My Gurus: 'Marching alongside'

I graduated from what is now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 1974. I have been working as an actor and director ever since. But, in part at least, I owe my success to some special people.

Miss Shields

Miss Shields was Head of Music at my primary school. It was 1960 and the St Andrew’s Halls in Glasgow were hosting a mass choir event to celebrate Christmas. Our school was to contribute a small choir. 

Miss Shields auditioned all 32 of us for the 12 places available. I was terrified. I had always been told to be quiet when singing at home because I had such a “tuneless voice”. I begged - weeping - to be let off but Miss Shields made me sing for her. 

I thought she was being uncharacteristically cruel, but having sung, she said there was nothing wrong my voice. I didn’t believe her of course but she picked me for the choir. Standing on that world famous stage making my small contribution to the glorious sounds around me was a turning point for me. 

Music and singing turned from horror into joy. She saw past the terror and the tears to the scared wee lassie who just needed some encouragement. A good teacher can change a child’s life forever. 

Anne Kristen

Annie was a superb actress who took me under her wing at the very start of my career and taught me many lessons about life and work. Her main tenet about acting was “maximum effect, minimum effort” - a rule she practised unfailingly herself and which I try to stick to to this day. 

I was in serious danger of becoming a spoilt brat when I first left drama school – too much success too quickly. It was Annie who taught me some hard lessons about humility and the importance of teamwork and respect for others.

Stephen Macdonald

I was physically and mentally exhausted at the end of my first year out of drama school and decided that the business wasn’t for me. 

About a month after I quit, Stephen Macdonald - who was then Artistic Director of Dundee Rep - phoned me wanting to know if I would be interested in playing Rosalind in As You Like It.  Suddenly the business didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all! 

I joined Stephen for a season at the Rep and he took me with him when he became Artistic Director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh. My cv from those days reads like a dream come true for a young actress. 

He was a wonderful actor himself and a brilliant director. I learned something new from him every day.

Susie Orbach

Susie Orbach’s book, Fat is a Feminist Issue, changed my life. I had terrible problems with compulsive eating from my early teens through to my late 20s. Days spent stuffing my face with food 'till I felt drugged, followed by weeks of guilt-driven fasting before the cycle started all over again. 

It was my friend, the brilliant radio drama producer and director Marilyn Imrie, who suggested I read the book. I was playing Aladdin in panto in Inverness at the time and I quite literally walked out of that theatre after our last performance a different person from the one who walked in for the first day of rehearsals. 

Food stopped being my enemy and became my friend. Decades later I got to work with Susie at the Donmar, and I was able to tell her just how much her book meant to me. She kindly signed my copy and although I have bought the book for many friends over the years that original copy will never leave my home.

Anne Foster

Anne, my therapist, is another person who has quite literally changed my life. I went through a huge crisis of confidence when I became President of Equity – imposter syndrome with added bells and whistles. Something about taking on the responsibility of representing the 47,000 members of our union threw up all sorts of old worries and fears. 

At our first session to see if we could work together, I knew that Anne’s extraordinary mix of honesty and compassion was exactly what I needed. We’ve been working together for over four years now.

Christine Payne

Christine was General Secretary of Equity, the trade union for performers and other creatives in the entertainment industry, for seven of the eight years I was on the union’s Council. She was also with me through the first two years of my four years as President. 

Marching alongside her in the ongoing struggle for better terms and conditions for our members was one of the great privileges of my life. 

Equity's Safe Spaces campaign   Photo: Philip Hartley

When the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in October 2017, I was one of the Vice-Presidents of the union. I argued that Equity had to be at the forefront of the subsequent efforts to eradicate such toxic behaviour from our industry. 

Christine got behind me and made what became our Safe Spaces campaign a top priority for the union. I was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2020 because of it and the campaign continues to be a powerful tool in the battle against bullying and harassment in our industry. 

Without Christine Safe Spaces would never have happened. She was and continues to be the wise head I turn to in times of strife. My debt to her is immeasurable. 

Maureen Beattie OBE is an actress and former President of Equity.
 @MaureenBeattie2