*****It’s Not A Rehearsal by Amanda Barrie*****

When I was growing up, one of my favourite films was Carry On Cleo. Along with the lasting images of Sid James and Kenneth Williams, there was another one – a beautiful woman with dark hair and the most amazing big eyes. It was Amanda Barrie as Cleopatra. It was only later I heard Elizabeth Taylor had played the role too, but for me, Amanda will always be the definitive Cleo.

When I was about ten, I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln when she was in the play Blithe Spirit. I remember very little about this unfortunately, but I do recall meeting her.

A decade or more later and Amanda re-entered my world as Alma in one of my favourite TV programmes, Coronation Street. Until her character died of cervical cancer, I watched her - gossiping with Audrey, arguing with Mike and that amazing hostage situation in the supermarket.

So I have been a fan of Amanda’s for a long time, around twenty-five years. I have known very little of her private life but have enjoyed her acting and always thought how lovely she seems. When her autobiography was published a couple of weeks ago, it seemed the perfect book to buy and the ideal way to discover more about the lady who played such a wonderfully dizzy Cleopatra.

I spent £18.99 of my birthday money on her book – It’s Not A Rehearsal. I was disappointed to find it seemed to be stacked unobtrusively on shelves in both Waterstone’s and WHSmith, while Geri and Ulrika took the honours of stand-up displays and table features.

I love autobiographies and own several. Many have been disappointing, revealing little about the subject – Stand up, June Whitfield! – while others have gone that bit too far, boasting about sexual encounters and abortions in double figures – Close your legs, Barbara Windsor! This one gets the balance pretty damn perfect.

I l
ike Amanda Barrie. She seems warm and honest. While most autobiographies are pounced upon to name-drop, boast and excuse misdemeanours, this one appears to have been written in just the right way.

From the start, Amanda explains she is dyslexic and needed a lot of help in writing the book, but that she has told her life story honestly. I believe her. I never once got that sceptical feeling where you look at the words knowingly and utter some scathing comment like ‘Yeah, right!’ employing years of experience of sarcasm.

Unlike some other stars of her era, she is happy to admit her age – she was 66 when writing. She admits her flaws and mistakes, while acclaiming her triumphs and successes in an endearingly modest way. She details her health problems in an honest manner and one that could be inspirational to any others going through a similar experience.

The part of her autobiography that the tabloids picked up on was her sexuality. I assume Amanda herself was happy enough for the stress to be put on this issue, as she was seen on TV adverts, exclaiming about her ‘love for men and women’!

Yes, Amanda Barrie is bisexual. Her life has been peppered with relationships with both men and women. She has been married, she had an affair with Billy Fury and has had several long-term girlfriends.

She writes about these in a very tasteful way and I was also impressed by her decision not to name several of her exes, so as to protect them from the glare of publicity or because some of them had kept their sexual identity secret from others. This seemed a genuine reason and such a contrast to the recent ‘guess who’ fiasco over Ulrika Jonsson’s autobiography (ironically called ‘Honest’, ha!).

I’m sure we could all name some famous gay celebs and some straight ones too, but how many famous bisexuals do you know? Hmm. Exactly. It is well documented that minorities
of all kinds benefit from having a positive role model and there can be no better one than Amanda Barrie. I, for one, am pleased to think of her as ‘like me’.

Her book describes her childhood and how her career began as a young child, her stereotypically pushy mother entering her into talent shows and making sure she practised her singing and dancing. Her Curriculum Vitae has been growing ever since, from her professional theatre debut at four to her current commitments – panto in Birmingham and a part in the next series of Bad Girls.

Her life is in some ways an ordinary one. She loves, hurts, works, becomes ill and overcomes. But in other ways it is extraordinary too. It is made all the more riveting for the contrasts between the two, as we empathise with her teenage angst then gasp at her energy and vitality, as she describes life in her twenties with little food and little sleep.

Being very fond of the Carry On films, I did wish there had been more pages devoted to her roles in Carry On Cabby and Cleo, but enjoyed reading those parts immensely. It was particularly interesting to read how Sid James was such a gentleman and she found him different to how he had subsequently been portrayed, but she isn’t so keen or so kind about Kenneth Williams!

Coronation Street fans will be much happier with the portion of her book devoted to this part of her life. Her anecdotes about other cast members are always interesting and often quite enchanting. She explains how she came to leave the Street and why, as well as going into some detail about her final cervical cancer storyline and her discontent with how it was portrayed. Following her promise of honesty, she even tells you how much she was paid for playing Alma – and that’s not something many soap stars will confess to!

I would definitely recommend this book to you, especially if you are a fan of hers. I found it probably the best autobiograp
hy I have read. It may not be the best in terms of literary skills, but it is easy to read and hard to put down. Amanda Barrie’s warmth, kindness, strength and – above all – honesty shine through and those are qualities we should all admire.

***** It’s Not A Rehearsal by Amanda Barrie is currently only available in hardback. It is published by Headline and is priced at £18.99. There are almost 350 pages with twenty four pages of photographs from birth to the present. Check out the book company’s official website at www.madaboutbooks.com or buy from Amazon or the usual stockists. *****