Top 30 Cherie Lunghi Quotes

I just want to say to women, ‘Be yourself – it’s the inner beauty that counts. You are your own best friend, the key to your own happiness, and as soon as you understand that – and it takes a few heartbreaks – you can be happy.’

I think it’s nice to age gracefully. OK, you lose the youth, a certain stamina and dewy glow, but what you gain on the inside as a human being is wonderful: the wisdom, the acceptance and the peace of mind. It’s a fair exchange.

I’m a romantic and will only marry for love where there’s respect and compatibility. I’d like to be with someone if the right person came along. I really like male company. I like the male mind.

I am simply not such a slave to my vanity, and I don’t want to be, because as you get older you really have to start accepting the inevitable.

I didn’t get attached to Botox. It is costly, and you have to remember to keep doing it.

I think being raised by a single mother put me on the outside, and I would watch my mother’s married friends and think, ‘Why does she put him down in public?’ or, ‘Why is he so rude to her?’ It seemed to me that there were very few marriages where the couple were genuinely in a supportive, loving partnership.

I’m pretty good at getting things out of the way, especially paperwork. I hate it sitting about, as it somehow weighs me down.

I just want a quiet life. I think that’s what everybody says when they get older.

I’ve got an overactive, analytical brain. I get frustrated, impatient, angry with myself. I swear at myself a lot.

The advantage of age is that you swap youth for wisdom. You’re so full of insecurities when you’re young. ‘Who am I? What do I have to do for people to like me?’ You get caught up in things. You get very emotional about things.

The lines on your face are your medals. You’ve earned them, so why shouldn’t they be worn with honour?

I’ve always loved dancing. As soon as there is good music, I’ve got to get up and dance. I was passionate about ballet as a little girl.

I have done so many love scenes in the past that I have learned how to pull off a sexy smoulder on the dance floor.

I come from a strong matriarchal line. I was raised by Gypsy, her sister, Mary, and my maternal grandmother. The result of not having my father live with us meant that, when it came to understanding the opposite sex, it was like working without a map.

I’d like to break some new ground, maybe in TV presenting, rather than just be an actress.

I’ve never felt the need to be defined by a man.

I want to play women my own age, rather than artificially ‘de-age’ myself so that I can play women who are younger or much younger than I am. I want to grow into those kind of more mature parts, not try and keep them at bay for as long as I possibly can.

I’ve been a single parent for a long time. It reminds me of being a waitress. As you walk back to the kitchen, requests come at you from all sides. You’re doing the job of two – you have to be highly organised.

I’ve always been terrified about not having money. I’ve been a big saver and a big earner. When I’ve been out of work, I’ve always found another job. I never wanted to get into debt, because money was very tight when I was growing up. I never felt deprived, but I couldn’t have the things I wanted.

People ask me how I manage without a man in the same tone they might ask someone how they’re doing with just one lung, but it’s not like that at all.

Sadly, the timing’s never been right. There have been men who would have married me but I didn’t feel the same, and vice versa.

I’d see my daddy about once a month, and I missed him. I would have loved to have had more of him. He was tall, attractive and very quiet, very gentle. He had a wife who I don’t think ever really liked me much.

I wear my lines like a soldier wears his medals. They’ve been earned. They’ve been fought for – so there’s no reason to be ashamed of them. In your 50s, you just care less about that sort of thing. I think it’s to do with what’s inside you. You can’t obsess about the outside.

It’s a bit of a headache being a perfectionist. You’re never satisfied.

I’m mad keen on recycling because I’m worried about the next generation and where all this waste we’re producing is going. It has to stop. I wash out my plastic containers and recycle envelopes, everything I possibly can.

With age comes a greater wisdom, an ease and comfort with oneself.

I try to live my life as honestly as I can, and the last thing I want is to pretend to be something I’m not. To pretend to myself I am a sex symbol would somehow be dishonest. I’d feel, in my heart, that I were behaving artificially and that’s the last thing I want to do.

I enjoy art, architecture, museums, churches and temples; anything that gives me insight into the history and soul of the place I’m in. I can also be a beach bum – I like to laze in the shade of a palm tree with a good book or float in a warm sea at sundown.

There isn’t anything I don’t eat, although I’m not too keen on creepy crawly things. Other than that, I’m quite adventurous. I like all types of red meat, and I’m not a fussy eater at all.

Whitley Bay was my first experience of the seaside. I’d buy my bucket and spade, and beach ball, and all the shops were teeming with toys. I used to spend hours on the shuggy boats.