Born in Newcastle, Reid, 79, played Ken Barlow’s wife in Coronation Street in the 1960s. In 2003 she was Daniel Craig’s lover in Hanif Kureishi’s film The Mother. Her TV work includes Last Tango In Halifax and Our Zoo (DVD and book out now). She was widowed in 1981, and lives in London.
When were you happiest?
The day I first held my baby son.
What is your greatest fear?
Something happening to my family.
What is your earliest memory?
Being on the beach in Redcar in about 1939. Then the war started and it was closed off with barbed wire.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Camila Batmanghelidjh of Kids Company – what a wonderful woman.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I’ve a very sweet tooth. Wish I didn’t.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Meanness – financial and spiritual.
What is your most treasured possession?
Family photographs. I’ve hundreds.
Where would you like to live?
Where I live now, but in a bigger apartment. Or in a pretty little house on the coast in the south of France.
What would your super power be?
I’d make every weapon on the planet unusable. Every bomb. Every gun.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
That I don’t look 45 any more.
If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
My mother and father.
What is your favourite smell?
Jasmine. It brings back memories of India with my parents.
What is your favourite phrase?
“Grandma Annie”, from my grandsons.
Who is the love of your life?
My son, Mark.
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
“You’re amazing, for your age.” People mean it kindly, but I hate it.
What do you owe your parents?
They taught me to enjoy life.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
To my parents, because I didn’t understand what getting old was like.
Have you ever said “I love you” and not meant it?
Well, not at the time.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Kathy Burke, Jeff Bridges, André Previn, Hugh Laurie and the Queen.
Which word do you most overuse?
“Darling.”
What is the worst job you’ve done?
A film with an idiot director, but I couldn’t possibly tell you which.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Never working on Broadway.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I’d have been braver in my career.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To the opening night of On The Town on Broadway in the 1940s.
When did you last cry, and why?
Probably at some sentimental black-and-white movie.
How do you relax?
I have a G&T and watch television.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
About £5m.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Doing my cabaret recently.
How would you like to be remembered?
By my grandsons, as good fun.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Believe in yourself. Go for it.
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