Lynn Waldegrave

Lynn Waldegrave was bitten by the acting bug in her early 20s, when her mother wrote a part for her in a Christchurch amateur play. A chance meeting with a casting director — which involved an accidental fart — led to her first TV gig: landmark comedy series A Week of It. Waldegrave presented kids show How's That, then joined McPhail & Gadsby, doing songs then sketches. She won praise from Angela D'Audney for baring her breasts on a Nude News skit, and did a deadpan imitation of music host Karyn Hay. During 20 years in London, Waldegrave did further acting, including Cannes-winning short film Horseshoe.

I was excited every time I went in there to see what was going to be happening next, what we're going to make me do next. What murderous things are we going to be up to today? What are they putting me in now? Lynn Waldegrave recalls working on TV show McPhail and Gadsby, in her extended interview for 2019 TV series Funny As: The Story of NZ Comedy