Two decades before Kylie Minogue became the UK’s favourite Australian import, there was Annette Andre. Perhaps best known as Jeannie
Hopkirk, widow of Kenneth Cope’s spectral detective in the adventure series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Sydney-born Annette first trod the boards as a dancer, aged three.
“I trained with a ballet school out there,” recalls Annette. “Then I was asked to join the Australian Ballet Company which was an amazing company. I just started with them, a few rehearsals, and they called me into their office and said to me: ‘Sorry, we can’t have you.’
“And I nearly died. I said: ‘Why?’ They said: ‘You’re too young. You’re 15 and you’ve got to be 16.’ I went home and said: ‘I’m finished. I’ve done it. But don’t worry Mum, I’m still going to be kicking up my legs on the stage.’
“I did a bit of amateur theatre. It’s all good for the training. And then I got a job in a musical and I did that for a while. And then I went on from there. I had to knock on doors, and I had to force myself onto things. Radio was big time out there then. There was no television. So, radio was big, and theatre.
“And a nun from my old school was wonderful. She said: ‘I know a woman who runs a radio school. I think I can get you into the school if you’re interested.’ I said: ‘Yes.’ And that’s what I did.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom