Rita Tushingham: ‘I was paid £1 a week and had to clean the toilets'

Telegraph

5 days ago

Rita Tushingham, 83, shot to fame at the age of 19 for her role in 1961's kitchen-sink classic A Taste of Honey. Over the next decade, Tushingham appeared in the British new wave films Girl with Green Eyes, The Knack …and How to Get It, and The Bed Sitting Room, as well as the David Lean historical epic Doctor Zhivago. She lives in London and has two daughters – Dodonna and Aisha – from her marriage to photographer Terry Bicknell.
Best childhood memory?
I used to enjoy putting on shows in the front garden. We'd put out benches for people to watch. No one would come. I also loved playing football with my brothers. I love football. In those days, we'd play with heavy leather balls, leave them out overnight in the front garden, then the next day you'd pick it up again and they'd be even heavier from all the dew.
My brother would give me a shilling to massage his legs with olive oil. He thought he was the star of the whole thing. We always used to listen to the games. We'd all sit around the table having tea, eating custard tarts, the radio was up in the corner. My dad would go to Liverpool one week, then Everton the next. He was a huge Everton supporter. My mum was a Liverpool supporter. I'm a Liverpool supporter. That was all in Liverpool, in an area called Hunt's Cross. My dad was a grocer there. I also used to enjoy going out with Dad when he delivered the orders. There was one farm he used to go to. I'd see the pigs, scratch their ears and watch them fall down in ecstasy. I really had a happy childhood.
Best career moment?
There have been so many great moments. Even when you're working on something that you might think is not so great, there's always moments. There's always the people that you meet. Those moments are treasured. With The Marlow Murder Club, all the ladies are lovely. Steve Barron, the director… I knew his mum, so there was a good connection. We're doing a new series. My character is quite nosy but smart. She's a nice character to play, and you can be a little over the top with her. And Marlow is a beautiful place to shoot in. It's so pretty. It's just fun to shoot with the whole group of actors together. There's never any problems.
Best thing about acting?
For me, it's the discovery of character. You can go somewhere where you would never go in real life. It's just nice to create. And to create with everyone else. It's also great to go to so many countries. That's fantastic. You end up working with the crew from that country. You get to know people much better. You get to know more about the country rather than just sitting in a hotel and ordering [room service]. You really mingle with people. You learn quite a lot about it. Sometimes you carry different things from the characters that you play. I'm quite shy. I'd never do the things in real life that I get the opportunity to do as a character.
Best audition
When I got A Taste of Honey, I knew the play. I was working backstage at the Liverpool Playhouse, and I read in the newspaper that they were looking for an unknown actor to play the role. So I wrote a letter. They responded and said, 'If you're coming to London, you can audition.' So my mum said, 'We're going!' She took me, and I did an audition. It was sort of improvisation. Then they called me back for a film test. There were quite a few other people there, and I did the film test. I was the last one to do it. Luckily, I got the role. Tony Richardson was amazing – everything was on the page from Shelagh Delaney and Tony Richardson. It was all there. I just got on and did it.
Best personal trait?
I hope that it's my sense of humour. I always think when things get a bit sticky, it's great if you can just interject with something that eases the tension. Obviously I take everything seriously, especially when I'm working. Even though I'm shy, the actor in me likes to show off. I like to just throw in a quip. I think it's important to not take yourself too seriously. I think we're really good at that, the British. You have to keep your sense of humour, because often I'm doing things that are so ridiculous.
Worst job?
I worked backstage. That's where I got my training at Liverpool Playhouse. I worked there for nearly two years – I was there when I got cast in A Taste of Honey. I was paid a pound a week. I used to have to make tea, clean the toilets and all that. I remember, downstairs under the stage, there was a little place where you could boil the kettle on this gas ring. I was doing something else and I burnt out the bottom of the kettle. I had to spend all my wages on a new one.
The other job that I wasn't great at was being the back legs of the horse, especially because I didn't get on with the front. He was the stage manager and he got angry with me for over-acting. You have to start at the bottom, don't you? It was great but I wouldn't want to do it again. I never thought of drama school, but I knew I wanted to act. It just seemed like part of me. When I went to Liverpool Playhouse, it was great because it encompassed everything: sound effects, costumes, music. I played small roles like maids.
Worst thing about acting?
The nerves. Always, when I start on a film, people are sitting around, and you see them whispering after you've done a take. You think they're saying to each other, 'She's so c--p.' When they're probably just saying, 'What time do you think it is?' It's terrible. We all think like that. I hate to see myself when they do playback; I don't like to hear myself. Tony Richardson taught me not to watch rushes. It makes no difference how long I've been doing it, I'm always nervous and insecure.
It's lovely to work with directors who will give you one little word of direction. Sometimes you need feedback – it doesn't matter how many times you've done it. You need the feedback to feel like it's all right. You want to make sure that you're working well with everyone else. You never set out to be bad. I remember when I did Dr Zhivago with Sir Alec Guinness. We got on so well. He was wonderful. I remember saying to him, 'It's a big scene today.' He said, 'Every scene is a big scene.' I thought it was brilliant. He was an extraordinary man. And David Lean. I was so lucky to work with him. Julie Christie. Geraldine Chaplin. Ralph Richardson. Omar Sharif. Tom Courtenay, who I'd known for years. My scenes were only with Sir Alec, but it was such a joy.
Worst personal trait?
Interrupting. I only do that because I'm so eager to contribute. I sometimes drift off a bit. I remember I was doing a scene with David Lean. I had to sit and he said, 'I want you to look concentrated.' I'm sitting there thinking and thinking. What I was really thinking was, 'What am I going to eat tonight when I go back to the hotel?' Because it took ages. David liked to think things out. It was like being in school, realising you weren't listening, and then just hoping that the teacher doesn't call on you.
The absolute worst?
When my daughter, Aisha, was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was the worst. It was so out of the blue. She was only 32. The NHS were fantastic. Now she's got two beautiful children and everything. I would go with her to all of her chemo sessions and when she was having a blood test. It was at the Royal Marsden Hospital. It was wonderful. I remember once, we went up the stairs, they ignored her and said to me, 'Have you had your blood taken?' That made us laugh.
When she told me, I was at a friend's birthday party. I felt like I'd been picked up and thrown against the wall. I can't explain it. It's something that will live with me forever. When I talk about it, I feel quite emotional. It never leaves you. It's a trauma. I wouldn't even use it in my work. It really grounded me.