Lesley-Anne Down Details 3 Times She ‘Should Have Been Killed,’ Including Jumping Out of a Moving Car to Escape Man Impersonating Taxi
Lesley-Anne Down Details 3 Times She ‘Should Have Been Killed,’ Including Jumping Out of a Moving Car to Escape Man Impersonating Taxi
Tereza ShkurtajSat, October 17, 2026 at 5:59 PM UTC
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Lesley-Anne Down in 2007Credit: Toni Anne Barson Archive/WireImage -
Lesley-Anne Down was thrust to fame in the ‘70s after her breakout role in Upstairs, Downstairs
In an interview withFox News Digital, Down recalled three frightening encounters that taught her to trust her instincts when she senses danger
She now urges women pursuing careers in Hollywood to always have someone they trust nearby
Lesley-Anne Down has built a decades-long acting career with memorable roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, North and South and The Bold and the Beautiful. The British actress also portrayed former first lady Nancy Reagan opposite Dennis Quaid in the 2024 biographical film Reagan.
Away from the screen, however, Down told Fox News Digital that she has endured frightening encounters that she believes could have cost her life. In a recent interview with the outlet, she opened up about the “three times in my life when I should have been killed by other people.”
Down’s first frightening experience came when she was 10. A series of murders in England involving a young girl with a name remarkably similar to hers left her mother shaken after receiving phone calls following the child’s identification.
“I remember there was a little girl, one of a number of children who were murdered and buried on the moors in England,” Down told the outlet.
Lesley-Anne Down of ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ in 2007Credit: Robert Voets/CBS Photo Archive via Getty
The child was Leslie Ann Downey, one of five victims murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between 1963 and 1965. According to the BBC, several of the children’s bodies were buried on Saddleworth Moor in northern England, and the crimes became known as the Moors murders.
Although Down was not the victim, the case definitely scared her family. A year later, she experienced a frightening encounter of her own while returning from a laundrette with her mother. After running ahead, she crossed a footbridge and encountered a man who she said tried to lure her into his car by claiming he needed a babysitter.
“I remember having one foot in the car. Seeing my mother broke the spell. Then he was gone,” Down told Fox News Digital. “But I still remember that horrible feeling swooping in before my mother came.”
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Lesley-Anne Down in ‘North and South’ in 1985Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
The third incident occurred when Down was 18 and believed she was getting into a taxi.
“As soon as he’s driving away, I’m already feeling that horrible feeling,” Down said. “I looked around and there were no radios or anything, like a taxi is supposed to have. So I said, ‘Could you pull over, please?’ He said, ‘Oh no, we don’t need to pull over. We’ll be there soon.’ ”
Rather than wait to discover what might happen, Down made a desperate decision. She opened the door and threw herself from the moving vehicle, which she said was traveling about 25 mph. She landed on a curb in a puddle, “covered in blood,” while the driver sped away.
“He pulled the car door shut and drove off at top speed,” Down recalled. “I didn’t freeze up because I couldn’t. That feeling was familiar to me. I’ve been through it.”
Over the years, she told the outlet that these experiences have shaped her advice for women entering the entertainment industry.
Down, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for 1985’s North and Southalongside Patrick Swayze, urges aspiring performers to take precautions while pursuing their ambitions.
“Always have your agent or your publicist with you at all times,” she told Fox News Digital. “Even if they have to be on the phone a lot and out in the lobby, just always have somebody with you at all times as you chase your dreams.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
