Back after 64 years 'resting'

She was last on stage as a romantic lead in the year Hitler annexed Austria. Now, after a break of 64 years, Pamela Gibson has returned to London's West End alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Jack Davenport.

Sir Peter Hall's new production of Lady Windermere's Fan will see the octogenarian actress resume her career after what may be the longest sabbatical in acting history.

When the Second World War broke out, she joined the codebreakers of Bletchley, and it was there she met her future husband Jim. He proposed but said his bride had to reject the stage.

She explained: "Jim said, 'Let's get married - but I don't see much point in a marriage if the wife goes out when the husband comes in'."

However, when he died two years ago, she renewed her acquaintance with greasepaint, winning the part of Lady Jedburgh in the Oscar Wilde classic at The Theatre Royal, Haymarket.