Stephanie
Beacham has become a glamorous grandmother. In fact, when daughter
Phoebe presented her with her first grandchild four months ago,
the family insisted she should be called not 'Grandma' but
'Glam-ma'.
Phoebe,
25, an actress like her famous mum, and her 23-year-old sister
Chloe, who works in marketing for Internet company
www.virtuetv.com, are products of Stephanie's marriage to actor
John McEnery, which ended when the girls were young. Now based
in Los Angeles, where she made her name on television as Sable
Colby in Dynasty and its spin-off, The Colbys, the
53 year old is currently starring in the West End comedy A
Busy Day. Phoebe lives in Bristol with her husband, property
developer Nicholas Penny, and was delighted to share her joy
with OK! readers...
Phoebe,
tell us about the moment you discovered you were pregnant...
I
just remember feeling overwhelmed and thrilled, because the
father was Nick and I just knew he was the right one. I rang him
from the doctors, where they did the pregnancy test which came
back positive, and Nick said: "You'd better get home for a
glass of champagne then! It was a happy accident that turned
into something we always wanted. The timing was perfect for
Nick, and for me it felt completely right. We had a whirlwind
romance - marrying last year on my birthday, December 29. We're
very much in love.
When
did you tell your mother?
About
two weeks after I found out. I wanted to make sure everything
was safe. When I knew it was all fine, I told her and she was
absolutely thrilled. She said, "Well, the two of you are
very strong and you've got a great relationship.
Congratulations!"
What
do you recall of the last few days leading up to the birth?
Phoebe:
It was a tense time because I was
two weeks overdue and I had a lot of time to worry. So I tried
to relax by having acupuncture and aromatherapy.
Stephanie:
In the end, as we waited, we
knitted a few extra unnecessary little baby Jude sweaters.
Phoebe:
I went into hospital on the
Tuesday and he was born two days later, but in between that
time, nothing happened so I discharged myself and went home. My
mum was there, which helped to keep me calm, happy and focused.
I went back in the next day and my contractions started.
How
did the birth go?
Phoebe:
It went really easily and I
managed to push him out in about an hour. Nick and Mum were in
the delivery room with me and it was just so reassuring to have
them both there. Nick was fantastic, very brave, very
supportive, very strong for me; and I couldn't have done without
Mummy...
Stephanie:
The whole experience was as big as
- and strangely not so different from - being with my mother
when she was dying two years ago. To see the amount of energy it
takes to get on this planet and, in a strange way, the amount of
energy it takes to get off it, was very moving. But I don't
think I cried properly for a couple of days, and then I just
suddenly wept. I thought, 'He's here and he's beautiful and he's
perfect and everything's working. It's done.'
I
had to steel myself, you see, for Jude being born. I had been so
moved by my mother's death at the age of 85 and by Daddy dying
soon after at 91, that all my natural feelings of joy were
dormant.
In
the end, as it happened, Jude came into the world at the perfect
time and my heart was ready to be warmed again. It's amazing
what he's done for us all. I know that Phoebe's understanding of
me has been deepened by her becoming a mother - just as my
understanding of my mother was deepened when I became a mother.
How
do you most differ?
Stephanie:
I think I plan more, while
Phoebe's more spontaneous. You can't bring up two children
single-handedly as I did without planning.
Phoebe:
I'm more outwardly sociable, a
little more gregarious than her.
Stephanie,
how are you taking your new role as a grandmother?
Well,
until Jude arrived, I had been feeling like an orphan because of
my parents dying. There was a feeling of bereftness - I couldn't
phone my best friend, my mother, every day. So to suddenly be a
grandma is a delicious entitlement.
Do
you see it as a new phase in your life?
Stephanie:
Yes, that's exactly what it is.
I've done the very best work that I could do for my parents - as
indeed did my brothers and sisters - and for my girls. And then
there was a gap when my daughters were no longer tied to my
umbilical cord and it was not my place to be in daily contact
with them, and now suddenly I can be an active granny. Or, as
Phoebe likes to call me. Glam-ma.
Phoebe:
Yes, she's the most glamorous,
beautiful grandmother there is. She knows it's new period in her
life - a new era. The whole family were very upset by
Grandmother dying, and I think we were still suffering slightly
until Jude came along and brought us such joy.
What's
your mother like as a 'glam-ma'?
Completely
devoted to the role, as I always knew she would be. Our
grandmother was an incredible woman, and I feel so lucky that
Jude now has such an amazing grandmother. As she did with us,
she'll just share her love and be completely wonderful with him.
She said it was nice to have a boy in the family - and she's
going to have a lot of fun with Jude and they're going to be
great friends.
Stephanie,
how do you get on with Nick?
We
were both present at that extraordinary time of Jude's birth and
I was so utterly impressed by the communication between Nick and
Phoebe. During the whole of her 12 hours of labour they didn't
speak. They looked each other in the eyes and gave each other
the strength from this unspoken love. He cares so completely for
my daughter, so how could I not care so completely for him?
Phoebe
and Stephanie, what are the qualities you respect in each other?
Phoebe:
I love the fact that she's strong,
brave and intelligent, and that her heart's in the right place.
I love how, despite a lot of hardship in her life, she's managed
to stay on top and be a player and never give up.
Stephanie:
I love her heart, goodness and
humour.
How
do mother and daughter get on?
Stephanie:
We've never had a phase of not
getting on. There were times when Phoebe was at college and
wasn't coping domestically - I think it's called growing up -
and I had to intervene to bring some order to her life. But
that's all.
Phoebe:
We're very close, Mum, Chloe and
I, because we grew up as a threesome after my father left around
1986. We went to live with Mummy. We were both in boarding
school in Taunton and at weekends we would spend time with our
grandparents. During the holidays, we'd fly out to the US to be
with her in LA, where she was making Dynasty and The
Colbys. She single-handedly brought us up, and gave us the
best possible education. It was quite a feat.
What
do you remember about that LA period?
Stephanie:
When I was in The Colbys, one
of the sweetest things I recall was when (her co-star) Charlton
Heston was haranguing my character, Sable, and he suddenly dried
stone dead. I said to him, 'What's the matter?'
He
said, 'Look over there.' Phoebe and Chloe were looking at him
with such disbelief that anybody could speak to their mother
like that. Their horrified expressions had caught his eye on the
side of the set and it totally threw him.
Phoebe:
I just remember how rich Dynasty
and The Colbys had made us, but also how
much hard work success takes if you want it. When we first went
to the States it was like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
going through from the black-and-white world into the world of
Technicolor.
Tell
us about your hopes for the future - how do you see your
relationships progressing?
Stephanie:
I can only say that I am thrilled
with the relationship that I have with both my girls, and I know
that it will continue forever. And how it is wonderful when that
closeness touches three generations again, as it did when my
parents were alive. If I can begin to fill my mother's shoes as
far as her grandchildren are concerned, I'll be very, very
happy. And if I can be as good a granny to Jude as my mum was to
Chloe and Phoebe, then I'll be overjoyed.
Phoebe:
If she can carry on being there
for Jude, then the family jigsaw will be complete. We've
tragically lost one grandmother but, with the birth of my baby,
a new grandmother has emerged. Good old Glam-ma!
