Performer Anita Harris began her career as a teenager, when she sang with the Cliff Adams Singers. She went on to have a number of chart hits during the 1960s before becoming known as a variety entertainer, appearing on everything from The Morecambe And Wise Show to French & Saunders and starring in a number of Carry On films including Carry On Doctor and Follow That Camel.

Now aged 69, she is currently appearing with actresses Anne Charleston, Shirley Ann Field and Lorraine Chase in Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting On A Green Park Bench, which runs at the Connaught Theatre, Marine Parade, Worthing, from Monday, to Saturday. For tickets, call 01903 206206.

Tell us a little about your role in Five Blue Haired Ladies…

I play Gladys who’s loud, straight-talking, has a great sense of humour and is good with one- liners but is covering up a sadness at being separated from her husband of 30 years. She dotes on her children and grandchildren and is a good friend to her soulmates.

The play focuses on a group of women looking back on their lives – how do you feel looking back on yours?

I was so lucky to have incredible parents and two big brothers, Philip and David. I had a loving childhood – strict and encouraging, with an emphasis on the enjoyment of sharing. I was in Las Vegas at 16 years of age, working, dancing, singing and seeing Sinatra, Vic Damone and Mae West and learning from them all! Then I met Mike [Margolis], who was my record producer and has been my lovely husband for 39 years. We’ve shared wonderfully happy times, including when I worked with Harry Secombe, Jimmy Tarbuck, Tommy Cooper, Clive Dunn, David Nixon… need I go on? I feel very blessed.

Which film star/musician/ artist/writer do you admire?

Johnny Depp for his range – the wildness and silliness of Pirates Of The Caribbean and the depth and stillness in Finding Neverland.

Which TV programme couldn’t you live without?

Because I’m on tour at the moment, TV is rationed to the news and Jeremy Paxman.

Do you remember the first record you bought – what was it and where did you buy it?

It was Bill Haley And The Comets’s Rock Around The Clock – I skated to it while training at Queens Ice Rink at 17 and it wore me out! Also Elvis’s Blue Suede Shoes.

Favourite film...

My Favorite Year [the 1982 comedy about a young writer]; it’s crazy and stars the wonderfully funny Peter O’Toole.

Favourite book...

Webster’s 1828 dictionary is too marvellous for words. Working on my autobiography, it’s an essential aide-mémoire.

Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to?

May I Come In? by Blossom Dearie. When I worked with [actor and broadcaster] Bernard Braden he introduced me to the song and gave me four hours to learn it before performing it on his TV show! He was inspiring and so is the song.

What are you reading at the moment?

My script! And any others that come through the door!

Tell us about a live music/ theatre/cinema experience that sticks in your memory...

I repeatedly sat in the projection box while my dad and granddad ran the reels of Sonja Henje, the Norwegian ice-skating film actress who featured in films like One In A Million and Second Fiddle. Darryl Zanuck was the producer.

Is there a book/record/ film/play/ person that made you want to do what you do now?

At 13, having seen Doris Day in Calamity Jane, I emerged from the cinema walking on air and singing Secret Love and The Deadwood Stage.

It still resonates now!