I was so happy to be working with people I was comfortable with in The Royal Court crowd. It was such a relief after spending five years being hassle… - Shirley Anne Field

I began to entertain the other kids, but I don't think they always appreciated it — they thought I was a bit of a show off. I got a good training for being an actress though, because while the people at the children's home didn't approve of dancing — they were very strict Methodists and thought dancing involved too much physical contact — they did approve of drama, and they even used to raise money with end of term shows when visitors would come and see how well we were being looked after.

[For her role in The Entertainer] I turned up to casting in a room crowded with young women, all looking the same except I was a bit younger. So I let the pony tail down, took the hoop out of my petticoat and read the lines in my best RP, as I'd been taught to do.
Director Tony Richardson was dismissing me with a "Thank you dear" but he later told me that as I walked away, he'd noticed the scuff marks on my heels. It must have sparked a thought in his head because he called out, "Can you say the lines in a northern accent?" I was furious, and I yelled [in strong Lancastrian tones]: "I’ve spent five years bloody trying not to."

I suppose the thing I'm most sad about [...] is that in my thirties, when I was at my most photogenic and knew what I was doing, I didn't consolidate my career. That annoys me. I'd have liked to play one magical role in my thirties.