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Anna Massey, as Mrs Danvers in Rebecca
 Anna Massey (right) as Mrs Ronberry in the 1979 television version of The Corn is Green with Katherine Hepburn and Ian Saynor
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A seductive slice of the life of a reluctant lady
Look beneath the surface and you'll find Anna Massey's memoirs a fascinating look at the theatre of life, writes Gerald Isaaman
The Reluctant Anna Who Never Gave Up Telling Some Tales
by Anna Massey
Hutchinson, £17.99
SHE was a reluctant debutante, being presented at court through her mother’s dominance. And she was bullied into the role of The Reluctant Debutante despite never being trained for the stage. It won her overnight fame, though she was almost sick with fright.
Then came the attentions of a young actor, Jeremy Brett, later to be known as TV’s Sherlock Holmes, who perceived how her parents, the formidable actor Raymond Massey, of Dr Kildare acclaim, and the elegant actress Adrianne Allen, had mesmerised her amid their own disastrous marriage.
So she escaped the family home in The Grove, Highgate, and married him in St Michael’s, the church opposite, only to discover subsequently that he was bisexual and unfaithful with male friends. Perhaps she ought to have realised it from the unwelcome wedding gift from her father of a fan of opals, the worst omen of all for those in the theatre, a real signal of disaster.
At first glance, Anna Massey seems to have written a slight book about a slight lady, who has been admired over past decades for film, stage and TV performances still remembered. Yet the theatre of life can deceive, as she soon makes clear in her memoir, which some might dismiss as a good gossip through her make-belief years appearing with many of the great theatrical names.
You wonder sometimes when she is going to open up and reveal exactly what some star did or said behind the curtain. But slowly the plot thickens and you begin to revel in her descriptions of the real and unreal word she has inhabited, and acknowledge her wit and wisdom.
Of her wooing with Jeremy, she writes disarmingly: “I must stress that our romance was of the purest kind. We could been in a Jane Austen novel. In fact I suspect there was quite a bit of play-acting in the air.
“When Jeremy embarrassed me with his exuberances, I simply thought to myself, ‘I can change him.’ What very dangerous territory I was entering. I think I must have been one of the last virgin brides.”
Maybe it was Anna’s naïvity that saved her, like some latter day Pearl White. But her quiet determination and dedication show how her insecurity and sensitivity could be as solid as steel, despite analysis, anorexic bouts and depression too, as she takes on so many challenges in productions like The Miracle Worker and Hotel du Lac.
It is a compelling story of self-discovery, enlightenment and honesty.
“Acting doesn’t allow you to grow old in the accepted sense,” she insists.
“Of course wrinkles appear, and bones may not be quite so supple, but if you are in a room full of actors in their later years, you will be conscious of an extraordinary youthful energy. Actors never give up.”
The celebrity names abound – her acting alongside Katherine Hepburn is a tale of sheer delight – and her accurate eye for detail is immaculate.
“Perched on three chairs were Miss (Marilyn) Monroe and her new husband, Arthur Miller, and Dame Sybil Thorndike, the two actresses dressed in their costumes for the film, which struck me as rather strange, as shooting had not yet begun,” Anna writes.
“Marilyn glowed with love and beauty and sex and fragility, clad in her sparkling figure-hugging cream chiffon robe. Mr Miller wore an elegant grey suit, and looked somewhat bemused behind his large spectacles.
“Dame Sybil seemed to be performing the role of the duenna, in her tiara and full Ruritanian court regalia. We all filed by the trio in awe, uncertain whether we should curtsy or not. What Mr Miller made of the evening would have been interesting to know, but nobody spoke very much.
“Simply to be present at this unique event provided ample pleasures.”
So do many of the pages of her memoir, a seductive slice of the theatrical life of a slight and reluctant lady. |
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