Post by tomsgirl on Oct 22, 2006 23:47:18 GMT 1
Susan Penhaligon interview in Daily Mail Wednesday, October 18,2006 in the money mail section-
ACTRESS Susan Penhaligon, 57, rose to fame in the 1970s as the blonde beauty in the 1974 B-movie classic The Land That Time Forgot, while on TV she starred in the hit drama Bouquet Of Barbed Wire.
She lives with her partner, fellow actor Duncan Preston. Now playing Jean Hope in Emmerdale, she tells CHARLOTTE BEUGGE about her finances...
Staying afloat: Susan lives on a £70,000 Thames barge.
HOW MUCH WAS IN YOUR FIRST WAGE PACKET?
IT WAS £10.1 was 21, straight out of drama school and I was an acting assistant stage manager at the Connaugfit Theatre, Worthing.
It was fabulous — I was being paid for doing something I loved. It was all the backstage stuff, plus I got to act: my first role was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. I had to pay my rent and eat on that money; I'm sure I was always in debt.
WHAT WAS YOUR BEST FINANCIAL MOVE?
IT WOULD have to be when I got a part in
the series A Fine Romance with Judi ench in the early 1980s. It ran for four
years, including repeats, and it was regular work — which is so rare when you're an actor.
Usually, your income is going up and down the whole time and you have moments when you're really broke. Having a regular income from Emmerdale is, of course, wonderful too.
AND YOUR WORST?
MY BOAT. I live on a Dutch barge on the Thames. I paid £70.000 when I bought it about nine years ago. I have to pay for a mooring and council tax on it just like an ordinary house.
They take an awful lot of maintenance and they don't rise in value as quickly as houses. Having said that, I do own it outright, so at least I'm not saddled with debt.
HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR YOUR FIRST HOME?
IT WAS £8.000 for a terrace house in Acton, West London. I did stay there for a few years and made a profit when I sold up. I then bought a six-bedroom house in Chiswick for £18,000 — this was the 1970s. I hate to think how much it would be worth now.
I dont have any property now apart from the boat. I rent a flat in Yorkshire for when I'm filming Emmerdale. so I'm thinking about renting the boat out. but I must admit I'm a bit lazy and haven't really looked into it properly.
HOW MANY CREDIT CARDS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR PURSE?
I DONT have any credit cards. I used to, but I got really fed up paying interest on them. So I cut them up. It's so liberating not having them any longer. I'm not saying that, if I really needed to, I wouldn't take one out again, but at the moment I'm happy without them.
DO YOU PREFER TO PAY BY CARD OR CASH?
I USE a debit card. I carry very little cash — I don't think it's safe for women to carry a lot of cash around. I don't want to get mugged.
HOW ARE YOU SAVING FOR YOUR RETIREMENT?
I HAVE got a pension, but I don't think I
will retire. I have been paying into my current pension for about 12 years and it's doing OK, but not that great.
I used to have a pension years ago, but I stopped contributing to it because I needed the money for something else.
Anyway, my profession is my pension. Although my character in Emmerdale is a bit of a glamour girl, I'm hoping to get character parts in the theatre, which I really love.
I just want to stagger on for ever — though hopefully I won't stagger too much on stage or people might think I'm.drunk. That really wouldn't do.
WHAT ABOUT INVESTMENTS?
I USED to buy a lot of art. I love modern art and have a bit of an eye for it. I used to trawl round the galleries in St Ives, Cornwall, where I'm originally from.
But then I sold it all — and I made money on it. I'd love to get back into it, but there's nowhere to hang pictures in a boat: there are too many windows.
I don't like risk. I've never bought stocks and shares and have no interest in them. But I love Premium Bonds — you can win £1 million on them.
I used to hold a lot and they gave me a nice regular income, although I never won any big prizes. I'm starting to buy them again.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST INDULGENT PURCHASE?
I DO love clothes, but again I would have to say my boat. It's an ongoing project, and maintenance costs a lot. I am pretty handy, though — I do paint my own bilges. I bet I'm the only actress you'll ever hear say that.
