Nothing like a dame - Elaine C Smith

'How did I end up here?' A question Elaine C. Smith asked herself when sitting in the dressing-room of a top theatre in London's West End, about to go on stage with one of the UK's most successful plays.

In Nothing Like a Dame, Elaine reflects on a 50-year journey that took her from being that lippy wee lassie brought up in a mining village in the heart of darkest Lanarkshire to a celebrated performer at the peak of the entertainment world.

She recounts her long struggle to make it in a male-dominated, working-class Scotland at a time when women were supposed to just shut up and stay thin, especially in the sexist world of theatre and television, where she was told, 'Look, women just aren't funny.'

Despite many highs and lows, she has proceeded to forge a stellar career in show business, hosting her own TV series and becoming the first woman to consistently headline pantomimes in Scotland. She is a household name thanks to her comic portrayal of 'Mary Doll' Nesbitt, the long-suffering wife in the award-winning BBC comedy Rab C. Nesbitt.

Nothing Like a Dame is a heart-warming memoir, candid, outspoken, hilarious and at times deeply sad - exactly what you would expect from that lippy, opinionated and wonderful Elaine C. Smith. This is her story.