Aimi MacDonald

Last updated

Aimi MacDonald
Born
Aimi Anne Sheila MacDonald

(1942-02-27) 27 February 1942 (age 82)
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Other namesAimi McDonald [1]
Occupation(s)Actress, dancer
Known for At Last the 1948 Show
Spouse(s)Jimmy Mulidore (? – ?) (divorced; 1 child)
ChildrenLisa Mulidore [2]

Aimi MacDonald (born 27 February 1942) is a Scottish actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as "The Lovely" Aimi MacDonald in the television sketch comedy show At Last the 1948 Show (Rediffusion, 1967).

Contents

Background and early career

Aimi MacDonald's Scottish father was a doctor. Her mother was English. She is the youngest of three daughters. [3]

MacDonald went to ballet school [3] and entered showbusiness at 14. She was a dancer, working during her teens in Great Britain and the United States. [4] While performing with a troupe in Las Vegas, she met Elvis Presley at the Silver Slipper casino, remarking years later that he would "jam with the rest of them" and on his ability as a jazz guitarist. [3]

MacDonald married an American musician at 17 and they had a daughter named Lisa. [2] [3] The marriage did not last and MacDonald returned to Great Britain, appearing during the 1960s in musicals in London's West End and in cabaret. [4] She played in the first London production of the musical The Boys from Syracuse (Jewel Courtesan) in 1963 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, alongside Bob Monkhouse and Ronnie Corbett. [5] She recalled that she had to keep working to support herself and her daughter and that this was sometimes a struggle. [3]

At Last the 1948 Show

MacDonald came to national attention in At Last the 1948 Show , for which she had been spotted by David Frost. [3] At the opening and closing of the show and between longer sketches, she would present short pieces on the theme of her loveliness. Her excitable, squeaky voice was likened to "a choir of frantic mice". [6] Forty years later, a journalist referred to MacDonald as "bubble-and-squeak Aimi". [7]

Other work

MacDonald's acting on television included The Avengers , The Saint , Man at the Top , Sez Les , Shirley's World , Dixon of Dock Green and Rentaghost . Her appearance in The Avengers ("Return of the Cybernauts", 1967) was as a mini-skirted secretary, similar to her 48 Show role, whose tights were laddered as she was swept aside by a large robot. MacDonald played Wendy in the film Take a Girl Like You (1970), based on the novel by Kingsley Amis, and also appeared in the David Niven horror comedy Vampira (1974), the film version of the TV series Man About the House (1974), the sex comedy Keep It Up Downstairs (1976), and the James Bond spoof No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977). Stage roles in London included Susie in George and Ira Gershwin's Lady Be Good with Lionel Blair in 1968 and Honey Tooks in Robin Hawdon's farce, The Mating Game (1972). She also recorded a single, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" produced by Radio London Programme Director Ben Toney, which was released on Polydor in 1967 but it was not a hit.

In 1969, MacDonald and Ronnie Carroll recorded an album based on Burt Bacharach and Hal David's stage show musical Promises, Promises , and the following year she released a solo album "What's Love All About", produced by Johnny Franz. She also appeared on David Nixon's Magic Show programme, usually in a comical sense, performing magic tricks incorrectly or being the victim in the "disappearing lady" illusion.

Between 1968 and 1983, MacDonald appeared occasionally on the BBC radio panel game Just a Minute . As the only female panellist of four, she was subjected to the jibes of comedian Kenneth Williams that women should not be permitted to take part. [8] On 10 March 1977, she appeared in BBC's television variety show The Good Old Days .

Press stories and later life

MacDonald's private life attracted interest in the press. She shared a mansion in Ascot, Berkshire with racehorse owner Geoffrey Edwards, remarking that she was "living in sin... it's lovely. I shall probably live in sin for the rest of my life". [9] She owned a racehorse named Weep No More. Her name was linked to politicians, including Labour Minister John Stonehouse (his secretary and mistress Sheila Buckley named her as one of his lovers) and future Conservative Prime Minister John Major. MacDonald has denied relationships with either man, or ever having met "poor John Major", though she did recall Stonehouse as "tall, dark" and "very attractive to women". [3] In her sixties, she observed that "everyone gets hysterical if I say hello to a politician today... It's very annoying to be branded a scarlet woman". [3]

MacDonald opened a lingerie shop in west London but sold it during a downturn in the economy in the early 1990s. [3] She returned to showbusiness, taking part in a few nationwide tours, including a 2003 production of Cliff Richard's musical film Summer Holiday starring Darren Day, in which she played the mother of former Hear'Say singer Suzanne Shaw. Reviewers referred to MacDonald as a "sixties starlet". [10]

In 2007, MacDonald visited Uganda as an ambassador for the London charity African Revival. The purpose was to link schools in Gulu and the United Kingdom. [11] She last appeared in a guest role in an episode of the TV series "The Third Age" entitled "The Grand Illusion" in 2013.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Barker</span> English actor, comedian and writer (1929–2005)

Ronald William George Barker was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Windsor</span> English actress (1937–2020)

Dame Barbara Windsor was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. She joined the cast of EastEnders in 1994 and won the 1999 British Soap Award for Best Actress, before leaving the show in 2016 when her character was killed off.

