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Height: 5' 2"

Eye colour: Brown

Hair colour: Grey

Playing age: 60-75

Click here or scroll down to read Hilary Sesta's article Why I Love ... Being Old, published in The Guardian in October 2004

Agent: June Epstein Associates
Flat 1, 62 Compayne Gardens
London NW6 3RY
Phone: 020 7328 0864 Fax: 020 7378 0684
Email: june@june-epstein-associates.co.uk

 
Production Role Company / Venue

Sweet Revenge Rebecca BBC
Jonathan Creek Florrie BBC
My Hero Mrs Gardner BBC
Oliver Twist Martha Carlton
Last of the Summer Wine Mme Dupont BBC
Picking Up the Pieces Renée Carlton
The Bill Elsie Thames
Cadfael Crone Central
Ain't Misbehavin Mrs Rose LWT
The Darling Buds of May Effie Barnwell LWT
London's Burning Janet LWT
Chandler & Co Vera BBC
The Great Kandinsky Mrs Andrews BBC
Enid Blyton - Sunny Stories Head Teacher BBC
Moon & Son Nonie Barrington BBC
Jeeves & Wooster Aunt Emmilene LWT
A Box of Swan - Debut on Two Mother BBC
Poirot: Mystery of Marsden Manor Margaret LWT
The Dark Angel Lucy Wyatt BBC
The Woman in White Mme Rubelle BBC
The Dybbuk The Mother's Spirit BBC
Doctor Who Fortune Teller BBC

The Vieux Carré Miss Carrie Nottingham Playhouse
Katerina Vera Lyric Studio
The Body Politic - Grin and Bear It Rose Soho Theatre Company
The Government Inspector Mrs Polshlyopin Compass Tour

One in Four Mentally ill mother Warner Bros
Esther Kahn Grandma Sophie Kahn Magic Lantern Films
The Promise Renée Large Scale Films
The Girl with Brains in Her Feet Betty Lexington
Same Dog Whitewashed Veronica OSF
Murder by Decree Catherine Eddowes Goldston
Jabberwocky The Old Scrubber Python Films
The Black Windmill Ilkeston's Secretary Universal

Agent Provocateur The Madame Another Film Company
The Bill promo Pensioner witness WSBA
British Airways Mother Teresa Saatchi
Dollond & Aitchison Deirdre Low-Howard-Spink
The Kiss - Colgate Puritan Lady Arden Sutherland
Beware of the Blunders Mrs Blunder COI


Hilary's membership of awl inspired her to write and perform the bawdy monologue Coming of Age, the popular winner at the awl Competition Night in July 2001, which she performed again as part of awl's first public showcase at Bullion Room Theatre, Hackney Empire, in November 2003.

Other recent awl credits include

 

Why I love ... being old
by Hilary Sesta

The Guardian, Tuesday October 26, 2004

Worried about ageism? Not me. Unlike you retired-at-60 lot, I'm still working in my 70s and will go on until - well, whenever. And not because the government tells me I have to.

You see, I'm an actor and, despite bleatings from 50-60 year-olds about there being no parts for older women, I'm living proof that they just have to be patient and keep at least fit enough to hobble to castings. At an audition I attended recently with a 90-year old, I think her Zimmer Frame helped to get her the part instead of me.

My husband sometimes lets his age get to him. Standing in a crowded train not long ago, he looked casually, almost admiringly, through the lower part of his bi-focals at an earring in a provocative navel. To his dismay, the owner immediately got up and offered him her seat. But he still gets an occasional availability check. I take that as a compliment.

On the tube, my five-foot-two height makes me more nervous than my age. Everyone seems to carry large things on their backs these days. Warding them off can be a problem, but before they get too near, I shove them away as hard as I can. My age stops them from retaliating. I don't worry about travelling in the rush hour. I'm quite content to let my unbleached white hair and un-lasered, un-Botoxed lines work for me. Sometimes women who I'm sure are much the same age as me, radiant in their hair-dyes, try to prove a point, and take my arm as I mount a step.

I'll admit I'm a little sad that, when young men practically fight to give me a seat, they don't notice my admiring glances. It's restful not having to compete, though. To be honest, I never could have flaunted my midriff, but my legs are still in good nick. When I did a commercial with Kylie Minogue, she said, "You've got them, you ought to show them." I'm not too sure. At my age?

 

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