80s siren to Downton Abbey star - a look at Scots star Phyllis Logan's success as she turns 70
40 years since she sashayed onto screens as the alluring Lady Jane, and unlike many of her contemporaries, Logan, who turns 70 on Sunday, is busier than ever.
Her breakthrough role as Ian McShane's glamorous love interest, Lady Jane Felsham, in 1980s comedy-drama Lovejoy secured her place as a household name.
The will-they-won’t-they romance between her character and McShane’s roguish antiques dealer Lovejoy kept audiences captivated for years.
Now, 40 years since she sashayed onto screens as the demure and alluring Lady Jane, and unlike many of her contemporaries, Logan, who turns 70 on Sunday, is busier than ever.
The Scottish star’s career has seen her take on all manner of roles on stage and in film, including her long-running part as housekeeper Mrs Hughes in the massively successful period drama Downton Abbey.
Last year alone, she starred in the Downton Abbey film, which has made more than £100million in just three months, and performed in four popular TV shows and a short film.
Ahead of her milestone birthday, Logan spoke about some of the roles she’s taken on and the close friendship she shares with many of the co-stars she’s appeared with.
During her time as Lady Jane, Logan wore an array of power suits, ballgowns, cocktail dresses and country attire to suit the character’s upper-class credentials.
While some actors might have loved the chance to indulge in these fashion choices, Logan said the wardrobe element of her career is something she’s rarely enjoyed.
Logan burst onto the scene in the 80s as the love interest for Ian McShane's Lovejoy
A still from the moment Logan first appeared in Lovejoy as aristocrat Lady Jane Felsham
Her most famous role to date has been housekeeper Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey
Asked about trying on clothes for a part, she said: ‘It’s my absolute bug bear.’
However, while trying on clothes isn’t her favourite, she spoke highly of costume designers she’s worked with – such as Elle Kent who styled Logan’s character Cora Felton in the Channel 5 drama Puzzle Lady last year.
Logan said: ‘Elle the designer came up with Cora’s look which I love, it’s so unusual and vibrant and out there.
‘It’s not the sort of things I wear but it’s probably the sort of things I’d like to wear if I was a bit braver.’
She added: ‘I trusted her. I hate trying things on so much it got to the stage I’d look at it and go “Great, I love it”.’
Born in 1956 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, to mother Betty and Rolls-Royce engineer father David, Logan was the youngest of three children.
Despite stating no one from her school had ever gone on to become an actor, Logan secured a spot at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – starting her on the path of her lifelong passion.
During her career, Logan has taken on a host of roles, including turns in popular Scottish comedy Scotch and Wry, and classic British dramas such as Inspector Morse, Midsommer Murders, Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost and Silent Witness.