Benidorm’s Madge Harvey star Sheila Reid looks unrecognisable in snaps from start of career

thesun.co.uk:

BENIDORM star Sheila Reid is unrecognisable in snaps from early on in her hugely successful career. The 84-year-old actress has starred as the fearsome Madge Harvey in ITV's popular comedy from its first series in 2007.

But the over-the-top cigar chomping, scooter riding sun-lover is far removed from the real Sheila, who was born in Glasgow before her dad's army career uprooted the family to India then Shropshire.

Reflecting on how her career began, she told the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald: "I got the acting bug I think because I’ve always been small; and I was very fat, I had crooked teeth that crossed over at the front… and I used to just live in the world of make-believe because I wasn’t terribly keen on who I was. "It was interesting because with acting I would play character roles, and where there were roles where you were playing yourself I found that the hardest thing of all – because I would have to strip it all away and be me. "I have an older sister and a younger brother, they weren’t interested in the arts at all but I used to drag them all in to do plays in front of my parents and relatives; I was writer, director and of course the star." .css-16e4f55{margin:16px 0;}.css-u6yh49{background-color:rgba(246,242,249,1);margin:16px 0;}.css-1tapza8{padding:20px 15px;}.css-1bk4jdt{padding:20px.