Chiswick Rallies Around Rula Lenska

Local support "means a lot" to star after ex-husband Dennis admits he was violent

The people of Chiswick have rallied around popular actress Rula Lenska after the revelations from her ex-husband Dennis Waterman that he hit her during their marriage.

"The support from local people has been wonderful. People are beeping their horns, coming up to her when she pops out to buy a newspaper, giving her the thumbs-up sign, it’s really made all the difference to her” her agent Paul Pearson told ChiswickW4.com

A long-time resident of Chiswick, Rula told Paul she was relieved the truth was finally out in the open. Dennis Waterman ( 64) admitted he had hit Rula during their 11- year marriage in an interview with ITV’s Piers Morgan, and said that he was ashamed by his actions. However, he added that the problem with strong , intelligent women was that they could argue well and that it was “not difficult “ for a woman to make a man hit her.

“I’ve represented Rula for many years and I know she has lived with the feeling that no-one believed her side of the story. She is pleased he has admitted it, but it is still very upsetting that Dennis has tried to defend the indefensible” said Mr. Pearson.

He added that one pleasant distraction in the midst of the media furore is that Rula was celebrating becoming a grandmother for the first time. Her daughter Lara Parker (from her first marriage to actor Brian Deacon) gave birth to a son two weeks ago and the actress is relishing her new role .

Rula has done an exclusive interview giving her side of the story which will be published in the Mail this Saturday and will not be making any other public statements he said.

“To suggest it’s okay to hit a woman just because she’s fiercely intelligent is shocking and wrong” said Mr. Pearson, who had lunch with Rula after the story broke.

Dennis Waterman was criticised by domestic violence charities following his remarks, admitting that he had left Rula with a black eye on one occasion and commenting that the actress “ wasn’t a beaten wife. She was hit, and that’s different.”

Rula, who is the daughter of Count Ludwik Maria Lubienski and Countess Elizabeth, who fled Poland for England in 1945, was married twice. Her marriage to the New Tricks actor Dennis Waterman lasted from 1987 to 1998.The pair fell in love when they met on the set of Minder in 1982.

She is a well known star of stage and screen for over thirty years and has appeared in a range of roles, from the film Alfie Darling in 1976, to Coronation Street in 2009 and on tour with Calendar Girls in 2011. In 2006 she took part in Celebrity Big Brother with George Galloway .

An ardent conservationist and supporter of animal charities, Rula recently signed the local HOOT campaign petition against building development adjacent to the Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve.

March 22, 2012