off the stage or TV set in a wooden box,” she laughs.
‘It was great to finally be working together, and we instantly gelled’