1970s TV star Aimi MacDonald says her career was derailed by false claims she had an affair with disgraced Labor secretary John Stonehouse.
Ms MacDonald, 80, revealed the damaging effects of the claims ahead of a highly anticipated new TV drama.
The Glasgow-born actress, who appeared on TV comedy quiz Blankety Blank, was recognized in 1976 as a Stonehouse enthusiast who faked his own death and went on the run in Australia.
Stonehouse, which will be broadcast early next year, tells how the former cabinet minister in the Wilson administration committed the daring fraud and eloped with his secretary, Sheila Buckley, in 1974.
Actress Aimi MacDonald was a popular fixture on British television in the 1970s but became embroiled in the Labor MP John Stonehouse scandal after she was falsely accused of being his mistress.
John Stonehouse (right), the British Labor MP who faked his own death in 1975, has returned to Heathrow Airport where he was charged with fraud, conspiracy and forgery.
Mrs MacDonald became embroiled in the scandal when Stonehouse’s embittered lover Buckley claimed she was one of the “other women” he cheated on his wife Barbara with.
Matthew Macfadyen takes on the title role of Stonehouse in the three-part series, with Keeley Hawes, the actor’s real-life wife, as Barbara.
“I’m definitely going to watch the series to see how authentic it is,” Ms. MacDonald said.
“I don’t think the Stonehouse thing did me any good. I was angry about it. I somehow managed to get caught up in all that kind of horror.
“All of a sudden I went from Mrs. Family Entertainer to The Scarlet Woman.”
Mrs. MacDonald made her name on At Last The 1948 Show, a satirical series with John Cleese, the forerunner of Monty Python’s Flying Circus – whose catchphrase “And now for something very different” she was the first to utter on screen .
At the height of her fame, Mrs MacDonald shared a country house at Ascot with racehorse owner Geoffrey Edwards.
On screen: The John Stonehouse affair is being revived by ITV with Matthew Macfadyen (48) (centre) playing the disgraced Labor politician in a three-part drama (Matthew’s real-life wife Keeley Hawes plays the MP’s wife Barbara (right) ), while Emer Heatley plays his secretary Sheila (left))
“Stonehouse was a friend of Geoffrey’s,” she explains. “I didn’t even like John. He was a terrible flirt, and I remember trying to play footy with me under a dining room table and I was like, “If Geoffrey could see what you’re doing, you’d be dead.”
“He was afraid of Geoffrey, who had a 12-gauge shotgun.”
Stonehouse, to be broadcast early next year, tells how the former cabinet minister in the Wilson administration faked his death in 1974 and ran away with his secretary, Sheila Buckley.
The deputy, said to be a spy for the Czechs, left his clothes on a Miami beach and swam in the ocean.
He is believed to have drowned, but a month later, with his wife Barbara and three young children grieving, he was arrested in Australia, where he was living with his lover under an assumed name. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
He married Miss Buckley, played by Emer Heatley, and died in 1988.
Tell the story: Stonehouse tells how the former cabinet minister in the Wilson administration faked his death in 1974 and ran away with his secretary, Sheila Buckley (John Stonehouse pictured in 1981).
Actor Matthew and his wife Keeley have been married for 18 years, and Keeley said they had to put aside the intimacy of their real-life happy marriage to play the roles.
The actress insists her union is the opposite of that of politicians John and Barbara.
She told the Mirror: “We’ve worked together before, but not for several years. And when it came up, it actually seemed like the perfect project on so many levels, especially since the Stonehouses are so different from Matthew and I and our relationship.
“So it’s nice to see us, I think, and interesting for people who might know we got married to see us as the ‘other’ couple.”
She said to Matthew: “It was really great. It was very happy, wasn’t it?”
He replied: “Yes, working with Keeley was very difficult.
“She is… it was hard. It was difficult. No, that’s a stupid answer. It was a pleasure working with Keeley. It was fun, wasn’t it?’
Matthew and Keeley met on the set of the drama Spooks in 2001 and later co-starred in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral.
They share children Maggie (17) and Ralph (16) together.
Source: Daily Mail
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
