LEIGH has lost its principal lady of the theatre.

Dorothy Kane, better known as Dorothy Galvin, the shining star of St Josephs' Players for half a century, died on Monday.

During her lifetime she turned her back on stage and screen stardom, but as a teacher and amateur thespian inspired hundreds of youngsters to follow in her footsteps.

I remember Dorothy in her heyday in the late Sixties when I visited her at her St Helens Road home and she acted a playlet on the telephone for an audience of one -- me. She was brilliant. She recalled the time she turned down a role which was given to the lovable actress Dora Bryan, but never regretted the path she took in life for one minute.

Dorothy loved the town, the theatre and the company and it was a sad day when age forced her to bring down the curtain on her glittering am dram career.

One thing's for sure. Her memory will never be forgotten by the thousands of theatregoers she inspired throughout her golden years as first an actress then a producer.