Heartache of 'Mary Poppins'

As Mary Poppins she is the West End's brightest new star. But while Laura Michelle Kelly, 23, basks in praise for her latest role, it has emerged that she achieved her extraordinary rise in the face of huge personal obstacles.

The actress fought against family hardship, the separation of her parents and her mother's death from cancer, and the break-up of her own marriage while she was still in her teens. But her role as the nanny whose arrival transforms the fortunes of the Banks family mirrors the changes Kelly herself has brought about in her life.

Although she and her three brothers had a happy childhood on the Isle of Wight, Kelly's strict Baptist family struggled on the £160 a week her father Martin, 49, brought home as a quality controller at a tomato farm. Despite Kelly's obvious talent for song and dance, the family could not afford the tuition she needed.

The youth group at her local theatre provided her first break. Singing coach Barbara Walter was so impressed by a performance by Kelly at the Shanklin Theatre that she offered to take her on free.

David Redstone, director of the theatre, recalled: "Laura joined us when she was about

12. On stage there was this sparkle in her eyes and she was just able to shine."

Kelly left home at 16 to try to make it in London. She lived off mashed potatoes and boiled haggis in a run-down flat as she tried to land auditions and an agent. When an advertisement appeared for a part in Beauty And The Beast at the Dominion Theatre, it can be revealed that her mother Alison advised her to go "to get used to rejection".

But she got the job as chorus member and second understudy for the lead. The lead and first understudy fell ill, and at 17, Kelly was catapulted into the limelight. Rave reviews followed and work offers flooded in.

Kelly took the lead in Whistle Down The Wind, where she met choreographer Nick

Winston, 30. They married a year later with West End stars among the 500 guests. But Kelly's world was shattered when her parents parted. Then her mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Nine months after her wedding, Kelly faced a challenge to her faith, marriage and the future.

One friend said: "Something in Laura Michelle's life had to give, but we were all surprised when she separated from Nick." The pair were apart for almost 18 months as her mother fought for life. As her condition deteriorated Kelly resolved to try again at her marriage. Mrs Kelly died hours after being told that her daughter and Winston had been reunited.

Isle of Wight theatre critic John Hannam, who has followed Kelly's career, said: "She's climbed so high. She has not been changed by success. I saw her in overalls painting the door of the family home. I can't think of any other West End star like that."