GWEN Taylor is the first to admit she has a very hectic life, especially now she's touring the country with George Cole in the play Heritage, which was at The Playhouse in Oxford last week.

But she is taking time out of her busy schedule to raise money for children's cancer research at the John Radcliffe Hospital after hearing about the plight of young Molly McCarthy.

The famous actress's heart strings were pulled by the tale of the tiny tot from Ypres Way, Abingdon, who lost an eye to cancer.

So when she was approached by the Four Pillars Hotel's managing director to promote an forthcoming auction of promises, she immediately agreed to help.

Molly's parents Sue and John both work at the Sandford-On-Thames hotel and the company decided to choose the charity for its 1998 fund-raising campaign.

One immediately assumes on meeting her that Gwen is a mother herself. But although she has three step-children and two great-grandchildren, she never had any children of her own.

But then the Derby-born star never was predictable. She was a 26-year-old bank clerk when she decided to take up acting seriously.

"I got to a junction where I either had to train to be a bank manager or do something else. My marriage had failed. And as I enjoyed amateur dramatics I decided to go to drama school. I was rather ancient there but I never looked back."

Gwen worked in theatres for five years, living out of a suitcase, before hitting the big time and moving to London.

"I have never been happier than I am at the moment or ever imagined being. But I am still firmly rooted in Derby and probably still would be if my marriage had worked out. It lasted two and a half years. He wanted a housewife and three meals a day. There's nothing wrong with that and I did try my hardest, but I was very unhappy. I did not want kids with him because I knew that the relationship wasn't right," she remembered.

After that she concentrated on her career and said she never wanted children with any of her new boyfriends. "I didn't meet anyone who would have been able to support me if I gave up working. They were all poor actors," she joked.

But she admitted she would have loved a child with playwright Graham Reed, her husband, when they first met, but the timing was all wrong. The couple finally tied the knot two years ago after 13 years together and Gwen is still a blushing bride.

"We married because we still loved each other after all this time and knew we would be together for ever. But it all came to a head after my mobile broke and Graham couldn't get hold of me and assumed something dreadful had happened. He got sick of explaining to the authorities his girlfriend was missing. When we caught up he said he just wanted to call me his wife."

But although the former Duty Free star loves her work, she describes herself as a home bird. "At the moment I manage to get back to London at week-ends, open the post, look at the garden, cook a meal and then I'm off again. So when the tour ends I'm looking forward to having some time to get organised." She lives in North London with both her step-children. "It's a rather unusual arrangement. I always thought by this age I'd be planning for my old age, not living in a house with the kids. I mean I get my bus pass next year! But I was on my own for years and often lonely so it's very nice."

She added:Not that Gwen has showed any signs of slowing down. She has got several more plays lined up and hopes to star in one of her husband's productions.

"I am very lucky. I never thought of acting as taking a gamble and I have never regretted leaving Derby. But I still have a giggle when I go into a bank and think about what might have been."

Gwen Taylor will be present at the auction of promises at 7pm on March 13 at the Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel where a signed cast programme will be on offer. Other prizes include weekend breaks, flying lessons, food hampers, signed Liverpool, Arsenal and Oxford United shirts, tickets to theme parks and zoos and family days out and a chauffeur driven BMW ride. Tickets for the auction cost £3.50 and include wine and nibbles. Phone 01865 334444 for more information. Parents lead appeal for little Molly MOLLY McCarthy, who is three next month, has a glass eye. Around her second birthday last year her parents noticed she was developing a lazy eye.

When they took her to the doctor Molly was immediately rushed to hospital where experts agreed she had retinoblastoma - more commonly known as cancer of the eye. Molly spent an hour in the operating theatre while surgeons battled to remove the tumour. And although the operation was successful it meant losing her eye. Luckily, her hand-painted false eye matches her sighted eye perfectly.

After the operation in April her parents John and Sue decided to start fundraising to help research into eye cancer.

So far £9,000 has been raised, with a target set at £15,000. Two thirds of the money will go to research and the rest will be donated to the children's eye hospital in Oxford city centre.

All Four Pillars Hotels countrywide are raising money for the fund. For further information telephone 01865 334444.

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