Following the Dream......for one actress.

I entered the entertainment industry with luck on my side. At 14 I was chosen from many hundreds of boys to play the title role in THE WINSLOW BOY for a West End production produced by the legendary Binkie Beaumont. 

The production starred Kenneth More, Megs Jenkins, Laurence Naismith, Christopher Cazenove and Annette Crosbie. 

I then did a tour of the same play with WWII war hero and Oscar nominee Richard Todd, Patrick Barr and Elizabeth Sellars. This was produced Triumph Theatre Productions which Todd owned with the producer Duncan C Weldon. 

I did a few more plays/ TV productions as an actor but became acutely aware of just how little I knew. 

Following conversations with my father, various actors and others I came to the conclusion that I should learn from the very bottom and work my way up, not to do so would I was sure bite me in the arse further down the line.  During 1973-4 I was an assistant stage manager on two theatre touring productions and an acting ASM on eight productions in rep at Harrogate, Watford and York. 

For the first of these jobs I got in touch with Duncan Weldon and asked if I could have a job as an ASM. He offered me several. It was so much easier in the early 1970's. 

The one I chose was a touring production of RATTLE OF A SIMPLE MAN with Liz Fraser. Working on the play as the deputy stage manager was called Amanda Lee. Duncan said she was the best in the business and one day she could become a producer. 

I learnt a lot from Amanda. She was clever, very efficient and so good at her job and was far better than any man I worked with in that position, before and after. The trouble was she did not like stage management at all and all she wanted was to become an actress just liked the hundreds she worked with. She knew so much more about acting and plays and all their many characters than I did. 

I envied her passion and dedication. I would go on through the mid to late 70's to play leading parts in theatre, TV and film productions but I never had Amanda's burning passion. I loved the business but I never really had to be an actor - no matter what. Amanda did.

Shortly after we worked together I heard that she had got into drama school. I recall it was Webber Douglas, but this maybe a mistaken memory.

Some years later I saw her name in The Stage attached to something as an actress but I never saw or heard about her after that. 

I gave up acting and became a producer and distributor working on over 100 feature films and lost touch with the theatre and with those who worked in it, as film is all consuming. 

Over forty years have gone by, and she would be around 70 now, and I think of her often. 

Sadly she is not on imdb and no actor I know has ever heard of her. Did she change her name ?

She gave up a well-paid job for a company, and a producer who for over 25 years would rule the West End stage, to follow her dream. 

Did she ever get cast the roles of the plays she yearned for?

Did Duncan C Weldon ever employ her as an actress, for he was a man who made so very many actors and actresses into stars ?

Did any other producer or director give her an acting job ?

Did she have a happy life?

I do love people who follow that dream, no matter what. So many others do jobs they hate, too scared to follow their heart. However there will always be sacrifices. Were the ones Amanda Lee made worth it ?

I would love to find out what happened to her, for she was an admirable woman. 

I long to ask her the question - was it worth it ?