But I'd
wanted to be an actress since I saw my first play at six, and one day I
woke up and thought, 'I've got to go to London and train at RADA.'
The
problem was I'd made a 'starter' marriage to a post-graduate student
called Don Roy, who didn't want me to act for a living. Like all my
boyfriends - and there were a few - he saw acting as a rival to him. He
was right!
No regrets: Siân Phillips left her husband to pursue her dream of being an actress
Don was the one who'd wanted a wedding; I was such a reluctant bride I even chose a grey dress. But the early 50s was difficult for women; if you said, 'I need a career',
people thought you were being unreasonable and strident.
I applied to RADA while Don was away doing a PhD in France and I won a scholarship that paid my fees.
So
I wrote my husband a Dear Don letter of farewell, divided up our china,
cutlery and linen, and cleared our flat in just one adrenaline-fuelled
day. I'm not proud of that, obviously; I was burning all my bridges and
it was an awful time, but that day completely changed my life.
Fame: Her life changed forever after she went to RADA
I imagine it must have been very upsetting for Don; I never met him or talked to him again, although once or twice I thought I saw his shadow lurking outside the RADA building.
I was worried about the whole situation - divorce was considered really shameful in those days - but I had a core of steel that carried me through.
I so loved growing up in Wales I thought I'd be miserable in London, but as soon as I got off the train I fell in love with it and have lived there ever since.
To be in the middle of theatreland was incredibly exciting: I'd see middle-class theatre-goers on the Tube in their stoles and little jewelled caps and cocktail clothes.
While I was at RADA I won the Bancroft Gold Medal and Hollywood came calling. I was being tipped as the new Ingrid Bergman, but the teachers were against me deserting the stage for Hollywood.
At that point films weren't 'the thing' for serious actors, and by the time they were I'd missed my chance. But I don't regret it, as my career turned out the way I always imagined it would.
Some years after I left Don I became engaged to a director called Guy who also wanted me to stop acting after marriage, but then I met Peter O'Toole, who became my second husband and the father of my children, Kate and Patricia.
I thought he was different from the others, but he turned out the same - in a much more subtle way.
I've been married three times in all, but the last 15 years on my own have been exactly what I wanted as a little girl: to have my own life, to have my own friends and to be acting all the time.
Siân stars in the UK tour of Alan Bennett's latest play People until 16 November, nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover/people-on-tour
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