A Mind of My Own by Kathy Burke

A Mind of My Own is the autobiography of British actor and director, Kathy Burke. Known for characters including Perry (of Kevin and Perry), Linda La Hughes of Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and Magda from Absolutely Fabulous, she’s had a very interesting life.

Kathy was born in London in 1966, the youngest of three children born to Irish parents. Her mother died two years later, leaving Kathy and her older brothers alone with their volatile, alcoholic dad. Kathy was partly brought up by friends and neighbours, while her brothers had the safety net of school. Hers was an unpredictable childhood, with very few boundaries. She wandered in and out of strangers’ houses as a small child, with nobody to keep her safe.

As a teenager, Kathy got a place at the Anna Scher Theatre, where her talent for acting was discovered. It wasn’t long before she was working professionally in theatre, TV and film. What she achieved before she even turned 30 was incredible.

Kathy has been in countless plays and TV shows and, although best known as a comic actress, much of her work was much more serious. While working, she made a huge number of friends, who are her friends to this day, and worked with a who’s who of British and international actors.

A Mind of My Own is a very interesting and entertaining read. It is told in very short chapters, each of them focusing on a particular memory or event, rather than running as continuous prose. This isn’t the entire story of her life, it goes up to the point where she decided to give up acting and focus on directing, which she did in the early 2000s.

If you like Kathy Burke (and who doesn’t?) or you are interested in theatre and TV from the 80s and 90s, you should definitely read A Mind of My Own. Even better, you should listen on audiobook! (I’ve never listened to an audiobook, but I know listening to Kathy narrate her own life story would be amazing.)