Rita Tushingham shares her grief after her daughter was diagnosed with cancer

Rita Tushingham, who has appeared in films such as Doctor Zhivago and The Knack… and How to Get It, details the anguish she faced when Aisha, just 33 years old, contracted cancer breast stage three.

Rita Tushingham recalls the moment she felt like “someone picked you up and threw you against the wall” after her daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.

Tushingham rose to fame at the age of 19 for her role in the taboo-breaking 1961 film A Taste of Honey in which she starred alongside Paul Danquah, and earned herself both a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for the performance. mine.

In one scene, the pair shared what is believed to be an interracial kiss on the first stage.

The venerable actress, 80, who has also starred in films like The Knack… and How to Get It and Doctor Zhivago, detailed the anguish she faced when Aisha, was only 33 age, stage three breast cancer.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Rita said: “It was a shock. You felt like someone picked you up and threw you against the wall.”

“You can hide in a corner and not do anything about it or say ‘this is it’.

“You have to, I hate the word, but you have to be in the present moment. You have to accept what’s happening.”

The actress was emotional when she recalled the incident more than 17 years ago and praised her “most amazing” daughter after making a full recovery and going on to give birth to a son.

“Aisha was the absolute best and she got on with it,” continued Rita.

“She was very strong and spiritual and she helped me, at the same time, I brought my other daughter who was quite weak and sick in Los Angeles to the hospital at the same time.

“But… I did it myself at the end of each day, I put myself in ‘this situation’ and I actually slept really well.”

Rita added: “You just have to realize what the situation is. You can’t hide from it.”

On the show with Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne, she also recalled her audition for the role of A Taste of Honey, who advertised as an “unattractive, unknown actor” whom “something I can do,” she said.

* The full interview with Rita Tushingham on Desert Island Discs will air on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds at 11am on Sunday.