From Fusion 31, published August 1963

Stella’s work now involved being production manager, production secretary, bringing on the prizes, sweeping the stage, making the props (she makes a special good line in custard pies) and acting as general liaison between the clients, agencies and the production company.

Five years of this and another turning point in Stella’s career came. The time – 1955, the scene: a party given by some BBC sound boys on the occasion of their leaving the BBC to join Associated-Rediffusion. The cast: Daphne Shadwell and Lloyd Williams, who had already joined the company, and Stella, the plot: Lloyd Williams refuses to release his assistant Daphne Shadwell to become a trainee director until she has found a replacement for herself. Stella seems a likely prospect and Daphne proceeds with some inspired hard sell. A few minutes’ conversation with Lloyd Williams and the deal is made. Stella agrees to start in a month’s time, in fact it turned out to be the very first day Associated-Rediffusion moved to Television House. She has never looked back since.

Stella Ashley’s career with the company has been quite a remarkable one, at least for a woman.

At first she worked for 18 months as Lloyd Williams’ P.A. which entailed office work during the day and rushing down to Studio 7 or 8 for productions such as ‘Visitor of the Day’ – twice a week, then, after another spell of routine, back to the studio for ‘And so to Bed’. A spell as manager of outside broadcasts followed (it was rather an innovation for a woman to do this job) – back to Ll.W. first as his personal assistant, and then, when he was made director of production, she became manager of the production section, a post she held for about four and a half years. Now – since Ll.W. left the company a year ago she has been working as manager, quiz programmes – completing the circle of her experiences back to the audience participation shows in which she first started. (Minus custard pies, of course.)

Listening to Stella in my office it seemed hard to believe that she had already devoted some 20 odd years of her life to show business. Moreover, her achievements, her wealth of experience, her executive position, appear to be in complete contrast to the quiet, unassuming person I found her to be.

Soft spoken, with a warm and ready smile, she soon dispels one’s inevitable image of the orthodox career woman determinedly asserting herself in a man’s world. ‘I never found being a woman a handicap in my job’, she said, ‘On the contrary – I feel in many instances it has been a great help’. Analysing this statement we decided that the reasons were obvious; a woman is far better in matters of diplomacy and her power of intuition is the envy of every man. Maybe it is looked down upon by the pure logic addicts but – as every punter will agree – the right kind of intuition is worth more than the biggest pile of form books.

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