Anita Dobson Quotes

My father was a dress cutter, and my mother was a tailoress, so I was brought up to appreciate a good frock.

To make a marriage work, you have to want to. If you want to stay with that person, you will. It’s simple.

If you’re a good actor, you should be able to do soap, comedy, Shakespeare, musicals, pantomime, and something like ‘Frozen.’ Of course, you will be better at some things, but who says you can’t do them all? The intent should always be to stretch yourself and broaden your horizons.

I think if you make a decision to leave a job, a home, a relationship, then you’ve usually got a pretty major reason to do so, and you should probably stick with that.

If I had to live on a desert island, and somebody gave me a chicken, there’s no way I’d kill it – I’d call it Henry and make it my friend.

I went into acting because I wanted to be seen being someone else, not me!

The last place you’ll find me is the gym. It seems to me to be a waste of time – I could spend that time doing so many other things.

Everything in life is a double-edged sword.

I came from nothing.

Every morning, I have a coffee to wake up my system, but I don’t think you should eat just because it’s a meal time, so I often won’t have breakfast until late morning.

Even people who aren’t pleasant to deal with – it’s often because they’re unhappy, and something’s still not resolved for them.

‘Silver Street’ was a very happy time for me.

You can’t stop getting older; you just have to keep going and laugh a lot.

I was brought up in the East End, and if a man was inappropriate in a bar, you’d throw your drink over him.

When I was a kid, I used to watch all those Sunday afternoon matinees featuring all the Hollywood greats.

People are innately curious.

To be playing Joan Crawford is as good as it gets.

I’ve been working in radio on and off for most of my career. There’s a restfulness about it. It’s more focused on the voice, so you don’t have to worry about extraneous things like sound effects, as there’s someone there to look after that.

I first got engaged when I was 19, but I just knew there was more of life out there for me. I called it off six weeks before the wedding. I felt terribly guilty because he was such a nice boy, and I was in love with him. But it was the wrong time.

I can do glamour, but I can also play something like I did in the play ‘Wild Justice,’ where I was demented with grief and anger, and there was snot coming out of my nose, and my clothes were all over the place.

Brian and I have ups and downs like every marriage does. Although he’s a legend, he’s still, inside, an ordinary man, and I have got to remember that once we get inside the door, it’s just us two.

I got extremely fit and slim on ‘Strictly,’ but I did find that, each week, a different part of my body hurt. It really makes you realise the hard work dancers have to put in and how fit they have to be.

The reason I wanted to do ‘Strictly’ in the end is that you come out of it having learned something.

I’m pretty fit. We’ve got a lot of stairs in our house, and I’m up and down them all the time. Plus, I don’t smoke, and I’m vegetarian.

Usually, I’m asleep by midnight.

You learn to accept losing someone, but you never get over it.

In the days of ‘EastEnders,’ I couldn’t go into a pub or supermarket, as people would recognise me and follow me home.

People who are geniuses, once they get going, you really have to keep up.

I was invited to see Queen at Wembley – I think it was the last tour they did, and then afterwards, they had a huge party, which I was invited to – it was all thanks to EastEnders.

I thought that’s where I would go: I would become a Shakespearian actor.

I went from being a jobbing actress who was just earning a living to being the second most photographed woman in Britain, next to Princess Diana – but it was exciting, too, and I wouldn’t have swapped it for a second.

I was appearing on ‘Top of the Pops’ when I was in my mid-thirties or something. It was fantastic! But it was the weirdest thing, I’ll admit. Was I me? Was I Angie Watts? Was I me as Angie? I didn’t have a clue, but I was having enormous fun all the same.

Something devastating can happen to you, and it can have positive consequences. By the same token, something fantastic can happen, and it can bring a lot of trouble. That’s life.

I don’t love the fact that gravity is winning as I get older, but there’s also a calmness that comes with it, which I’m secretly enjoying.

For me, to be on television and not be afraid of making a mistake is freeing.

I’d sue the bottom off my husband if he dared to put me in one of his films, and he knows that.

I love to chit-chat and used to be the first to arrive at a party and the last to leave.

‘EastEnders’ changed everything. I was a jobbing actress living in Stepney, and I was on the dole at one point. Then people started to send me scripts, which was always my dream.

When I walked away from my role as Angie in ‘Eastenders’ all those years ago, it was a huge risk, but I always had this great desire to do so many things.

We learn by misfortune.

Radio means you can play parts that aren’t based on your looks or your age. It’s a lot of fun. You can do tremendous things – play more diverse characters – that you wouldn’t get to do in theatre or TV.

I didn’t have children because I was passionate about having my career.

I am very glad I did ‘EastEnders,’ and I’m flattered that people still remember me in it.

You don’t get everything in life. You make decisions and have to live by them. If you make the right decisions, at the time you have no regrets.

Once, I was followed by a car when I was driving. Every time I sped up, the car sped up, and when I slowed down, it slowed down. Eventually, I stopped, got out and screamed, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘I just wanted to give you some flowers because I’m such a fan.’ I felt awful. He was just being kind.

I’m very protective of friends and family.