Lack of work for older female actors 'fair enough', says Maureen Lipman

The actor said she was ‘too busy getting on with life’ to worry about being ‘thrown on the scrapheap’

Maureen Lipman has said older female actors are “thrown on the scrapheap” after a certain age but added: “That’s fair enough, isn’t it? The same thing happens to a leaf on a tree.”

In an interview with the Radio Times, the actor, who is working on Coronation Street, acknowledged there is “a certain amount of invisibility” at her age.

“Though Maggie Smith and Judi Dench have done all right, there’s not a lot of drama work out there for older actresses,” Lipman said. “And you have to understand that every older actress still thinks that she’s 34. Look at Joan Collins. And just because you’re 74, it doesn’t mean that you believe it.”

The actor added that there are other exceptions, such as Sheila Hancock, who is in her 80s and still appears on BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute, and adopted a measured tone when discussing her own ageing.

“I don’t sit around thinking about my absence from society, because I’m too busy getting on with life,” Lipman said. “Yes, maybe we do get thrown on to the scrapheap after a certain age, but that’s fair enough, isn’t it? The same thing happens to a leaf on a tree.”

Lipman, who was born in Hull and became a stage actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company, before embarking on a big-screen career with roles in films including Educating Rita, said she plans to work for as long as possible.

“I’ve lost a lot of friends, and that really makes you realise that you should do the work while you can still get it,” she said. “When I was 71, I did panto in Richmond, flashing my legs and thinking nothing of it. So I’ll keep working for as long as I’ve got my health.”

The creative union Equity launched a campaign earlier this month to raise awareness about the plight of older actors and other creative workers, some of whom are struggling to get work during the Covid pandemic.

Equity’s petition particularly focused on the over-70s, who are not covered by the government-backed insurance scheme for the film and TV industries, brought in to get the industry working again after the pandemic forced productions to shutter.

Tony Robinson, who backed the campaign, said that being over 70 has often given performers “pariah status” because they are considered risky by producers.

The petition calls for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to “come to the table and work with Equity on a solution so older creative workers can safely return to work”. The DCMS said it would work with Equity “to understand the challenges facing the creative and cultural sectors”.

Lipman, who was a lifelong Labour supporter but distanced herself from the party, first over Ed Miliband’s support for recognising the Palestinian state in 2014 and again during the antisemitism row, said that by withdrawing the whip from its former leader Jeremy Corbyn, the party has “turned him from a spent force into a martyr”.

She added that Corbyn’s successor, Keir Starmer, has “hit the ground running, and has certainly been saying the right things. I think the main thing is that Starmer is excellent in the House of Commons, and Corbyn never was.”

Contributor

Lanre Bakare

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Maureen Lipman to play 'outspoken battleaxe' in Coronation Street
Actor and comedian ‘will add a fresh dollop of northern humour’ as Evelyn Plummer, the grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs

Gwilym Mumford

03, Aug, 2018 @2:23 PM

Article image
Maureen Lipman: 'I'd have to be stark raving mad to support Boris Johnson'
Trans actors, Palestine, Tony Blair, typecasting, socialists with multiple houses … as she stars in Rose, a play that covers everything from the Holocaust to the six-day war, the actor lets rip

Zoe Williams

18, Aug, 2020 @5:00 AM

Article image
‘Cancel culture’ risks wiping out comedy, claims Maureen Lipman
Actor says laughter is best when forbidden, as survey finds two-thirds don’t know what ‘cancel culture’ is

Kevin Rawlinson

22, Dec, 2021 @1:34 PM

Article image
Women in TV aren't trusted as writers, claims Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright
Sally Wainwright, who also wrote for Coronation Street, speaks out about inequality in the broadcasting industry

Graham Ruddick Media editor

24, Jul, 2017 @11:01 PM

Article image
Coronation Street rolls out red carpet for Queen to mark 60 years
Queen meets cast members outside Rovers and tells them they are ‘marvellous’ for carrying on during Covid

Caroline Davies

08, Jul, 2021 @1:07 PM

Article image
'Ken! Do something!': Coronation Street double acts reunited on Royal Mail stamps
Special-issue set celebrates 60th anniversary of world’s longest-running soap opera

Caroline Davies

11, May, 2020 @11:01 PM

Article image
ITV considers filming Love Island in Cornwall or cancelling series
Reality show has already been delayed, while soaps could soon run out of episodes

Jim Waterson Media editor

30, Apr, 2020 @2:58 PM

Article image
Coronation Street signs product placement deals with Co-op and Costa
Part of ITV’s new Weatherfield set, branding will be on bags, cups, posters and storefronts

Nadia Khomami

30, Jan, 2018 @1:02 PM

Article image
Coronation Street actor tests positive for coronavirus
Exclusive: production on the ITV soap was disrupted at the end of last week but continued on Monday

Jim Waterson Media editor

15, Sep, 2020 @2:57 PM

Article image
BBC to resume filming EastEnders and Top Gear by end of June
Production of flagship shows had been put onhold because of the coronavirus crisis

Mark Sweney

14, May, 2020 @1:23 PM