Aimi MacDonald
Encyclopedia
Aimi MacDonald is a British actress. She is best known for her role as "The Lovely" Aimi MacDonald in the television sketch comedy show At Last the 1948 Show
(Rediffusion, 1967).
father was a medical doctor. Her mother was English. She is the youngest of three daughters.
MacDonald went to ballet school and entered show business at 14. She was a dancer, working during her teens in Britain and the United States. While performing with a troupe in Las Vegas
, she met Elvis Presley
at the Silver Slipper
casino, remarking years later that he would "jam
with the rest of them" and on his ability as a jazz guitarist.
MacDonald married an American musician at 17 and they had a daughter named Lisa. The marriage did not last and MacDonald returned to Britain, appearing during the 1960s in musicals in London's West End and in cabaret. She played in the first London production of the musical The Boys from Syracuse
(Jewel Courtesan) in 1963 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, alongside Bob Monkhouse
and Ronnie Corbett
. She recalled that she had to keep working to support herself and her daughter and that this was sometimes a struggle.
. At the opening and closing of the show and between longer sketches, she would present short pieces on the theme of her loveliness. Her excitable, squeaky voice was likened to "a choir of frantic mice". Forty years later a journalist referred to MacDonald as "bubble-and-squeak Aimi".
" sketch ("Try telling the young people of today that ..."), it was the only enduring catchphrase from the show.
, Man at the Top
, The Saint
, Man About the House
, Dixon of Dock Green
and Rentaghost
. Her appearance in The Avengers was in Return of the Cybernauts (1967), in which she played a mini-skirted
secretary, similar to her 48 Show role, whose tights
were laddered as she was swept aside by a large robot
. Macdonald played Wendy in the film Take a Girl Like You
(1970), based on the novel by Kingsley Amis
. Stage roles in London included Susie in George and Ira Gershwin
's Lady Be Good
with Lionel Blair
in 1968 and Honey Tooks in Robin Hawdon's farce, The Mating Game (1972).
Between 1968 and 1983, Macdonald appeared occasionally on the BBC
radio panel game Just a Minute
. As the only female panellist of four, she was subjected to the jibes of comedian Kenneth Williams
that women should not be permitted to take part.
with racehorse owner Geoffrey Edwards, remarking that she was "living in sin... it's lovely. I shall probably live in sin for the rest of my life". She owned a racehorse named Weep No More. Her name was linked to politicians, including Labour
Minister John Stonehouse
(whose secretary and mistress Sheila Buckley named her as one of his lovers) and future Conservative
Prime Minister John Major
. MacDonald has denied relationships with either, or ever having met "poor John Major", though she did recall Stonehouse as "tall, dark" and "very attractive to women". In her sixties she observed that "everyone gets hysterical if I say hello to a politician today... It's very annoying to be branded a scarlet woman".
MacDonald opened a lingerie
shop in west London but sold it during a downturn in the economy in the early 1990s. She returned to show business, taking part in a few nationwide tours, including a 2003 production of Cliff Richard
’s 1962 musical film Summer Holiday starring Darren Day
, in which she played the mother of former Hear'Say
singer Suzanne Shaw
. Reviewers referred to Macdonald as a "sixties starlet".
In 2007 MacDonald visited Uganda
as an ambassador for the London charity African Revival
. The purpose was to link schools in Gulu
and the United Kingdom. She continues to act on television, most recently playing a guest role in the BBC TV programme Doctors.
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
(Rediffusion, 1967).
Background and early career
Aimi MacDonald's ScottishScottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
father was a medical doctor. Her mother was English. She is the youngest of three daughters.
MacDonald went to ballet school and entered show business at 14. She was a dancer, working during her teens in Britain and the United States. While performing with a troupe in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, she met Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
at the Silver Slipper
Silver Slipper
The Silver Slipper was a Las Vegas, Nevada casino that operated from September 1950 to November 29, 1988. The building was designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr....
casino, remarking years later that he would "jam
Jam Sessions
Jam Sessions is a guitar simulation software title and music game for the Nintendo DS based on the Japan-only title Sing & Play DS Guitar M-06 originally developed by Plato. It was brought to North America and Europe, courtesy of Ubisoft...
with the rest of them" and on his ability as a jazz guitarist.
MacDonald married an American musician at 17 and they had a daughter named Lisa. The marriage did not last and MacDonald returned to Britain, appearing during the 1960s in musicals in London's West End and in cabaret. She played in the first London production of the musical The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
(Jewel Courtesan) in 1963 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, alongside Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
and Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
. She recalled that she had to keep working to support herself and her daughter and that this was sometimes a struggle.
At Last the 1948 Show
MacDonald came to national attention in At Last the 1948 Show, for which she had been spotted by David FrostDavid Frost (broadcaster)
Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE is a British journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and daytime TV game show host best known for his two decades as host of Through the Keyhole and serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon...
