Dinah May (9 September 1954), is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former model, former

Miss Great Britain Miss Great Britain is Britain's longest running beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. Owner and CEO John Singh made history crowning his first winner and to this date only the first black Miss Great Britain 1996. Singer and dancer A ...

, and former actress, latterly the

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

to film director

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous Action film, action, Thriller films, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and ...

Career

May was born in

Irby Irby may refer to: * Irby (surname), a list of people * Irby, Merseyside, England, a village * Irby, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby in the Marsh, Lincol ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, and trained as a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

. However, she found that she earned more money as a part-time model, and so took that up full-time. In 1976 she won Miss Great Britain and appeared as one of the score girls in BBC TV's ''

It's A Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...

'' for three years between 1976 and 1978. After this, she moved into television and acting, taking supporting parts in ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...

'', ''

Harry's Game ''Harry's Game'' is a British television drama mini-series made by ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television for ITV (TV network), ITV in 1982, closely based on the 1975 novel ''Harry's Game'' by Gerald Seymour, a former journalist. Apart from brief sc ...

'' and '' The Optimist'' before gaining the part of Samantha Partridge in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'', in which on 17 July 1984 she appeared in the first "Brookside wedding".

Michael Winner

In 1982 she met British film director Michael Winner in a restaurant, and became his PA in 1990. She undertook the role for the next 22 years, accompanying him in both his personal life and on his various film sets.

Personal life

May was married, and has two adult sons, but divorced in 2009. She has an extensive collection of vintage and contemporary photographs including press photographs, still lifes, celebrity Polaroids, and nude studies.

Filmography

*'' The Optimist'' (1983) - Lady racing driver *''

Death Wish 3 ''Death Wish 3'' is a 1985 American action thriller film directed and edited by Michael Winner. It is the third film and the last to be directed by Winner in the ''Death Wish'' film series. It stars Charles Bronson as the vigilante killer Paul Ke ...

'' (1985) - Nurse #1 *''Claudia'' (1985) - Party Hostess *'' A Chorus of Disapproval'' (1989) - Girl at Work *'' Bullseye!'' (1990) - Girl in Bar (final film role)

References

External links

Personal website
* 1954 births Living people People from Heswall British hairdressers English female models English television actresses Secretaries People educated at St Catherine's School, Twickenham {{UK-model-stub