<i>At Last the 1948 Show</i> 1967 British satirical TV show

At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical television show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions, in association with Rediffusion London. Transmitted on Britain's ITV network in 1967, it brought Cambridge Footlights humour to a broader audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Corbett</span> Scottish actor and comedian (1930–2016)

Ronald Balfour Corbett was a Scottish actor, broadcaster and comedian. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies. He achieved prominence in David Frost's 1960s satirical comedy programme The Frost Report and subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Here, and Sorry!

Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for The Big Impression, which she co-wrote and starred in and was, for four years, one of BBC One's top-rated comedy programmes, winning numerous awards, including a BAFTA in 2003. Ancona also starred in the first series of the BAFTA-winning ITV series The Sketch Show. Ancona has appeared in the BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax since its creation in 2012. She is a co-director, alongside Sally Phillips and Nick Hamson, of the production company Captain Dolly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keeley Hawes</span> English actress (born 1976)

Clare Julia "Keeley" Hawes is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010). She is also known for her roles in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard (2018), in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Womack</span> English actress, singer, director (b. 1972)

Samantha Zoe Womack is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest. Her song for the contest, "A Message to Your Heart", was released as her only single in April 1991 and reached number 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Jackson (actor)</span> Scottish actor (1923–1990)

Gordon Cameron Jackson was a Scottish actor. He is best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and as George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals. He also portrayed Capt Jimmy Cairns in Tunes of Glory, and Flt. Lt. Andrew MacDonald, "Intelligence", in The Great Escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynda Baron</span> English actress and singer (1939–2022)

Lilian Ridgway, known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom Open All Hours (1976–1985) and its sequel, Still Open All Hours (2013–2016), Auntie Mabel in the award-winning children's series Come Outside (1993–1997), and the part of Linda Clarke in EastEnders in 2006 and from 2008 to 2009, with a brief return in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Quayle</span> English actress (1932–2019)

Anne Veronica Maria Quayle, known professionally as Anna Quayle, was an English actress. In 1963, she received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in the original production of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (1961).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Hewlett</span> English actor (1920–2011)

Donald Marland Hewlett was an English actor who was best known for his sitcom roles as Colonel Charles Reynolds in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Lord Meldrum in You Rang, M'Lord?, both written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. He also had other roles in British film and television productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Lister</span> South African-British actress (1923–2007)

Moira Lister Gachassin-Lafite, Viscountess of Orthez was a South African-British film, stage and television actress and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Kelly</span> Canadian-British actress (1923–2007)

Barbara Kelly was a Canadian-British actress, best known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s, and for many appearances as a panelist on the British version of What's My Line?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Jackley</span> English comic actor (1909–1988)

Nat Jackley was an English comic actor who starred in revue, variety, film and pantomime from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. His trademark rubber-neck dance, skeletal frame and peculiar speech impediment made him a formidable and funny comedian and pantomime dame. His later years were spent as a character actor in film and television, and appearing in pantomime. Jackley appeared in three Royal Variety shows, topping the bill in summer shows throughout Britain's seaside resorts and in London.

<i>Evergreen</i> (film) 1934 film

Evergreen is a 1934 British musical film directed by Victor Saville starring Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale and Barry MacKay. The film is based on the 1930 musical Ever Green, also starring Matthews, who plays a dual role as mother and daughter.

Belinda Carroll is an English stage and television actress.

Gillian Lewis is an English character actress who, after a varied stage career in the 1950s and early '60s, appeared in a number of television drama series until the late 1970s. Her best known roles were probably as the runaway heiress Geraldine Melford in the original London production of Slade and Reynolds' musical Free as Air and, on television, as Drusilla Lamb, secretary to Mr. Rose in the detective series of that name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Lyons</span> Irish actress and writer

Genevieve Lyons was an Irish actress, writer, model, radio host and teacher.

Sally Smith is a British actress born in Godalming, Surrey. Although primarily a star of both dramatic and musical theatre she appeared in several films and dozens of television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winifred Barnes</span> British musical comedy actress and singer (1892–1935)

Winifred "Betty" Barnes was an English actress and singer known for roles in Edwardian musical comedy and operetta, creating the title role in Betty, among others. After 15 years on the stage, she retired upon her marriage in 1924.

References

  1. ↑ Aimi MacDonald at IMDb
  2. 1 2 Benny's Place – Who's Who of Hill's Angels – Page 4
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The Oldie, March 2007
  4. 1 2 Theatreprint programme for The Mating Game (Apollo Theatre, London, 1972)
  5. ↑ London Cast Recording. The Boys from Syracuse. Decca Record Company Limited, 1963. LK 4564.
  6. ↑ See The Oldie, March 2007
  7. ↑ William Hall in The Oldie, March 2007
  8. ↑ Welcome to "Just a Minute"
  9. ↑ Quoted in The Oldie, March 2007
  10. ↑ See, for example, "Get set for a summer holiday (From South Wales Argus)". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
  11. ↑ CSMA Motoring & Leisure, September 2007
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.