Audiences know her as the scheming Sable Colby on The Colbys and from her appearance in the ABC miniseries Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story. But few people know that actress Stephanie Beacham has been completely deaf in her right ear and quite deaf in her left ear ever since birth. And yet, the successful actress and mother of two girls - Phoebe, 13 and Chloe, who turns 10 in March - refuses to let her disability interfere with her busy life. Below, Beacham talks frankly about her handicap.

How does your deafness affect you on a day-to-day basis?

Well, it causes me to get headaches more often than some people do. I have to concentrate more intently when people speak. I always have to position myself on their right side so that I can hear out of my left ear. I sometimes get a crick in my neck from listening. But I don't think there's too much else.

Social interactions must be more difficult for you. How do you cope?

I genuinely enjoy talking one-to-one. I have no shyness about that. But I am completely confused in a room full of people. I don't hear a word anybody says. I'm not able to enjoy parties for that reason. I'm very happy to go to a nice, loud, noisy concert where nobody can hear anybody. But I find that cocktail-party situation, where I am expected to make conversation, most difficult. I mean, you will find me in the broom cupboard talking to somebody. I'm the one by the back-door - I am not the one in the middle of the party.

Do people interpret your behavior as shyness or aloofness?

Naughtiness, actually. Nobody thinks I'm shy. People just think I'm a beast. I sometimes cut people off dead, not knowing that they have spoken to me. I have been accused of rudeness.

How does your deafness affect your work?

Once, I appeared on a television program and the host said something to me that I heard as "Is your hair all right?" I said, "I don't know. You're looking at it." And he said, "Oh my God, you really are deaf, aren't you?" I said, "What do you mean?" And he replied, "I just said, 'Can you hear all right?' " But as far as my work is concerned, I see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf. My deafness doesn't stop me - in fact, it aids concentration.

Were the people you worked with on The Colbys sensitive to your problem?

They got used to me sort of shifting around to their right. Obviously, if there was a camera setup of if a director had a special reason for wanting me on the other side, there was no problem. I mean, we'd do it. But during dramatic scenes, particularly those I did with Charlton Heston, he just accommodated himself whichever way I wanted to go. He was a darling.

Do you read lips?

I do, but I'm not very good at it. I took some classes in sign language when I was in my early teens because I was told that I would be completely deaf very early. But I never really wanted to learn. And I was lucky enough not to have to, because complete deafness never came to pass. Nothing is going to improve my hearing. I've only got to prevent it from getting worse.

You have two sisters and one brother, but you were the only one in your family born with a hearing problem. Were you treated exactly like you siblings?

Oh, good heavens, yes.

Was nothing made of your deafness as you were growing up?

No, I don't think my parents made much of it. Mummy and Daddy just brought all of us up with an amazing attitude, which is, "You are capable of doing anything you want to do." They set very high standards on everything. But I don't think they were too worried about me. They never said, "You must do this or you'll never make it in life." Make it in life? What is "making it in life?" I think our parents simply looked at the glow in our cheeks. Being happy and cozy is all my mother cared about. When we're all around her and she is really happy, she clucks like a chicken and says, "Now isn't this cozy?" That is her criterion for anything. Grandness? No, she is not interested. "Cozy" is the word.

Did other children ever make fun of you because you couldn't hear?

"Yes. To this day I will not be called Steph. I can't bear it "Steph's deaf." Children are desperately cruel, aren't they?

Did your parents think it odd that you decided to become an actress?

I remember I was in a play in London, and Mummy and Daddy came to see me. Afterwards they came backstage. Daddy became silent, and Mummy said, "Darling, what are you thinking?" and Daddy said, "You know, I think that Stephanie is every bit as good as a real actress." But the important thing to them was always that their children be happy.

Do your parents live in England?

Yes. Daddy is 80 and Mummy is not far behind. She's so vain, I won't mention how old she is. She's gorgeous. She puts her lipstick on when she hears Daddy coming down the stairs. They're retired and live in Dunster, in Somerset.

Has your hearing problem made dealing with your daughters difficult?

Yes. They always want to be on my left side, because they know that when I ask, "Would you like some ice cream?" the one on my left side is the one whose answer I will hear. So they fight over my left side.

What do you do when you see this happening?"

I put my handbag on my left side and I say, "Walk by yourselves, then, if you can't discuss this properly." It makes me sad that they should think of me so disabled that only one side of me is any good. Sometimes they say jokingly to each other, "Oh she can't hear. She's deaf." You know that type of thing. But they're good girls. They help me whenever and however they can.

You and your husband John McEnery, who is also an actor, are separated, not divorced.

A few years ago, if I had decided to obliterate his memory, and marry another man, I suppose I would have divorced him. I decided not to do that. I went through the hard years. And now I don't really think that I will get married until the girls are secure. I've sensed tensions in other homes where the woman had remarried. It's too hard on everybody. I'll live without. I'm not that keen on it.

How often do the girls see him?

Whenever they want, whenever it's possible. They adore him. And quite right, too. He's their father.

Are you basically on good terms with each other?

Yes, he's a dear friend. It's weird. You go from love to loathing to hate to resentment, and then it all fades out and hopefully you're left with friendship.

How has the separation affected your relationship with the girls?

I am both Mummy and Daddy to them. I am the breadwinner, and I am the protector. I am the person who buys the bandages as well as the person who puts them on their knees. I think sometimes that we are almost too close, actually. They sometimes compete for my affection. Occasionally one of them will say, "Mother, you don't really love her. You really think that I'm the prettiest." I only hope that I have my mother's ability to make each of my children feel special.

Is it true that, before you decided to become an actress, you wanted to teach deaf children?

Yes, I wanted to teach dance. I'd studied ballet and mime, and I wanted to help people. I could always "hear" the music, especially through my feet. Vibration is a much greater part of hearing than people realize. I cannot remember even thinking that I was deaf when I was dancing. One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace than I knew was possible of deaf people. And I thought, "I know that I can teach them to dance through the bass notes on a wooden reverberating floor." I was convinced that they could learn real rhythm. There's no reason why they shouldn't understand waltz time, three-quarter time. It was a youthful dream, but I still think it could be done. It doesn't really take any amazing amount of effort. It takes good strong soundproofing, a wooden floor and a really sensitive teacher.

Now that you've starred on TV, do people recognize you on the street?

It depends on where I am. Some do, and they stop me and say hello. But I don't need the attention.

How do you feel when you are approached by a fan?

Well, if they want to say something nice, how can that be awful? When The Colbys was on the air, there was a period when I would get hissed at on the street because people didn't know how to relate to me, I suppose, but they wanted me to know that they recognized me. More recently it's been much nicer. People just sort of tap me on the shoulder and tell me how good I am. And that's great.

Is stardom something you aspire to?

Aspire to? It's something that, in the past, I've consciously avoided. And now I think that, if it were offered to me, I'd be churlish to refuse. When I was twenty years old I was very firm about being a serious actress, not a film star, because it seemed that stardom required too much exposure of flesh, too much talk from people in business suits, too much talk generally about things I didn't understand or didn't seem able to relate to. Now, I feel, well, if I can't relate to something, that's all right - I'll get somebody who can translate for me. What I mean to say is that I'm old enough now and confident enough now not to be frightened of any of the possibilities life might offer. Also, I think it's rather silly to be half-famous, so let's be utterly famous.

Do you ever worry that your deafness will prevent you from achieving your dreams?

No. Actually, I consider myself pretty lucky. It doesn't exactly stop me, does it?