VivaSync

Born into a family of actors, Kate O'Mara made her first public performance at the age of four and she's since played everything from Shakespeare to Joan Collins's sister in Dynasty.

Today, Kate, 64, acts, runs her own theatre company, and has written her autobiography. Twice married and with one son, Dickon, 41, she is single and lives in Somerset.

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'At the moment I'm not happy with the way I look. I've always been a reasonably goodlooking girl, but it's a struggle now to keep one's figure. I'm still a size 10, but it's the toning that's getting me down, and I think it can only get more difficult as I get older.

Either one gets very thin and scrawny or one puts on poundage; I'm definitely not going to pile on the pounds, so I can expect to end up scrawny.

My face is already becoming quite skeletal, which is alarming.

With age, things tend to sag a little, too. My bust is driving me mad because it seems to be getting bigger by the moment. It's probably the hormones, just one of those extraordinary tricks nature plays.

It's beyond a joke now and I spend my life trying to flatten them. God knows what size I am at the moment: every time I buy a new bra I have to get a bigger size.

Probably the only type of cosmetic surgery I'd consider is having my bust reduced. It's alright for my current role in The Marquise because it's a costume drama, which means boned corsets and a bit of cleavage, but it's a drag otherwise.

However, I wouldn't consider surgery for tummy tucks; if I can't sort out that part of my body through diet, I'd let it go.

Because my career has been based so much on my looks, when I finally pass my 'sell-by' date, I think I'll probably pack it in. Unless I make the changeover into playing witches or something, I don't see what career I can have.

When I was growing up I was completely happy with my figure; it wasn't until I started getting older that I really began thinking about it. When you're used to having something and it suddenly starts to deteriorate, you think: 'Oh Lord!'

I've always been unhappy with my teeth. I've lost most of them from my bottom jaw and those in the upper jaw have been screwed in or capped. As a result, I've got great hollows under my cheeks and my bone structure seems accentuated.

In my profession you need good-looking teeth and there was a period when I seemed to be living at my dentist's in Harley Street. Once I was asked to cough up £22,000, but didn't have that kind of money.

But then I do have the same dentist as Faye Dunaway and Robert Redford.

My legs are still in good nick. I put that down to walking. Living in Somerset, in the middle of the Blackdown Hills, means there are plenty of places to roam. When I'm home, I walk for miles. As it's uneven terrain, it's good for the muscles.

Being on tour can make it difficult to eat sensibly. I've been a vegetarian since I was 18, but getting decent salads away from home is difficult.

I like Thai food because it seems very clean and nourishing, and as far as drinks go I like the Carpe Diem range - an ancient Chinese herbal fermented drink which is supposed to restore one's equilibrium.

There was never any doubt that I'd become an actress. My mother put me on stage at the age of four, which was considered the norm in a family of actors and theatre managers who ran their own companies around Britain.

I was never in one place for more than a year, which meant dozens of different schools and that made me immensely independent.

That's why it's unlikely I will marry again. I'm no good at relationships because I put my career first. I'm interested in people, but I can't devote the amount of time I think they'd like.

It sounds lovely to meet somebody who could take all the stresses and strains away, as well as being a money provider, but I've never met anyone like that.

I've been married twice. My first husband was actor Jeremy Young, who I met while making an episode of the police drama No Hiding Place.

We divorced around 1976. Jeremy, like me, was a Leo. True to our star sign, we were both determined, dominating and indomitable, but generous to a fault. The trouble with having two people of the same temperament is that they don't complement each other.

I married my second husband, Richard Willis, in 1993. I met him in a 1989 stage production of Antony And Cleopatra. We divorced after about three years.

Often I'm asked why I go for younger men. The truth is, I don't. They go for me. It's been my experience that men of my own age like younger women.

I'm not really into the changing fashions. I think I've developed my own style, which is very Russian. I love wearing trousers tucked into boots, long coats that reach the floor and Russian hats.

Back home in Somerset, I wear jumpers and jeans. I think make-up helps preserve the skin. I never go out without eye make-up.

I eat well, I don't smoke and loathe alcohol - a reaction to the fact that my father drank heavily.'

Kate's autobiography, Vamp Until Ready - A Life Laid Bare (Robson Books, £16.95).

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