Billie Whitelaw

I was deeply saddened to hear that my co-star from the 1971 film "Gumshoe" had passed away yesterday. I had watched Billie Whitelaw in numerous TV programmes, Dixon of Dock Green, Robin Hood, various dramas on Armchair Theatre and films such as Charlie Bubbles during the 1960s. She had an understated glamour and presence. Her principles were encapsulated in the tough realism of the roles she played.

We were having breakfast in our condemned flat in a flaking and once opulent Victorian terrace in Liverpool 8 when the two girls in the flat spotted Albert Finney, the male lead of Gumshoe, standing on the vacant derelict land across the road from the flat talking with the director and film crew. They opened the sash window, waved at him and asked if they needed any extras. The director replied saying that they were looking for a young male to play a news reporter and were there any in the flat. Paul and I finished our toast, dawdled to the window, anxious not to show any interest, and were asked if we would like a part in the film they were shooting.

Thirty minutes later I had been hired as the getaway driver for Billie Whitelaw as she ran out of an adjacent building where, in the film, a heroin addict had died. The road had been closed and I was to drive her away at speed. They made eight takes of the scene, it took an hour and a half. I am not normally into celebrity but this was Billie Whitelaw, a real actress. I had the unbelievable pleasure of her jumping into the car, demanding me to drive her off and being told by the director to squeal the tyres of the getaway car. Even in a Hillman Imp, this was about as good as it gets for any 22-year-old male student.

I did miss a couple of lectures and gave my apologies, the lecturers said they would have done the same. I was paid £20, enough for 200 pints of beer (10p a pint in the Philharmonic pub) or my flat rent for six months (£3 a week between 4 of us). The whole scene was edited down to about 15 seconds in the film. Billie Whitelaw has remained a lifetime icon.

Gumshoe with Albert Finney