Firestyle Magazine Issue 8 - Summer 2017 | Page 26

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Actor - Alexandra Pigg
Alexandra was born in 1962 in Knotty Ash , Liverpool , a British actress who first came to prominence as Petra Taylor in the multiple award winning TV soap opera Brookside .
Her best-known film appearances are as Elaine in Letter to Brezhnev ( 1985 ), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award , and as Bridget Baines in A Chorus of Disapproval ( 1988 ). She also starred in the BBC film Smart Money ( 1986 ), Strapless ( 1989 ) with Bridget Fonda , Chicago Joe and the Showgirl ( 1990 ) with Kiefer Sutherland and Emily Lloyd , Bullseye ! ( 1990 ) starring Michael Caine and Roger Moore , and Immortal Beloved ( 1994 ) with Gary Oldman .
Alexandra Pigg and Margi Clarke
Margi Clarke
Margi Clarke was born in Liverpool and brought up in nearby Kirkby . Her public career began in 1978 , as a presenter on the late-night entertainment magazine show , What ’ s On , which was just shown in the Granada region . She was known then simply as Margox .
In 1983 , Clarke appeared as Fran in two early episodes of Channel 4 ’ s award winning soap opera Brookside , credited as Margi MacGregor . Her brother Frank wrote her in , because , as she later said , “ I had a gas bill which I couldn ’ t pay !’
She came to greater notice when she featured in the acclaimed low-budget film Letter to Brezhnev ( 1985 ) about two working class Liverpool girls who meet two Russian sailors . The film was made for approximately £ 50,000 ( Clarke called this “ the cocaine budget on Rambo ”), and became an international hit . Margi originated her role of Theresa in Letter to Brezhnev a few years earlier when she played the role in a modest run at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 .
In 1986 , at the Evening Standard British Film Awards , Clarke was awarded the prize for “ Most Promising Newcomer ”. She followed this with the European art-house trilogy for the Kaurismäki brothers ( Helsinki Napoli All Night Long , I Hired a Contract Killer and L . A . Without a Map ).
She had a lead role in the films The Dressmaker ( 1988 ) and Strike It Rich ( 1990 ), and appeared in the Pet Shop Boys ’ video for their 1987 single , “ Rent ”. She was the stand-in host for Paula Yates on Channel 4 ’ s The Tube on several occasions .
In 1989 , she was cast as Queenie in the long running BBC award winning series Making Out , set in a Manchester electronics factory and written by Debbie Horsfield . The show ran for three series . In 1991 , she returned to presenting , this time on the late night ITV show The Good Sex Guide which gained unheard-of audience figures of 13 million for a show that aired at 10.35pm . She received a Royal Television Society ( RTS ) Award for “ Best Female Presenter ” in 1994 . A second series and third series followed , the last entitled The Good Sex Guide Abroad . Margi turned down an offer to take the series into a late night chat show format , the host eventually being Toyah Willcox .
In 1991 Clarke performed with Half Man Half Biscuit on the single “ No Regrets ”, a cover of the classic song , “ Non , je ne regrette rien ”, by Édith Piaf . At the same year she also portrayed Ronnie O ’ Dowd , a sexy female boxer in her brother Frank ’ s feature Blonde Fist .
Following the success of The Good Sex Guide , Carlton TV offered Margi her own day-time show , and the resulting programme , Swank , ran for two series . In 1994 , she tried a new venture , stand-up comedy , and took her one-woman show 21st Century Scutt around the country - the tour included a stint at the Edinburgh