MAUREEN LIPMAN Why I’ll never retire
MAUREEN Lipman feels like she is in her 30s and dismisses any notion of giving up work.
The Coronation Street star, who played Lillian Spencer in 2002 in the ITV soap before returning as Evelyn Plummer in 2018, turned 74 this year.
But she rules out retiring and dreams of appearing in a drama series one day.
She said: “I don’t have any plans to stop any time soon. I won’t stop dreaming because you never know when it might happen. Just look at someone like Fiona Shaw – she’s been in the business for years, but it wasn’t until Killing Eve came along that she’s really been able to choose to do whatever she likes.”
Maureen admitted that she “can’t quite believe” she is now in her 70s, before adding: “I certainly don’t feel it.”
Lovely
She continued: “My face might be descending slightly south, but I honestly think that all the young men around me think I’m 36 – that I’m a ‘slightly older’ woman – because that’s how I feel. It’s a funny thing to get your head around. Now that my hair is grey, I’ve never liked it better.”
Maureen’s film career began in 1967 as Sylvie in Up The Junction and she has gone on to star in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and in TV series such as Oklahoma!, Holby City and Doctor Who.
She was married to writer Jack Rosenthal from 1973 until he died from cancer in 2004. They have two children, Amy and Adam.
She told Prima magazine of her loss: “I found it almost impossible to grieve because my nature is to make people laugh. And then, I’d feel terrible about the fact I didn’t look like I was grieving enough. To try to make myself feel better, I bought things. I bought a car, then I worried that people would think it was odd; why would she buy a car when her husband has just died? But I now know that we all grieve in our own ways.”
Maureen is now in a relationship with retired Italian businessman Guido Castro, who she described as “a lovely man”.
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