Brenda's life of fame began on a city stage

Brenda, starring this week at Chichester Festival Theatre in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, says she's proud to have been a Chichester Player.

"I was working in an advertising agency in Chichester with my husband, who was a designer.

"Being an actor never entered my head. Nothing was further from my thoughts."

She'd done some amateur dramatics in London: "I gave it all up to come down to Chichester, but I just straight way joined the Chichester Players.

"I think amateur dramatics are wonderful," says Brenda, who took part in a couple of productions with the Players including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and was encouraged by the director to consider taking up acting professionally.

"I said 'Don't be silly! What, give up my good job to pursue a hobby!'

"But my husband encouraged me. I had worked while he was at college, and he said 'It's your turn now!'"

Brenda would recommend the Chichester Players and indeed amdram to anyone: "It is such a good discipline. It really teaches you all sorts of things, lessons for life and not just for acting.

"You learn about trust and punctuality '“ things that are very very important in life.

"You learn to rely on others so they won't let you down and you learn to rely on yourself so you won't let others down. And there is such a wonderful camaraderie."

For the moment she's delighted to be back in Chichester for the final week of The Glass Menagerie tour, after which she is off to New York to film an episode of Law And Order, during which time she is hoping The Glass Menagerie's West End transfer will have been arranged.

In the play Brenda, who received Academy Award nominations for both Little Voice and Secrets And Lies, stars as Amanda Wingfield (Chichester Festival Theatre, until Saturday).

Set in 1930s St Louis, The Glass Menagerie explores the pain of growing up in a material world through the memories of narrator, Tom Wingfield.

Tom's mother Amanda was once the most popular girl in town with the pick of eligible bachelors '“ but she picked the wrong one.

Now, years later, she is desperate for her grown-up children to avoid her own mistakes.

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