. At the opening and closing of the show and between longer sketches, she would present short pieces on the theme of her loveliness. Her excitable, squeaky voice was likened to "a choir of frantic mice". Forty years later a journalist referred to MacDonald as "bubble-and-squeak Aimi".
"The lovely Aimi Macdonald" as a catchphrase
Almost half a century after the show had its only run on television, the phrase "I'm the lovely Aimi Macdonald" was still used occasionally. With the exception of lines in the "Four YorkshiremenFour Yorkshiremen sketch
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is a parody of nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. Four Yorkshiremen reminisce about their upbringing, and as the conversation progresses, they try to outdo one another, their accounts of deprived childhoods becoming increasingly...
" sketch ("Try telling the young people of today that ..."), it was the only enduring catchphrase from the show.
Other work
Macdonald's acting on television included The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, Man at the Top
Man at the Top (TV series)
Man at the Top was a British television series originally aired on ITV lasting for 23 episodes between 1970-1972 . The series depicted the character of Joe Lampton, the protagonist of John Braine's novel Room at the Top and two films Room at the Top and Life at the Top...
, The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
, Man About the House
Man About the House
Man About the House is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett that was broadcast for six seasons on ITV from 1973 to 1976. It was created and written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The series was considered daring at the time due to its subject matter of...
, Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
and Rentaghost
Rentaghost
Rentaghost is a British children's television comedy show, broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which rented out the ghosts for various tasks.-Background:The company,...
. Her appearance in The Avengers was in Return of the Cybernauts (1967), in which she played a mini-skirted
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
secretary, similar to her 48 Show role, whose tights
Tights
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name....
were laddered as she was swept aside by a large robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
. Macdonald played Wendy in the film Take a Girl Like You
Take a Girl Like You (film)
Take a Girl Like You is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Jonathan Miller and starring Hayley Mills, Oliver Reed, Sheila Hancock, Ronald Lacey, John Bird, Noel Harrison, Aimi MacDonald and Penelope Keith. It was based on the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis, and was adapted by...
(1970), based on the novel by Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
. Stage roles in London included Susie in George and Ira Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Lady Be Good
Lady Be Good (musical)
Lady, Be Good is a musical written by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson with music by George and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first presented on Broadway in 1924; the West End production followed in 1926...
with Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair is a British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter. He is the son of Myer Ogus and Deborah Greenbaum...
in 1968 and Honey Tooks in Robin Hawdon's farce, The Mating Game (1972).
Between 1968 and 1983, Macdonald appeared occasionally on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio panel game Just a Minute
Just a Minute
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
. As the only female panellist of four, she was subjected to the jibes of comedian Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
that women should not be permitted to take part.
Press stories and later life
MacDonald's private life attracted interest in the press. She shared a mansion in Ascot, BerkshireAscot, Berkshire
Ascot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
with racehorse owner Geoffrey Edwards, remarking that she was "living in sin... it's lovely. I shall probably live in sin for the rest of my life". She owned a racehorse named Weep No More. Her name was linked to politicians, including Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Minister John Stonehouse
John Stonehouse
John Thomson Stonehouse was a British politician and minister under Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is perhaps best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death in 1974...
(whose secretary and mistress Sheila Buckley named her as one of his lovers) and future Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Prime Minister John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
. MacDonald has denied relationships with either, or ever having met "poor John Major", though she did recall Stonehouse as "tall, dark" and "very attractive to women". In her sixties she observed that "everyone gets hysterical if I say hello to a politician today... It's very annoying to be branded a scarlet woman".
MacDonald opened a lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
shop in west London but sold it during a downturn in the economy in the early 1990s. She returned to show business, taking part in a few nationwide tours, including a 2003 production of Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
’s 1962 musical film Summer Holiday starring Darren Day
Darren Day
Darren Day , is an English actor, singer and television presenter, well known for his West End theatre starring roles.-Early life:His paternal grandfather was a support and warm-up act for George Formby...
, in which she played the mother of former Hear'Say
Hear'Say
Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
singer Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw is an English actress, singer and television personality...
. Reviewers referred to Macdonald as a "sixties starlet".
In 2007 MacDonald visited Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
as an ambassador for the London charity African Revival
African Revival
African Revival is a UK charity which focuses on improving education in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Revival currently has active projects in Uganda and Zambia, and also provides funding for projects taking place in Sudan....
. The purpose was to link schools in Gulu
Gulu
Gulu is a city in Northern Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The city is located at 2˚46'48N 32˚18'00E, on the metre gauge railway from Tororo to Pakwach. Gulu is located approximately , by road, north of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city...
and the United Kingdom. She continues to act on television, most recently playing a guest role in the BBC TV programme Doctors.