Aline Waites

Aline Waites is an English actress, director, producer, reviewer and writer. She is widely known for a long spell playing Gwen, the daughter of Mrs Dale, the BBC's famous fictional diarist in Mrs Dale's Diary.

Aline Waites was born in Kingston upon Hull, educated at Froebel House School, and studied for the theatre at Webber Douglas Academy. Before her grown-up training, she was already skilled in dancing, singing and modelling and had written a prize-winning comedy.

On graduation she won the Silver Medal and a BBC contract, and at the BBC was lucky to work with famous actors of the day, including Sir John Gielgud to whose Ernest Worthing she played Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. She played Gwen, daughter of Mrs Dale twice daily on radio in Mrs Dale's Diary, which was later renamed The Dales. Her mother was first Ellis Powell and later Jessie Matthews. Latterly, single-again Gwen took increased prominence as the parental characters aged, with her choice of new husband a major cliff-hanger just before the serial ended.

As a stage actress Aline Waites did many tours and seasons, including Rep at Torquay, Bournemouth, Southampton and Bangor in Northern Ireland. Favourite roles were Marilyn Monroe in The White Whore, Jane Eyre and Melanie in Gone with the Wind 2.

On television she debuted as Lottie in The Puppet Master, a live transmission in 1956. She played Nurse Joan Edwards in Emergency Ward 10, and was in A Life of Bliss and other drama productions.

She started Aba Daba Music Hall, the first fully professional pub theatre company, at the Mother Redcap, Camden Town, and from 1970 at the Pindar of Wakefield Theatre in Gray's Inn Road. This venue (now the Water Rats) was purpose built for the company. In 1980 she produced a political twice nightly revue for Kennedy's in the Kings Road called Downstairs at Kennedy's. A new project at Underneath The Arches in Southwark, begun in 1991, continued until 1996. The music hall performances were at first traditional, but soon became well known for their radical nature.

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