THE Lady Vanishes at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre from April 9-14, and that lady is Dulcie Gray.

Far from vanishing from the stage, that evergreen charmer may be in her 80s but she is still much in demand.

Retirement is not on her agenda. "If people keep asking me to do nice plays, why not?

"At my age there's only really Johnny Mills as a 'rival' and I can't really see him a frock!"

In The Lady Vanishes, Dulcie plays Miss Froy who vanishes from a train. Set in the 1930s, as was Hitchcock's famous film version, the adaptation is says Dulcie, "just on the side of a spoof".

Miss Froy is "charming but a tough cookie" according to Dulcie. It's a pretty good description of the lady herself.

Since 1998 she has survived the heartbreak of losing her husband, actor Michael Denison, whom she married in 1939.

They met at drama school and their friendship blossomed into something more.

"It's tremendous luck marrying a good friend. He was clever, funny, a good actor and the nicest man I've ever met. He never, ever let me down."

After an unconventional childhood, Kuala Lumpur-born Dulcie lost her parents when they were in their 50s. Her father died in a freak accident in Singapore and her mother drowned while trying to escape from the Japanese during the war.

Penniless, she worked her passage to England and drama school. As she and Michael began to make their way in the theatre, they became involved with writer JB Priestley who helped them to re-establish their careers after the war.

Dulcie has completed the pocket biography of JB Priestley that Michael had started, but she is no stranger to writing.

She has written some 25 books, including 18 crime novels, but her passion is for butterflies.

A Fellow of the Linnaean Society, Dulcie has written an award-winning book on the subject.

"I began to write a long time ago. I was very ill and for a time, they thought I was going to die. But I never told Michael, which looking back was probably very silly of me.

"I had sleepless nights and I would creep downstairs. I began to write detective stories because I so enjoyed reading them.

"I had no intention of seeking a publisher, but Michael found my first manuscrip and sent it off to a publisher.

"To my surprise, they accepted it."

Dulcie is no stranger to success; she and Michael had one of the most famous and enduring on and off-stage partnerships. The temptations that theatre life offers did not mar their marriage. "Temptation can be quite fun, as long as you don't give in to it!"

Although many of her stage successes were in the West End, Dulcie is not yet ready to return there.

"The memories of my time on stage there with Michael are still too painfully fresh."

But Dulcie never lacks the company of friends, many of them fellow actors.

"People often think badly of actors but they are kind, disciplined and supportive. Barely a day has gone by since Michael died when someone hasn't called to ask me out or visited me."

Dulcie's co-stars are also a pleasure to her.

"It is a delight to be working again with my friend Victor Spinetti. We worked together on an adaptation of the Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers."

The public too have kept Dulcie close to their hearts.

"I get letters all the time, not just from actors but from strangers who have seen me on stage, on film or often in TV reruns of shows like Howard's Way."

The tour of The Lady Vanishes lasts for five months but that doesn't bother Dulcie.

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to. I don't really think about taking a holiday - I did my travelling when I was young."

Hitchcock's lady may be vanishing from the stage train nightly, but Dulcie Gray will still be charming audiences when it reaches the end of the line.

Sandy Baker