The mischievous actor reveals how she gets daily job offers and believes it’s what you do that matters, not what you say.
Actor Miriam Margolyes turned 83 in May and had a heart operation last year, but told our own Saga Magazine that she has no intention of slowing down.
“Being old is a nuisance,” she said in the July edition. “But I still have my energy, my stamina and my marbles.
“It’s really in the last few years that I’ve become well known. Every day I get offered a job – podcasts, TV series, reality shows and I think, why now?”
The BAFTA-winning actor, who appeared in the Harry Potter films and Call the Midwife series, is known for her trademark honesty and colourful language (she swore live on Radio 4’s Today programme in October 2022).
She says: “I am not a vile person, I am a pretty normal, ordinary person, but I am pretty blue. It’s what you do that matters, not what you say.”
But she revealed it was something she said that led to a telling off by Queen Elizabeth II.
When Margolyes was young she used to stick photos of the then Queen on her wall, and finally got to meet her at Buckingham Palace during British Book Week.
She remembers: “I went with two friends, we formed this little grinning semi-circle and she came over. She said, ‘What do you do?’ I said in a very silly way, ‘Oh, Your Majesty, I am the best reader of stories in the whole world.’
“She rolled her eyes to heaven, obviously thought this woman is barking and quickly moved to the person next to me.
“She asked him the same and he said he sold colourful books for dyslexic children. So, I turned to him and said, ‘How wonderful.’
Her Majesty, understandably piqued by this interruption, turned to me and said, ‘Be quiet!’.”
Enjoy the full interview and more exceptional content on our app. Subscribe for just £1 for three months.
These engrossing novels and fascinating non-fiction picks are the perfect summer escape.
Dr Mark Porter dives into the health issues affecting us all in the new podcast from Saga.
The celebrity historian shares her travel stories and disasters.
The BBC newsreader on running 23 marathons, coping with grief and why she’s still chasing new challenges at 58.
The writer and broadcaster on childhood adventures, Winnie-the-Pooh and the lesson that has guided him.
The TV presenter shares her favourite places and the surprising companion she would love to travel with.
TV’s Dr Hilary Jones on why he wants sweeping reform to modern healthcare.
