Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 11

Lesley-Anne Down Recalls 3 Near-Death Encounters as 72-Year-Old Reagan Actress Reflects on Survival

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 11

Lesley-Anne Down Recalls 3 Near-Death Encounters as 72-Year-Old Reagan Actress Reflects on Survival

Q: How did dodging a serial killer and jumping from a moving car shape the woman who eventually played Margaret Thatcher?

They made Lesley-Anne Down markedly cautious, self-reliant and resistant to being pushed into unsafe or limiting situations — traits that carried into both her life and career, including her later turn as Margaret Thatcher in “Reagan.” Down has said three early brushes with danger shaped how she lived thereafter. As a child, she was shaken when a girl with a nearly identical name, Leslie Ann Downey, was identified as a victim in the Moors murders. At 11, she said a man tried to lure her into his car, and at 18 she escaped a fake taxi by jumping from the moving vehicle when the driver refused to stop. Those episodes appear to have left her with a lasting instinct for risk assessment and personal safety. That caution became a guiding rule in Hollywood. Down said she warns women never to go anywhere alone and always to have someone with them. The broader pattern in her career supports that sense of control: she said she turned down Bond-girl offers to avoid being typecast, later stepped away from acting around 2012, and eventually left Malibu for Georgia in search of a quieter life after repeated wildfire evacuations. Her Thatcher role fits that arc. Down described Thatcher as a formidable figure whose patriotism and resolve she admired, regardless of political debate around her. For an actress shaped by survival, wariness and independence, portraying Thatcher meant inhabiting another woman defined by toughness, discipline and certainty under pressure.

Q: Why did three terrifying childhood encounters push a famous actress to issue a chilling warning to Hollywood women decades later?

Because Lesley-Anne Down says those incidents taught her, very young, how quickly ordinary situations can turn predatory and life-threatening, she carried that caution into adulthood and into Hollywood. Down has described three episodes that shaped her outlook. At 10, she was shaken when the Moors murders case erupted in England and a victim, Lesley Ann Downey, had a nearly identical name to hers, terrifying her family. At 11, she said a man on a footbridge tried to lure her into his car by claiming he needed a babysitter; she escaped when her mother appeared. At 18, she said she got into what she thought was a taxi, realized it lacked normal cab equipment, and jumped from the moving car when the driver refused to stop. She has said those experiences left her with a lasting instinct to recognize danger and not ignore it. In recounting the false taxi episode, she said the fear felt familiar from the earlier encounter, which helped push her to act rather than freeze. That is why, decades later, she offered a blunt warning to women pursuing careers in Hollywood: never go anywhere alone and always have someone with you, whether an agent, publicist or companion. Her point was practical rather than theatrical — that ambition can place young women in vulnerable situations, and her own history convinced her that vigilance and backup can be lifesaving.

Q: What drove a multi-millionaire actress to abandon Malibu for Georgia after surviving both Hollywood predators and devastating wildfires?

Lesley-Anne Down left Malibu for Georgia mainly because repeated California wildfires made life feel untenable, and because she wanted a quieter, safer life after years of feeling wary about danger in both her personal life and the entertainment business. Down said a series of early near-death experiences shaped her lifelong caution: the Moors murders case involving a girl with a nearly identical name, an attempted abduction when she was 11, and escaping from a fake taxi at 18 by jumping from the moving car. Those experiences, she said, taught her never to take personal safety lightly and later informed her warning to women in Hollywood not to go anywhere alone. The practical trigger for leaving California was the worsening fire threat in Malibu. Down and her husband, Don E. FauntLeRoy, had lived there for decades, but she said evacuations became more frequent and the 2018 Woolsey fire was the breaking point. She recalled being escorted through a scorched landscape and deciding, “I can’t take this anymore.” Web reports say they moved in 2020 to the Atlanta area. Georgia offered what Malibu no longer did: stability, space and a calmer “suburban countryside” lifestyle. Down has described the move as a chance to step back from the pressures of Hollywood, where she had also spoken about predatory behavior and the need for constant vigilance. In short, the move was driven by safety, peace of mind and quality of life.

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 11

Lesley-Anne Down said she survived three moments when she believes she could have been killed, recounting them in an interview tied to her role as Margaret Thatcher in “Reagan.”
At age 10, she said her family was shaken by the Moors murders because victim Lesley Ann Downey shared a nearly identical name and age; a year later, Down said she narrowly escaped a man trying to lure her into his car.
At 18, Down said she jumped from a car moving about 25 mph after realizing the driver was not a legitimate taxi, leaving her bloodied on the curb while the man sped away.
Now 72, Down said those experiences shaped her advice to women in Hollywood: never go anywhere alone and keep an agent or publicist nearby.
The interview also touched on her later career choices, including turning down two Bond-girl opportunities and taking the Thatcher role in the 2024 biopic, whose director’s cut was released Sept. 25, 2026.

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Fox News2h ago

Lesley-Anne Down Recounts Three Near-Death Experiences, Discusses 'Reagan' Role

How did dodging a serial killer and jumping from a moving car shape the woman who eventually played Margaret Thatcher?

Why did three terrifying childhood encounters push a famous actress to issue a chilling warning to Hollywood women decades later?

What drove a multi-millionaire actress to abandon Malibu for Georgia after surviving both Hollywood predators and devastating wildfires?

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1 total

Fox News2h ago

Lesley-Anne Down Recounts Three Near-Death Experiences, Discusses 'Reagan' Role

Lesley-Anne Down Recalls 3 Near-Death Encounters as 72-Year-Old Reagan Actress Reflects on Survival

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