I’m not stripping —Telethon guest

Press, 24 June 1983, Page 4

I’m not stripping —Telethon guest

Christchurch Telethon guest, Colette Mann, realised only last evening that she had to stay awake for 24 hours, but thought she would manage it. “That is what I came over here to do,” she said. The Australian actress, known to New Zealand television audiences as Doreen in the series, “Prisoner,” arrived in Christchurch yesterday and is no stranger to telethons. She had been a guest on six or seven telethons in Australia, but said that they were not as big as those in New Zealand.

“They are not done on a national basis, but in each of the state capitals, and although they run for 48 hours each guest appears for only a few hours,” she said.

When asked what she would do to help raise money for this year’s Telethon she was quick to reply that she would not take her clothes off.

“I’ll do just about anything else, but I’m not very

good at standing on my head.”

Miss Mann visited Christchurch 10 years ago with the stage show, “Godspell.” It was also the middle of winter then, and so she remembered to bring her longjohns this time. She will watch “Prisoner” on television while she is ■here, and hopes that she will be in it. New Zealand

viewers are about two years behind their Australian counterparts — and no, Doreen does not give Bea her kidney.

Miss Mann left “Prisoner” 14 months ago, although the series is still running. Doreen was close to her heart and meant a lot to her both emotionally and financially, but she said that she was not like her television character. She liked Doreen for the first two or three years, but said she went off her towards the end.

However, she was grateful for the role because it had made her a star. She is now entertaining Australian audiences on the Don Lane show. She will leave New Zealand on Wednesday to appear on the show on Thursday.

She will be busy during her brief stay here. Today she will make a ski-ing film clip at Mount Hutt for this show, although she said she did not know how to ski, and on Monday she will film at Rotorua.