Mum wasn't at all religious, but she thought that going to the theatre was as important a ceremonial, communal experience that a person could have.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't think I ever once heard Mum utter a religious or spiritual sentiment, a considerable feat considering that she was married for 57 years to one of the most prominent Catholics in the country.
My mother was a modern woman with a limited interest in religion. When the sun set and the fast of the Day of Atonement ended, she shot from the synagogue like a rocket to dance the Charleston.
The ritual of film-going in some sense replaced that of churchgoing, because you share something communal, sometimes mystical.
Mum was a high-jumper and qualified to go to the Olympics, but it got into the newspapers that she was married to my father, and the church put pressure on her to pull out of the Olympic team, saying, 'You can't be exposing all your legs.' That's how strong the influence of the church was on us all.
My parents were brought up in families which believed theatre people weren't to be trusted. But they were nice people.
If I had a religious belief, I would want it to be as strong as my belief in the theater.
My mother was very agnostic. She would never set foot in the synagogue, she couldn't be doing with it.
Mom was always doing something for somebody. She came from a Czech background, one that made her a devout Catholic and gave her a strong belief in the family.
My grandmother studied medicine in the Forties, which was very rare in Egypt, and my mother was a university professor, so my idea of religion wasn't about a woman not working or having to dress in a certain way; it was more to do with the faith.
Mum was a tremendous Anglo-Catholic. Very impressive, actually. She made me go to church for years - I still don't want to because of that.