ELEMENTAL STARSIGN READINGS

Astar was born in 1946 but nobody quite realised it at the time. Yes, for Brenda Blethyn, the 1940s had precious silver linings as she was growing up.

“I remember growing up with people who had lived all through that decade and it gives you a pretty good picture of what it was like and how ever ything happened.

“There was a war of course but people tried to make daily life as normal as possible. My dad was a chauffeur and my mother was a wife and mum although she’d been a parlour maid. They were both working class people who knew all about rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it. Most people did at that time.

“I was one of nine children – yes, nine! I don’t know how my parents coped but they did.

“We lived in my gran’s house and as I was the youngest, some of my older brothers and sisters had already left home although we were still close. One of the big things for me was that as far as possible, my dad took me to the pictures ever y week and I was enthralled with the films. I loved them but never at all dreamed that one day I might be in one.

“In fact when I left school I went into admin and became a stenographer and bookkeeper at a bank. I got married young too but it didn’t last. It was when the marriage broke up that I decided to get more serious about my hobby. I was into amateur dramatics. I went to the Guildford School of Acting and in 1976 I made my professional debut at the Royal National Theatre. Life changed once again.

“The fascinating thing about the 1940s is that so much happened in that decade, some horrible things but also amazing acts of human kindness and braver y and they spilled over into the 1950s. For years there were still bomb sites and other signs of the terrible war.

“Rationing went on for a while so even though I was just a little girl I have a feeling, and I hope an understanding, of the 1940s. It was a good decade for me because that’s when life began – in a sense, the 1940s are like home.”