Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. The great Kathy Burke gives good face

An interview that the actor Kathy Burke has given to promote her forthcoming memoir, A Mind of My Own, includes her infamous takedown of Helena Bonham Carter in the early 1990s.

- Barbara Ellen

To recap, the latter mused: “If you're not pretty and you're working class, you have an easier time in terms of people's attitudes to you.” In a letter to Time Out magazine, Burke replied: “As a lifelong member of the non-pretty working classes: shut up you stupid c***”

Burke has since met Bonham Carter and they made peace. Good to hear. Though, from the sounds of it, there’s a lot of “non-pretty” or “ugly” in Burke’s book. In her tough childhood, a woman exclaims: “Ooh, ain’t you ugly!” Young Kathy heartbreakingly responds with a quip and a dance. Elsewhere, she ponders on “not looking like an actress”; she also suspects she’s not cast because directors don't want to sleep with her. How disturbing; but, also, I'm confused.

Here’s the thing: I don’t find Burke “ugly”. Written down, it looks patronising, but I mean it. I think she’s got striking eyes, a cracking smile and red-hot charisma. I mean - yes, men, I'm looking at you - what else do you want?