HONOR Blackman, still sensational at 70, makes a long-overdue return to Blackpool's Grand Theatre for one night only this Sunday, January 11.

Honor, who has played countless femmes fatale including the Avengers' leather-clad Cathy Gale and the devastating Pussy Galore in the James Bond film Goldfinger, presents her one-woman show Dishonorable Ladies, a history of the femme fatale.

From Cleopatra to Mae West, Delilah, Carmen and Edith Piaf, Honor explores their irrestistible allure with a twist of wit and a lot of music, using her trademark husky voice in a series of sultry songs.

"They are all marvellous characters," she said. "A femme fatale is first of all a fascinating companion, not a bimbo, but someone a man loves to be seen with, and she loves to fascinate men."

Honor denies she is herself a femme fatale: "I can't say I've spent my life trying to fascinate men" - though she has succeeded.

"I'm looking forward immensely to re-visiting the lovely Grand Theatre," she told me. "I last came to Blackpool, it seems about 100 years ago, when I was playing the juvenile lead in a play called The Blind Goddess.

"I remember an understudy persuaded me to go riding on the beach when I'd never sat on a horse in my life before. I pointed my toes down and ended with cuts on my feet from the stirrups. I could hardly walk on to the stage that night."

No such mishaps should happen to the mature Ms Blackman, however, who collaborated with director Michael Crompton and writer John Watts to create Dishonorable Ladies.

Her piano accompanist is the accomplished musical director William Blezard, who has worked with Sir Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich and Joyce Grenfell on world tours.

Tickets for the 7.30pm show are available from the box office, phone 290190 (£10.50 or £8.50 concessions).

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