Dear Yootha...
That’s how people would start. They would write to Yootha about their most intimate problems, so convinced were they of her performance as Mildred in the sitcom 'George and Mildred'. This sexually frustrated, vulnerable yet predatory character had reached such levels of believability, that some were convinced that Yootha would be the one to sort out their worries. “I’m no Marjie Proops darling, but I try to help in my simple way,”
Looking at Yootha’s long career, you wonder where she’d been before her phenomenal success. 'George and Mildred', in which she played alongside Brian Murphy, was one of the most successful TV sitcoms of the Seventies. TV success also saw both actors branching out, achieving record audiences on stage, at summer seasons in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Where had Yootha come from? What training had she had? What kind of person was she? Most importantly, what went wrong when her success became a problem? All this I attempt to discover in this fascinating insight into her life.
REVIEWS
"Dear Yootha… achieves what a good biography ought to do: it paints a human picture of its subject matter"
"Curran does an excellent job"
"thorough and absorbing biography"
"commendably researched"
"endearing"
"a compulsive and moving read"
"full of in-depth quotations from those who knew her best, as well as an admirable amount of detail about her personal life and career"
"It’s full of contributions from surviving big names in the industry, and is a valuable addition to the universal story of the pressure of fame and the traps that success inevitably brings."
(Greg Jameson - Entertainment Focus)
That’s how people would start. They would write to Yootha about their most intimate problems, so convinced were they of her performance as Mildred in the sitcom 'George and Mildred'. This sexually frustrated, vulnerable yet predatory character had reached such levels of believability, that some were convinced that Yootha would be the one to sort out their worries. “I’m no Marjie Proops darling, but I try to help in my simple way,”
Looking at Yootha’s long career, you wonder where she’d been before her phenomenal success. 'George and Mildred', in which she played alongside Brian Murphy, was one of the most successful TV sitcoms of the Seventies. TV success also saw both actors branching out, achieving record audiences on stage, at summer seasons in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Where had Yootha come from? What training had she had? What kind of person was she? Most importantly, what went wrong when her success became a problem? All this I attempt to discover in this fascinating insight into her life.
REVIEWS
"Dear Yootha… achieves what a good biography ought to do: it paints a human picture of its subject matter"
"Curran does an excellent job"
"thorough and absorbing biography"
"commendably researched"
"endearing"
"a compulsive and moving read"
"full of in-depth quotations from those who knew her best, as well as an admirable amount of detail about her personal life and career"
"It’s full of contributions from surviving big names in the industry, and is a valuable addition to the universal story of the pressure of fame and the traps that success inevitably brings."
(Greg Jameson - Entertainment Focus)
