Actress Liza Goddard feels she'll never work again when her present tour ends.

"I always feel like that when I'm coming to the end of a job," she revealed. "It was terrible in the days when my children were in expensive schools - it was real nail-biting stuff."

Of course there always has been more work in the past, and the lack of a contract already tucked in her pocket is hardly proof that this versatile actress is suddenly unemployable.

Liza is appearing in Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde at the Cliffs Pavilion from Monday, June 26 and she is sure the play is going to be as big a hit in Westcliff as it has been round the rest of the country.

"It has been going brilliantly!" she enthuses.

Liza appears in the show as the enigmatic Mrs Erlynne. "There is a wonderful cast," she says. "There's Fennella Fielding and Christopher Biggins. And there's a marvellous set - it's a pig to put up and down - it's not a touring set, it's a West End set."

Liza is a long-time favourite on both stage and television and she loves Oscar Wilde. "When I was in my early 20s I appeared as Cecily in The Importance of being Earnest," she says. "I always said I wanted to play Lady Bracknell - which I did last year.

"I'd never thought about playing Mrs Erlynne. Bill Kenwright suggested that I should. It's a wonderful part.

"Importance is the perfect play, but there is more reality in Lady Windermere's Fan. People relate well to it. The language and costumes may have changed but the human side is still the same today. It's all about secrets, relationships and love."

Most actors bemoan the necessity of touring, but Liza claims: "I enjoy it. I live in Norfolk, so even if I was in the West End I would have to be away from home and I'd rather travel. I like seeing different parts of the country."

Liza thinks many improvements she's seen in city centres are due to lottery funding, something that has had a positive effect on provincial theatres too: "A lot of people are not going to London now.

"They are discovering their local theatres and are surprised how wonderful the standard is."

Liza is at home both on the stage and television, her TV roles having won their way into the hearts of all ages. She appeared in Take Three Girls early in her career, and more recently she has been seen in Bergerac and in the children's TV series Woof!

Despite her fears Liza has always been in work but she says "It has been a tremendous struggle, especially when the children were at school and I was a single mother."

Her children have grown up now and she has become a grandmother. "My daughter has just had a baby," she confides. "I spend a lot of time in Mothercare."

Animal-lover Liza also devotes time to the charities that she supports, the National Canine Defence League, the International League for the Protection of Horses, based in Norfolk, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the Hawk and Owl Society.

She and her husband are particularly keen to protect barn owls: "My husband has put up 40 nest boxes for barn owls. We have them nesting in our barn and we've put closed circuit TV in there.

"When the young learnt to fly we had six barn owls flying round the house in the evening."

One reason for the owls' demise is their need to catch prey on short grass, most of which is now found at the edge of roads. "As they are nocturnal, their eyes can't cope with headlights," she explains.

Of all the young owls that have been raised under her watchful eye in the past few years - all of which are tagged - only two have so far been found on the road.

Another charity close to her heart is Breakthrough Breast Cancer. "I had breast cancer three years ago," she explains. "I had my treatment and now go for check-ups."

Since then she has raised money for the charity in a women's marathon. "I walked 26 point two miles in a wonderbra," she laughs. "I raised £1,000 and felt pretty pleased with myself."

Now she is concentrating on her work and her family and has plenty more to feel pretty pleased about.

Lady Windermere's Fan is at the Cliffs Pavilion, Station Road, Westcliff from June 26 to July 1. Tickets are available from the box office on 01702 351135.

Ladylike - Liza Goddard, famous for roles on TV and stage, appears as Mrs Erlynne in Lady Windermere's Fan at the Cliffs Pavilion

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