Fenella Fielding Do You Mind If I Smoke?

Do You Mind If I Smoke? is Fenella Fielding's memoir about her remarkable career spanning seven decades in film, theatre, TV and radio. It is a warm, witty and sometimes shocking look back over Fenella's extraordinary life, with a host of famous and often unexpected characters – from Kenneth Williams and Tony Curtis to Francis Bacon, Muriel Spark and Federico Fellini. As Fenella says, in her unmistakable and ever-alluring voice, 'It's the best and worst bits of my life – because nobody wants to hear about the bits in between!'

Fenella Fielding is best known for her 1960s film appearances in classic comedies including Carry On Screaming, Doctor In Clover, and Carry On Regardless. She was the telephone operator and loudspeaker voice in The Prisoner and voiced the Blue Queen in Dougal and the Blue Cat. Her illustrious theatre career includes a stunning breakthrough performance in Valmouth and the title roles in Hedda Gabler and Colette. The Times called her Hedda Gabler 'one of the theatrical experiences of a lifetime'. She is fondly remembered for a number of appearances on The Morecambe & Wise Show, as well as playing The Vixen in Uncle Jack. Her most recent TV appearance was Skins in 2012, and she continues to appear on stage today. Simon McKay began writing in 1981 when he published his own post-punk fanzine Eccentric Sleeve Notes. In the late 1980s, he performed lots of gigs with his band Said Liquidator before a complete switch when he studied technology and eventually managed IT projects in the City. Never taking to corporate culture, he left to undergo a lengthy training in psychotherapy. During this period he met Fenella in a Pilates class. They quickly formed a close friendship that led to a collaboration, taking Fenella's memoir to the stage and then writing this book. Simon is now a psychotherapist with his own London practice.