Midweek - 23/09/2009

Sarah Butler is a writer who has just completed a residency on the London Underground, working with staff on the Central Line for six months to produce a book of stories, Central Line Stories, that will be available for passengers to read on the tube and ultimately online. It is the latest project in London Underground's pioneering Art on the Underground programme. Lenny Henry is an actor, writer and comedian. His big break came when he won the TV talent show New Faces as a 16-year-old stand-up comedian and went on to become a household name in TV shows including Tiswas, the sketch show Three Of A Kind and the hugely successful Lenny Henry Show, featuring Delbert Wilkins. More recently he has branched out into acting and is currently taking on his first stage role, playing the Moor in Barry Rutter's production of Othello at London's Trafalgar Studios. Leslie Caron is the French actress who was spotted by Gene Kelly in Paris when she was just 17 and a member of Roland Petit's famous ballet company. She became an overnight success when Kelly bought her to Hollywood to co-star with him in An American in Paris. She went on to star with Maurice Chevalier in the classic film Gigi and also Lili, Daddy Long Legs with Fred Astaire and The L-Shaped Room. Her autobiography, Thank Heaven, is published by JR Books. Clarissa Dickson Wright found fame alongside Jennifer Paterson as one half of the much-loved TV cooking partnership Two Fat Ladies. She is the author of the bestselling memoir Spilling the Beans as well as many cookery books. She is also a qualified barrister. Her new book, Rifling Through My Drawers, features stories from her life as she travels around Britain.