Kathy Burke is a TV legend, and her book is full of touching and honest tales about her family and career.
One of Britain’s best loved stars Kathy Burke has gone through the highs and lows of the first 40 years of her life for a brilliant new book A Mind Of My Own. Although Kathryn has made strides in her roles as an actor, theatre director, comedian, documentary presenter, podcaster, and director, she did not receive all of it favorably.
Her mother died when she was just two years old, leaving her and her two brothers with their abusive father, who was known for his binges and verbal abuse.
Food and money was often tight but she got big break when she studied at the Anna Scher Theatre School in islington and landed a role in the 1982 film Scrubbers, directed by Swedish actress Mai Zetterling and featuring the likes of Pam St. Clement, Robbie Coltrane and Miriam Margolyes. Here are just a few of her many highlights, which she has since lived to the fullest.
Meeting John Lydon
Kathy, who was 13 years old, would ogle the Hope and Anchor pub to avenge her idols. She spotted Johnny Rotten one day.
He looked over from the crowd and said: “Hello, little girl”. Kathy was adamant and determined to impress, but she had to give in before saying, “F*** off, Johnny!” He and his pals laughed at her as a result.
Persuading Ray Winstone
Before becoming a household name, Kathy planned to stage the play in a theater above a bar she frequented in 1990. Even though Ray sat in front of her and told him to read the script, she later discovered him and gave him a pint.
He called her the next day, saying: “Did you write that? All by yourself”
He consented, and Mr. Thomas was successful, rejuvenating Ray’s career. He and Kathy starred in film Nil By Mouth later in the decade.
winning actress of the year
After being informed that she had won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress award for Nil By Mouth and only had a short time to travel from London, Kathy told her agent, “F***ing hell, I don’t have a passport.”
Someone was able to work some magic and her agent called back to say Kathy would be picked up in an hour.
The pinstripe suit Kathy wore to Harry Enfield’s wedding was thankfully fresh from the dry cleaners.
She remarked, “F*** it, it will work.” “It’s not a frock, but f*** it,” she said. The film’s producer, Luc Besson, provided a private jet from London City Airport, and Kathy and her agent got a helicopter the rest of the way.
Kathy said, “It’s a little different from our digs in Westcliff, love,” while greeting director Gary Oldman on the red carpet.
She recalls that Hugh Grant gave a speech at the ceremony, Sean Penn held a press conference, Kylie Minogue inquired about joining our group, Harvey F. Weinstein gave a cocktail to her, and we took a stroll through the hotel’s grounds with actor David Thewlis, who had been talking to me on the phone hours earlier, and he was in shock when he saw me on the red carpet. I think that’s what they call a whirlwind”.
On Absolutely Fabulous
Jennifer Saunders contacted French & Saunders to ask if she would play fashion boss Magda in a new sitcom they were writing after working on their sketch shows. When she eventually entered the rehearsal room, Jen was known for putting things off until the last minute, and the scripts were still in print.
Kathy didn’t know much about the fashion world but was told to say her lines quickly so they would be harder for ‘the TV police’ to cut them. A few weeks after filming Kathy received a card from Jen which said something along the lines of “Who knows what people will make of Ab Fab, it’ll probably be a flash in the pan but thanks a million for taking part.”
On Kevin and Perry
This iconic comedy duo played by Kathy and Harry Enfield from 1994 only came about thanks to a chance meeting of Kathy and pal Paul Whitehouse, as she hadn’t intended to return to Harry’s latest show with just the old character she played. In order to convince her to sign up for the new series, Paul remembered Kathy had previously performed as a teenage girl on a Jonathan Ross TV show. He suggested combining it with one of Harry’s characters, giving her a new sketch and other characters, and getting her to like the character. The rest is history, Kathy chose it. Other hit characters around this time included The Slobs.
As well as the Kevin and Perry movie, arguably their most famous gags is around Oasis, which is down to Kathy. She explains: “A favourite sketch I did with Harry involved my character Perry turning up at Kevin’s house after visiting Manchester, where he developed the walk and talk of Liam Gallagher from Oasis. I told Harry and Paul about the times when I’d arrived home from Wigan as a kid sporting the accent. They thought this was great, so turned the story into a sketch. We had to record Perry’s entrance a few times as a roar from the studio audience was too much for our sound engineer to bear. This sketch still does the rounds on social media now and then, especially if Oasis are in the news.
Upon “spliffing”
At a daytime party in the Nineties she took an “inviting-looking spliff” from Shaun Ryder as he rambled at her and she thought “that northern grass tastes off”. Feeling really weird she then put a lit cigarette near a woman’s bum, called her friends “c**ts” and then went home and was violently sick before suffering hot and cold shakes.
Shaun responded to her with “Back then” years later. That would not have been weed; instead, it was either smack or crack.
On kissing Dougray Scott
In 1999, Cathy enjoyed the movie This Year’s Love, and she even received David Gray’s singing advice. However, that wasn’t the best part. She says:” As the film was about trying to find love we all had a few smoochy scenes. One involved me and Dougray’s character getting drunk on Waterloo Bridge, and despite that, the gorgeous man still claims in interviews that his screen kiss was the most enjoyable. Baby, too! What a dreamboat! “
Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme
Although this sitcom from 1999 to 2001 wasn’t widely acclaimed, it had a real cult following, and Kathy and James Dreyfus had a lot of fun working on it.
She says: “I loved playing Lindy alongside James’ Tom. They were such ridiculous, deluded characters with a mix of sweet ignorance and acid awareness. We really enjoyed breaking the fourth wall and so did our audience, and as its script editor I wanted as much of this as possible, but it frightened the powers that be so we were only allowed to indulge in this so much. It is funny that a few years later one of the BBC’s biggest comedy hits, Mrs Brown’s Boys, was encouraged to fully embrace this concept.” The show ended after three series, Kathy deciding to call it a day with a fourth wall scene that got a big laugh getting cut being the final straw.
On life off the stage
She claims she prefers directing, especially in the theater, despite having only recently performed one acting performance.
She continues, “I used to love acting a lot, but the energy I would feel when I played certain roles was waning.” When asked about the difference between acting and directing, the best analogy I came up with was acting was like being a footballer and directing was being the coach. “
Kathy, who has never had children, recalls that she frequently considered having one. The clock was ticking because I was in my late 30s, but I wasn’t crying out for it. I]had] a short broody spell in my early 30s, but wasn’t interested in having a child with the person I was with at the time. “
She explained a previous miscarriage and discovered that a blood condition prevented her from having children in her 40s. She continues, “Having a baby has never been my true calling.
“I’ve had lovely relationships with the kids in my life, but I’m always happier once I hand them back. Similar things can be said about romantic relationships as well.
* Gallery Books will release Kathy Burke’s A Mind of My Own tomorrow (Thursday).
