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Annette Crosbie

‘ls Powderhall dog track still open?’ inquires Edinburgh-born Annette Crosbie, who is visiting her native city this fortnight. The 63- year-old actress, best known for her stewardship of Dr Finlay’s surgery and Victor Meldrew's grumps, has a passion for the dogs, though you won’t find her laying a wager. Animal rescue is her game, and she owns three greyhounds to prove it. Crosbie is leavrng them at home in London to tour in a new production of Edward Albee’s A Delicate _ Balance, starring Maggie Smith, ’lt requires a Splke Lee bit of honesty that most of us don’t often practise, for the sake of our sanity,' she remarks of the dark comedy Albee wrote in 1996, four years after the shattering Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. As for her fame, which has built steadily during the nine years of One Foot In The Grave: 'It's lovely sometimes. On the other hand, you can find yourself at the mercy of a few people. They follow you around Marks & Spencer and want to know what Size you’re buying.’ (Andrew Burnet) A Delicate Balance is at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue l6—Sat 27 ’jep.

The world’s most successful African-American filmmaker has lots of famous pals and lots of enthusiasm for basketball. Both are revealed in his new book, Best Seat In The House, a BOO-page tome with photos showrng Lee attending games with Jack Nicholson, Madonna, Prince and (as shown here) Woody Allen. Though too much of a squirt to make it as a slam-dunker, Lee has always loved the beautiful game. A lifelong New York Knicks supporter, he charts the growth of basketball and the progress of his team in parallel with his own journey from the backwaters of Brooklyn to the fame and fortune he now enjoys.

Best Seat In The House is published by Fourth Estate on Thu 78 Sep at £9.99.

Between Marx And A Naked Woman

. With a title that sounds like the A * perfect tablord headline for a g parliamentary scandal involving Old , Labour types, Camilo Luzuriaga’s movre comes to Glasgow as part of . this year's Latin American Film - 3 Festival. Only the fourth feature- ; length film to come out of Ecuador, Between Marx And A Naked Woman is a personal chronicle of the country during the 605, seen through the lives of an author and his friends. Elsewhere in the _ festival, there's an emphasis on "t Brazil, a look at how women are represented on screen and some hot nights of Latino jazz. Latin American Film Festival, from Fri I2—Thu 78 Sep at Glasgow Film Theatre. See preview, page 26.

2THELIST12—25 Sept 199/