Model Linda Lusardi began her career in 1976 when she was 18 and first appeared on Page 3 of The Sun, writes Dan Moore.
She proved popular and before long was making regular television appearances in everything from The Weakest Link and Blankety Blank to Wheel of Fortune and Good Morning Britain.
She also took on acting roles in popular series such as The Bill, Emmerdale and Mandy.
Linda, 66, lives in Hertfordshire with her second husband, actor Sam Kane with whom she has two children, Lucy, 28, and Jack, 25, both singers.
What did your parents teach you about money?
I grew up in Palmers Green, North London, with my dad Nello, a shopfitter, and my mum, Lilian, a tax officer. Mum always drummed it into me to put money aside for tax.
I went from being a schoolgirl straight into modelling and the limelight, so I earned a lot in the first few years and took no notice of what my mum had told me.
I spent every penny because I thought it was mine, on cars and holidays, and then got a massive tax bill. That taught me a lesson.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Not really. I left school and worked as a clerk in a tax office. I did modelling jobs in my spare time. One day, I asked my agent if I could do this full-time, and he said, you’ll never know while you are working as a full-time filing clerk. Well, I gambled and quit my job as a tax officer on £35 a week and started modelling, earning £35 – an hour.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
When I began modelling, the work just flowed in. Before then I’d been on a plane once and suddenly I was going on ten or more trips a year to Spain, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, you name it.
The modelling led to other things and before long I was being paid £50,000 for a panto season. I didn’t do panto last Christmas, as my mum passed away and I needed time to sort things out, but I am doing an Easter panto in Blackburn this year.
What was the best year of your financial life?
The biggest pay cheque was for a Paxo stuffing TV advert in the 1980s when I earned £40,000. Other jobs weren’t fantastic money but kept me ticking over, and then I did a summer season in variety in Blackpool in the 1990s.
Let’s just say that paid for my farmhouse, which I lived in with my former husband for several years.
I moved from modelling to acting in the mid-1990s, playing Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.
The most expensive thing you bought for fun?
I was at a charity ball in about 1989 and bought Joan Collins’s last Dynasty outfit for £1,000. Dame Joan held it up at the auction, a black sequin number. I still wear it sometimes. I didn’t want to buy it particularly, but I was pushed into it.
I met her on the night with Biggins (Christopher), who’s a friend of hers, and she was wearing the dress. I commented on it and he pointed out that Joan was auctioning it later on.
Well, when the auction began Biggins piped up, saying he knew someone who wanted to get the bidding started, and that was that.
My husband at the time was a tightwad, so when I got home, he asked what I had draped over my arm. I told him, but said it cost £200. Of course, it was in the paper the next day with the real amount – so that little white lie didn’t last.
What is your biggest money mistake?
I don’t think I’ve ever made a money mistake, as I’m absolutely perfect!
Best money decision you have made?
Building houses and investing in property. It’s in my DNA.
As a child, I’d watch my dad do DIY at home and I was a sponge, picking up on what he was doing. I’d be inquisitive, asking why he put such and such paint on first, and it all stuck. When I was younger, I’d have a go at everything, from plastering to laying tiles.
What’s the worst that could happen? You just get in someone else to put it right.
I’ve always turned my hand to things, and to be honest, when I have tradesmen in to do jobs I’m never all that satisfied with their work.
Do you own any property?
Not apart from my home, because it doesn’t make sense to have more than one property otherwise you get stung with capital gains tax.
I have always been into property though. I bought some land aged 20 and project managed the building of a three-bed detached house in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire because I couldn’t find a house that I liked.
I bought the plot for £60,000, and it cost about the same to build the house. It was by a lake and had once been a caravan park, so it was an attractive location
My then husband and I lived there for about eight years before selling it for about £270,000. Nowadays, houses there go for £1 million, but that’s by the by.
We then bought another plot in Hainault, east London, and built a small two-up, two-down between two other houses. We lived there with our stuff in storage while we bought and renovated a farm building with seven acres. We sold that when the marriage fell apart.
I’ve probably made more money through property than modelling.
What is your number one financial priority?
My priority is to have money in my old age, so I have the luxury to give up work when I want. I’m off to a good start as I have just got my state pension coming in, which is absolutely lovely. I also started a personal pension when I was 20, putting a lump sum in at the end of each financial year. I am now reaping the benefits of that as well.
- Linda Lusardi stars in Sleeping Beauty at the Blackburn Empire in April with her daughter Lucy Kane. To buy tickets go to: blackburnempire.com.
