French actress Anouk Aimee, who recently died at 92, wasn’t someone I was familiar with, because her fame faded after appearing in films like “La Dolce Vita” in the early 60s.
But her newspaper obituaries mentioned she was one of the glamorous ‘Continental’ actresses of that era whose first and last names began with the same initial – like Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot.
We only had one glamour girl who followed that ‘initial’ trend – Diana Dors.
As fine an actress as she is, I can’t include Brenda Blethyn who plays “Vera”, the superannuated cop in a daft hat who solves crimes by giving suspects a quizzical look.
Seeing Brigitte Bardot mentioned in Anouk Aimee’s obits, reminded me of the story I heard about Brigitte’s appearance on “Desert Island Discs” in the 1960s.
When asked by the show’s host, the plummy-voiced Roy Plomley, what ‘luxury item’ she’d like to take to the imaginary island, she replied, in broken English, “A pe-nis!”
Roy stopped the recording and gently admonished the French ‘sex kitten’, reminding her ‘that’ sort of language was frowned upon by the BBC and, as she would be the sole occupant of the island, it would be physically impossible to meet her request.
It took a moment for Brigitte to realise her faux pas (what’s that in French?) and she explained what she actually wantedwas a copy of the lyrics of Ken Dodd’s then-current hit record “Happiness”!
What IS happiness?
Well, it doesn’t necessarily equate to how much money you’ve made or how successful you are.
That wonderful old actor Wilfred Hyde White once confessed “I’ve had mistresses in Paris, Rome and New York. I’ve owned luxury cars and a string of racehorses. But none of it made me happy!”
Conversely, despite his great wealth and world-wide fame, it was reported that after playing golf one day, legendary comedian Jack Benny drank a glass of tap water and said, “That was a FANTASTIC glass of water!” with a huge smile on his face that would match that of any big lottery winner.
Happiness really is where you find it. Ask Brigitte!