Nicole Kidman sure to be a hit as Princess Grace

I’ve been at a fantastic do at the home of two Hollywood legends this week what a treat.

I’d been invited to the Equity Tea Party. Even though I’ve been working in Lala for more than 10 years, I’ve carried on paying my Equity dues. It’s a small way of giving something back.

It was held at Orson Welles’ estate, which is totally fascinating. Everything is as it was when he lived there with Rita Hayworth.

I honestly felt like I was stepping back in time. It’s been so well preserved. In one room, there’s a huge print of Citizen Kane, his all-time classic. Great stuff.

You know what I’m going to say next they just don’t make stars like that any more!

The party was hosted by Michael York. What a career he’s had everything from The Forsyte Saga to Cabaret to The Simpsons! A fantastic CV and a thoroughly nice man.

He gave a charming speech, saying that his name is really Michael Johnson, but when he started out another actor had the name. At the time Laurence Olivier was the man of the moment and there was a brand of cigarettes coming out called Oliviers. He spotted another brand called York, decided to use the name and get in there first, pretending they were named after him!

I chatted with Millicent Martin. She’s another star with an amazing career from her own show Millicent to Frasier. An actor called Richard Fox joined us. He’s been in some pretty big films including Titanic.

Anyway, the two of them discussed great Scottish actors and their favourites were Rikki Fulton and Jack Milroy.

Imagine I was talking to two top American actors in Orson Welles’ garden and we discussed Rikki and Jack’s comic creation Francie and Josie!

As I loved Rikki and Jack is one of my all-time heroes, I was well-chuffed.

Jacqueline Bisset was also there. We had a good laugh when I reminded her about the time I interviewed her when I first went to work in Los Angeles. It was way back in 1994.

It was a really hot day and out of nowhere she came over and powdered me down with her own make-up. Trust me, she is one very hot woman and it was kind of difficult to concentrate after that. She’s 68 now but still radiates beauty. Some people just have “it”!

There was a lot of talk at the party about a new movie, Grace of Monaco, about the life of Princess Grace. I know the Oscars have only just finished, but if you want an early tip, you could do worse than bet on this. It’s being made by Harvey Weinstein, stars Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace and Tim Roth as Prince Rainier.

If the buzz surrounding it is any guide, I’m sure it’ll be a huge hit.