Maureen Lipman says lack of work for older female actors is ‘fair enough’: ‘The same thing happens to a leaf on a tree’

Actor pointed out that while Judi Dench and Maggie Smith still worked a fair amount, most older female actors did not

‘Just because you’re 74, it doesn’t mean that you believe it,’ Lipman said (Rex Features)

Maureen Lipman says it’s “fair enough” that female actors struggle to get work as they get older.

The 74-year-old actor has had a long career on both the stage and screen, but told the Radio Times that there is “a certain amount of invisibility” for actors of her age.

“Though Maggie Smith and Judi Dench have done all right, there’s not a lot of drama work out there for older actresses,” Lipman said.

“And you have to understand that every older actress still thinks that she’s 34. Look at Joan Collins. And just because you’re 74, it doesn’t mean that you believe it.”

Lipman, who in 2018 rejoined the cast of Coronation Street 16 years after first appearing on the soap, discussed how it had affected her personally, explaining: “I don’t sit around thinking about my absence from society, because I’m too busy getting on with life.

“Yes, maybe we do get thrown on to the scrapheap after a certain age, but that’s fair enough, isn’t it? The same thing happens to a leaf on a tree.”

Last month, Lipman was made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.