LilMtnCbn
02-09-2004, 06:57 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/08/nanne08.xm
l&sSheet=/news/2004/02/08/ixhome.html
Only 57? Lynda La Plante used to be older than me, says Robinson, 59
By Chris Hastings, David Bamber and Fiona Govan
(Filed: 08/02/2004)
You are are the oldest link, goodbye. Anne Robinson reinforced her reputation
as the nastiest woman on television yesterday by *****ily exposing what she
claims is the real age of Lynda La Plante.
The BBC broadcaster, who famously intimidates contestants on her Weakest Link
quiz programme, raised the question after Mrs La Plante last week announced
that she had adopted a child at the age of 57.
The writer of such television hits as Prime Suspect, Trial and Retribution and
Widows said that she was overjoyed to have adopted a six-month-old baby -
Lorcan - in Florida.
Miss Robinson, however, accused Mrs La Plante of growing old remarkably slowly.
She claimed in her weekly column in The Daily Telegraph yesterday that Mrs La
Plante could not be 57, but must be at least four years older, "cruising nicely
towards 62". She was only too happy to expand on the subject last night.
Miss Robinson, 59, who knew Mrs La Plante when she was Lynda Titchmarsh growing
up in the Lancashire seaside town of Blundell Sands, said: "I noticed in the
newspapers last week that Lynda La Plante was saying that she was 57, and I
thought, 'That's a bit odd', because she was best friends with a girl who used
to live opposite me called Elaine, who was 11 at the time and Lynda was the
same age, as was my brother. Elaine and my brother are now pushing 62.
"If Lynda is right, she would have been six, and it would be very unusual for
an 11-year-old and a six-year-old to be best friends. It seems strange that
Lynda is now two years my junior."
She said that her published comments had prompted an e-mail from one of Mrs La
Plante's contemporaries at stage school, confirming her suspicions.
"The e-mail was from someone who was at Rada with Lynda in 1960. He was 18 and
she was 17 even then - so it seems she has aged remarkably slowly since."
Miss Robinson wrote in her column: "I have never bothered to hide my age. But I
realise other women, all of whom are no doubt superb wives and mothers,
obviously do feel sensitive enough to fib."
Last night, she said the age question had no bearing on Mrs La Plante's ability
to bring up a child, and she had no doubt that the writer would make a terrific
mother.
"She has all that life experience and I am sure she will be fine raising a
child," she said.
Mrs La Plante last night told The Telegraph from her home in London: "I am not
going to be drawn into a discussion about this." She dismissed the comments by
Miss Robinson as displaying "her own angst" about the subject.
Dealing with old age is obviously a subject close to her heart. Her most famous
creation, Det Supt Jane Tennison, played by Dame Helen Mirren in the Prime
Suspect stories, is now 54 and under pressure to retire.
A search of the Public Record Office yesterday appeared to support Miss
Robinson. The only birth certificate for a Lynda Titchmarsh was dated 1943, not
1946, which is the date of birth included on documents lodged at Companies
House by Mrs La Plante.
The spat between two of the most powerful women in British television is likely
to raise eyebrows in the United States. Although there is no age limit laid
down for would-be adopters, some health care professionals have said that
adopting at the age of 60 is not acceptable.
June Lewis, the director of Adoption Support Services in Miami, said: "The
regulations concerning adoption in Florida are really quite complicated. There
are no actual restrictions on the age of the adoptive parents set by the state,
though the children's country of origin may have strict rules.
"Adoption professionals work within certain guidelines. I would say that it
would be incredibly difficult for a woman in her sixties to adopt an infant
through a Florida agency. However, if someone wants a baby enough and has the
resources to back that need I wouldn't say it was impossible."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
l&sSheet=/news/2004/02/08/ixhome.html
Only 57? Lynda La Plante used to be older than me, says Robinson, 59
By Chris Hastings, David Bamber and Fiona Govan
(Filed: 08/02/2004)
You are are the oldest link, goodbye. Anne Robinson reinforced her reputation
as the nastiest woman on television yesterday by *****ily exposing what she
claims is the real age of Lynda La Plante.
The BBC broadcaster, who famously intimidates contestants on her Weakest Link
quiz programme, raised the question after Mrs La Plante last week announced
that she had adopted a child at the age of 57.
The writer of such television hits as Prime Suspect, Trial and Retribution and
Widows said that she was overjoyed to have adopted a six-month-old baby -
Lorcan - in Florida.
Miss Robinson, however, accused Mrs La Plante of growing old remarkably slowly.
She claimed in her weekly column in The Daily Telegraph yesterday that Mrs La
Plante could not be 57, but must be at least four years older, "cruising nicely
towards 62". She was only too happy to expand on the subject last night.
Miss Robinson, 59, who knew Mrs La Plante when she was Lynda Titchmarsh growing
up in the Lancashire seaside town of Blundell Sands, said: "I noticed in the
newspapers last week that Lynda La Plante was saying that she was 57, and I
thought, 'That's a bit odd', because she was best friends with a girl who used
to live opposite me called Elaine, who was 11 at the time and Lynda was the
same age, as was my brother. Elaine and my brother are now pushing 62.
"If Lynda is right, she would have been six, and it would be very unusual for
an 11-year-old and a six-year-old to be best friends. It seems strange that
Lynda is now two years my junior."
She said that her published comments had prompted an e-mail from one of Mrs La
Plante's contemporaries at stage school, confirming her suspicions.
"The e-mail was from someone who was at Rada with Lynda in 1960. He was 18 and
she was 17 even then - so it seems she has aged remarkably slowly since."
Miss Robinson wrote in her column: "I have never bothered to hide my age. But I
realise other women, all of whom are no doubt superb wives and mothers,
obviously do feel sensitive enough to fib."
Last night, she said the age question had no bearing on Mrs La Plante's ability
to bring up a child, and she had no doubt that the writer would make a terrific
mother.
"She has all that life experience and I am sure she will be fine raising a
child," she said.
Mrs La Plante last night told The Telegraph from her home in London: "I am not
going to be drawn into a discussion about this." She dismissed the comments by
Miss Robinson as displaying "her own angst" about the subject.
Dealing with old age is obviously a subject close to her heart. Her most famous
creation, Det Supt Jane Tennison, played by Dame Helen Mirren in the Prime
Suspect stories, is now 54 and under pressure to retire.
A search of the Public Record Office yesterday appeared to support Miss
Robinson. The only birth certificate for a Lynda Titchmarsh was dated 1943, not
1946, which is the date of birth included on documents lodged at Companies
House by Mrs La Plante.
The spat between two of the most powerful women in British television is likely
to raise eyebrows in the United States. Although there is no age limit laid
down for would-be adopters, some health care professionals have said that
adopting at the age of 60 is not acceptable.
June Lewis, the director of Adoption Support Services in Miami, said: "The
regulations concerning adoption in Florida are really quite complicated. There
are no actual restrictions on the age of the adoptive parents set by the state,
though the children's country of origin may have strict rules.
"Adoption professionals work within certain guidelines. I would say that it
would be incredibly difficult for a woman in her sixties to adopt an infant
through a Florida agency. However, if someone wants a baby enough and has the
resources to back that need I wouldn't say it was impossible."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
