Despite first treading the boards almost seven decades ago, acting legend Lesley Mackie admits to feeling a few nerves as she prepares to return to her beloved Perth Theatre.
Feted for an Olivier Award-winning West End turn as Hollywood legend Judy Garland in the 1980s, she’ll be sharing memories from her life and work in an intimate presentation at the High Street venue.
Dundee-born Lesley’s latest “performance”, which has the cheeky title Don’t Put Your Daughter On The Stage, had been due to be a one-off event on March 14, but such has been the demand for tickets that a second show has been added on the same date.
“You never get over that insecurity of only being as good as the last thing you did, and I’ve never done this type of thing,” she says.
“Lots of folk set up an interviewer but I’m on my own, so I’m obviously nervous.”
Will Lesley bring show to hometown of Dundee?
Lesley has been a familiar face in her adopted city for much of the past five decades – but she’s also looking forward to catching up with a few old Dundee friends.
“I’ve had messages from people like Betty Wood, who’s now in her 80s,” she tells me.
“She was the lady who dressed me for the last week of our tour of Judy at the Whitehall Theatre in 1991.
“So I shouldn’t worry so much, because some of the audience will know each other – if they get fed up they can just talk among themselves,” the 73-year-old chuckles.
Lesley, who will be backed next week by Fair City pianist Michael Ellacott, started out as a child performer in Dundee in the late ’50s before enjoying roles that included portrayals of French chanteuse Edith Piaf and iconic Willy Russell creation Shirley Valentine, plus a fondly remembered part in cult horror The Wicker Man.
She hopes the Perth audiences won’t hold back in quizzing her about her colourful career.
“It’s not a concert, it’s a relaxed chat, and people will know a lot of the former theatre favourites who pop up in my pictures, like Martyn James,” Lesley declares.
“I hope that the adrenalin and energy sees me through, and who knows, if it goes well I may go and do it in Dundee, my home town.”
Actress rejected ‘fall back’ options as a teen
It was while she was still at primary school that Lesley heard her calling and first made her mark.
“As a youngster I was entertaining all round Dundee, at old folks’ homes and concert parties,” she recalls.
“My mother was a pianist and just accepted that I was going to be an actress, but nobody really knew. When I told people I was going to drama school they assumed I was training for a part-time job.
“My parents did suggest that I go to university to have something to fall back on, but when you want to be on the stage you don’t want to waste any time.
“One of the finest nights of their lives was when they sat and watched the Olivier Awards on TV, and they couldn’t believe it. I still remember my mother telling me that my father had hopped and skipped round the living room with excitement.”
How old was ‘Daisy’ in The Wicker Man?
The actress earned her big break in 1972, playing Billy Connolly’s wife in his satirical musical The Great Northern Welly Boot Show.
Weeks later she joined such stars as Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward and Britt Ekland to film The Wicker Man, and her role as singing schoolgirl Daisy has kept her in fans’ hearts ever since.
“I’m one of the last still alive who spoke,” she reflects.
“I can remember sitting with Chris Lee at dinner in my hotel. He was around most of the time and chatted away, but I was so young I didn’t really appreciate that I was with legends.
“I’d just had my 21st and I still think I look like one of the youngest in the classroom scene, but I was actually the oldest. I did play children quite a lot, and when I look at myself with my chubby cheeks I can certainly see why they cast me!”
Lesley’s upcoming talks certainly look like they should suit her present situation.
“I do a medical roleplay at Ninewells with students, I occasionally conduct the odd funeral because I did a private training for that, and I do audiobooks,” she explains.
“I’m happy to do bits and pieces but not have the stress of thinking, ‘I need a job’.”
- Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage by Lesley Mackie is at Perth Theatre on March 14 2025.
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