Abby Wanamaker, 66, was born in New York but grew up in London after her father, the actor and impresario Sam Wanamaker, left the US to escape McCarthyism. One of three daughters - the actress Zoë Wanamaker is her sister - Abby trained as a speech therapist in England and the US, then travelled the world, living in Tierra del Fuego, the Congo, Chile, Trinidad and Indonesia before settling in Los Angeles. Now retired to Woodland Hills, California, she visits the UK regularly, where she remains active in the administration of her father's most famous legacy, the Shakespeare's Globe theatre.

When I meet new people in Los Angeles they ask me: "What's the accent I hear?" I say I come from England. Although I'm American, there's definitely a Brit inside me. I spent half my life there but the other half in the US so I'm an expat in both. I buy my bras from Marks and Spencer but get my knickers in LA.