“But as far as my work is concerned, I see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf.”

“I can not remember even thinking that I was deaf when I was dancing.”

“I genuinely enjoy talking one-to-one. I have no shyness about that.”

“I have to concentrate more intently when people speak. I always have to position myself on their right side so that I can hear out of my left ear. I sometimes get a crick in my neck from listening. But I don't there's too much else.”

“I think the deafness affects me more than I realise; I think it makes me more tired. I loathe parties. I attend, smile and leave.”

“I took some classes in sign language when I was in my early teens because I was told that I would be completely deaf very early. But I never really wanted to learn.”

“I'm lucky that most of the time I'm on location in amazing places. Most of the time, I don't need holidays, I just stop working.”

“I'm the one by the backdoor - I am not the one in the middle of the party.”

“My worst holiday was in Athens when I was a young drama student at Rada in 1965. I ran out of money. I had my things stolen and I wasn't able to speak a word of the language.”

“Nothing is going to improve my hearing. I've only got to prevent it from getting worse.”

“One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.”

“We all live in fear of cancer, but to be told you have skin cancer was terrifying.”

“When I got into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a doctor told me to give up the course as I'd be totally deaf within a couple of years. But I refused to give in.”

“When I look in the mirror, I sometimes think I'm getting old, but then I have two generations behind me so that helps puts things into perspective. I am a grandmother now, but at least my nine-year-old grandson Jude calls me Glamma and not Granny.”

“When I was young I used to smother myself with olive oil mixed with a dash of vinegar to keep the flies away and lay in the sunshine for hours on end. But we knew no better then. Now we know how stupid that was.”