Behind the Laughter - Hewson, Sherrie

I really like Sherrie Hewson. As well as being a fan of her acting, she is one of my favourite Loose Women presenters and I think she is funny, witty and hilariously eccentric. Over the years, I have enjoyed her performances in such things as Carry On Behind, Coronation Street (as the lovable Maureen) and playing Virginia Raven in the new version of Crossroads.

So when her autobiography was released in March 2011, I bought it almost straight away, though only managed to get round to reading it this week. It’s a thick hardback of almost 300 pages and has a beautiful cover photo of Sherrie on the front. There are two sections of photographs inside featuring family and childhood snaps, plus stills from her television and film performances as well as some from Loose Women.

I read the whole book in just a couple of days and found it a really interesting read. It was easy to hear her voice come through and I learned a lot about her life which I didn’t already know, as well as discovering more about some of the things she has mentioned on Loose Women over the last few years. For example, I knew she had been in an unhappy marriage and this is expanded upon here.

Sherrie Hewson was born in Beeston in Nottinghamshire in 1950 and was Sherrie Hutchinson until her agent Peter Eade changed her surname, just after she left Drama School. As you would expect from an autobiography, Sherrie talks about her childhood with her parents and her older brother Brett, her time at RADA and her early career. I was surprised to hear how wealthy her parents were and enjoyed reading about her posh childhood home with its swimming pool, stables, mini golf course and four expensive cars!

There are quite a few anecdotes about past relationships and bad experiences, but she rarely names those involved, so this isn’t a sensationalist read or a kiss and tell. She does write about her relationship with Robert Lindsay though and how they almost got married, but this is written about fairly and without malice. None of the book made me feel like I was intruding on someone’s private life, which can make for uncomfortable reading. Instead, Behind The Laughter feels like a friend talking to you about the life she has experienced so far.

Sherrie is incredibly clumsy and there are a lot of funny anecdotes in the book detailing her falls and trips, such as the time she accidentally knocked Ken Morley (her Coronation Street co-star Reg Holdsworth) out cold. There is also an amusing story about her meal out at a restaurant with Steve McQueen. This gives quite a light tone to much of the book, despite there having been sad times in her life too.

She had a couple of strange relationships early on in her life, then began a romance with Ken Boyd in 1976 which led to her only marriage in 1983. He was working as a doorman at a club when they met and he didn’t even seem perfect then, as he had a reputation for being unable to stay faithful to one woman.

The relationship lasted a long time – twenty-seven years - but it was fraught with problems as Ken found it hard to commit to working and essentially lived off Sherrie for most of the time. He continued to eye up the ladies and they ended up losing all their (Sherrie’s!) money and she had to declare bankruptcy in 2007 at the age of fifty-six.

Her relationship problems led to her suffering from depression, plus issues with eating and alcohol. She did have a daughter with Ken though in 1984 and Keeley remains a great love of her life, along with her grandchildren Molly and Ollie. She writes candidly about these events and how she has had cosmetic surgery and her reasons behind it. She certainly is not afraid to show her faults for what they are and to put herself up as a figure of fun, which makes her come across as very warm and self-deprecating.

I especially enjoyed reading her section on working on Carry On Behind and the Carry On television series, especially her memories of Joan Sims. Her years working on Coronation Street were also an interesting read and I was surprised to learn how she had been written out, as it sounded like she was unceremoniously dumped when the bosses felt her character had come to its natural end.

She has worked with a huge amount of famous stars over the years – including Richard Chamberlain, Harrison Ford, Bob Hoskins, Margaret Lockwood and Vanessa Redgrave – and there are many stories about these times, which also make fascinating reading.

As you would expect, she also explains how she got the job on Loose Women in 2003 and she writes about her friendship with the other presenters and the fun they have had at award ceremonies. She particularly likes Carol McGiffin, but seems to get on with all the other women and enjoys working on the show.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Sherrie Hewson’s autobiography and thought it was well worth the money I paid for it. The cover price is £16.99 but Amazon sell the hardback for just £9.89 and the paperback version is due out in October, which will be only £4.19. If you want to, you can also buy the Kindle edition download for £7.99.