Lesley-Anne Down: Iconic Star of the 80s

Born in London

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

In London, 1954, a girl with mineral-blue eyes and the manners of a queen without a throne was born. By fifteen, she was already posing, and by eighteen, she was making her first forays into cinema.

A model first and foremost

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

As is the case with many film and television stars, her beginnings were as a model. But her talent and ambitions went further beyond.

Heading to the United States

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

Arriving in the U.S., her British accent was almost a superpower. Producers, executives, and hairstylists bowed; she had the skin of Grace Kelly and the attitude of Joan Collins.

North and south: The great TV blaze

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

She was Madeline Fabray, a southern aristocrat with a fiery heart and impossible hairstyles, in the series 'North and South'. Lesley became a cult star and an Emmy nominee.

First take, true tears

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

During a take, real tears began to flow. It wasn't the character who was suffering; it was her. Her co-star noticed that something changed in her gaze from then on. The scene continued, without cuts. No one asked if it was scripted or simply happened.

Power in her attitude

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

She was never secondary; her roles spoke with a deep voice, gave orders with white gloves. Lady in castles, period mistress, lover dressed in silk. It was fiction, but not entirely.

More celebrated than understood

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

She won awards, appeared on covers, received pats on the back, but in interviews, questions slipped out to which she replied with British irony. "Being beautiful is the second hardest thing I've done," she used to say.

Roles she turned down

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

There are her successes, and there are, as discussed in various forums about 80s cinema and pop culture, the series and films that Lesley-Anne Down turned down. It's said she didn't want to participate in 'The Thorn Birds' (the one with Richard Chamberlain as a seductive priest) or 'Fatal Attraction'.

The 90s

Born in London, A model first and foremost, Heading to the United States, North and south: The great TV blaze, First take, true tears, Power in her attitude, More celebrated than understood, Roles she turned down

Whether because she didn't like what was offered or because she decided her family life was worth more than her professional one, the fact is that the 90s were not as bright as the fabulous 80s for Lesley-Anne Down.

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