ACTRESS Susan Penhaligon, 57, rose to fame in the 1970s as the blonde beauty in the 1974 B-movie classic The Land That Time Forgot, while on TV she starred in the hit drama Bouquet Of Barbed Wire.
She lives with her partner, fellow actor Duncan Preston. Now playing Jean Hope in Emmerdale, she tells CHARLOTTE BEUGGE about her finances...
Staying afloat: Susan lives on a £70,000 Thames barge.
HOW MUCH WAS IN YOUR FIRST WAGE PACKET?
IT WAS £10.1 was 21, straight out of drama school and I was an acting assistant stage manager at the Connaugfit Theatre, Worthing.
It was fabulous — I was being paid for doing something I loved. It was all the backstage stuff, plus I got to act: my first role was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. I had to pay my rent and eat on that money; I'm sure I was always in debt.
WHAT WAS YOUR BEST FINANCIAL MOVE?
IT WOULD have to be when I got a part in
the series A Fine Romance with Judi ench in the early 1980s. It ran for four
years, including repeats, and it was regular work — which is so rare when you're an actor.
Usually, your income is going up and down the whole time and you have moments when you're really broke. Having a regular income from Emmerdale is, of course, wonderful too.
AND YOUR WORST?
MY BOAT. I live on a Dutch barge on the Thames. I paid £70.000 when I bought it about nine years ago. I have to pay for a mooring and council tax on it just like an ordinary house.
They take an awful lot of maintenance and they don't rise in value as quickly as houses. Having said that, I do own it outright, so at least I'm not saddled with debt.
HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR YOUR FIRST HOME?
IT WAS £8.000 for a terrace house in Acton, West London. I did stay there for a few years and made a profit when I sold up. I then bought a six-bedroom house in Chiswick for £18,000 — this was the 1970s. I hate to think how much it would be worth now.
I dont have any property now apart from the boat. I rent a flat in Yorkshire for when I'm filming Emmerdale. so I'm thinking about renting the boat out. but I must admit I'm a bit lazy and haven't really looked into it properly.
HOW MANY CREDIT CARDS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR PURSE?
I DONT have any credit cards. I used to, but I got really fed up paying interest on them. So I cut them up. It's so liberating not having them any longer. I'm not saying that, if I really needed to, I wouldn't take one out again, but at the moment I'm happy without them.
DO YOU PREFER TO PAY BY CARD OR CASH?
I USE a debit card. I carry very little cash — I don't think it's safe for women to carry a lot of cash around. I don't want to get mugged.
HOW ARE YOU SAVING FOR YOUR RETIREMENT?
I HAVE got a pension, but I don't think I
will retire. I have been paying into my current pension for about 12 years and it's doing OK, but not that great.
I used to have a pension years ago, but I stopped contributing to it because I needed the money for something else.
Anyway, my profession is my pension. Although my character in Emmerdale is a bit of a glamour girl, I'm hoping to get character parts in the theatre, which I really love.
I just want to stagger on for ever — though hopefully I won't stagger too much on stage or people might think I'm.drunk. That really wouldn't do.
WHAT ABOUT INVESTMENTS?
I USED to buy a lot of art. I love modern art and have a bit of an eye for it. I used to trawl round the galleries in St Ives, Cornwall, where I'm originally from.
But then I sold it all — and I made money on it. I'd love to get back into it, but there's nowhere to hang pictures in a boat: there are too many windows.
I don't like risk. I've never bought stocks and shares and have no interest in them. But I love Premium Bonds — you can win £1 million on them.
I used to hold a lot and they gave me a nice regular income, although I never won any big prizes. I'm starting to buy them again.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST INDULGENT PURCHASE?
I DO love clothes, but again I would have to say my boat. It's an ongoing project, and maintenance costs a lot. I am pretty handy, though — I do paint my own bilges. I bet I'm the only actress you'll ever hear say that.