Maureen Lipman

Latest from Maureen Lipman

He sat there, staring into space, worrying about his brothers in arms

‘Sometimes,’ our soldier wryly remarked, ‘the solution comes to you before the problem.’ So, you might say Esther, the solution, was already there before the problem evolved

4 min read

Vintage colour lithograph from 1882 of Esther beseeching King Ahasuerus to revoke his decree against the Jews (Image: Getty)

Boxer Daniel Mendoza in an open air ring. (Image: Getty)

I think my genes contain not one iota of athleticism

5 min read

Our friends bear scars of more disc hits than Stevie Wonder

4 min read

I haven’t even mentioned the life-sized stuffed tiger and the furry sloth collection. Sigh…

5 min read

The man who personally saved the lives of 1,000 musicians

Bronislaw Huberman was an infant prodigy who, by the time he was 12, had played Brahms on his violin… er… to Brahms.

4 min read

February 12, 2026 11:11

Arturo Toscanini and Bronislaw Huberman after the 1936 inaugural concert of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, later renamed Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Beresheet Hotel was a glorious setting for our delayed honeymoon

The Foreign Office had warned us not to come here unless our travel was essential. Well, it is. It‘s essential for the soul

4 min read

February 5, 2026 16:32

Beresheet Hotel overlooking the Ramon crater in the southern Israeli Negev desert (Image: Getty)

Oddly enough those watching on Zoom seemed to get the joke

I managed to make some mileage out of my failure to amuse and the rest of the speech frolicked apace

4 min read

January 29, 2026 10:51

Vintage engraving of barges in England, 19th century (Image: Getty)

Mayor Khan’t, as I call him, has been the worst antagonist by far

In the last 15 years, Transport for London with its bicycle-obsessed leader, has deliberately, with the strident aid of the last three London mayors, made life for cab drivers unbearable

4 min read

January 22, 2026 15:37

A black cab and a red London bus passes beneath Union flags in central London, on April 30, 2023 (Image: Getty)

Sometimes I wonder: would it be possible for Jews to go on strike?

Let’s put a moratorium on Bernstein and Sondheim and Hammerstein and Hart and Menhuin and Baremboim and Bette and Barbra.. take down those Chagalls, Modigliani’s and Soutine’s…need I go on?

4 min read

January 15, 2026 15:34

‘Eleanor’ wore its Jewishness lightly – a rarity in these times

The flawed script – it veers into improbability at a bat mitzvah – hardly matters: the acting is superb and Scarlett Johansson’s direction makes it linger

4 min read

January 9, 2026 11:45

(L-R) Chiwetel Ejiofor, June Squibb, Erin Kellyman and Scarlett Johansson of "Eleanor the Great" during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 07, 2025. (Image: Getty)

I need a man to find the dipstick but still find Citroën’s story fascinating

A trip to see Ballet Shoes and some musing about cars

4 min read

December 30, 2025 15:08

There I was, childishly delighted to drink my own face

In the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem I was presented with a cappuccino with my likeness on it. In froth. Don’t ask me how they did it or why I was singled out for special treatment

5 min read

December 18, 2025 10:24

As I walked past the Kibbutz Be’eri blast holes, I wished Dawn French had been alongside me

I wish all the sneering, B-list deniers had seen the bomb damage first hand

4 min read

December 9, 2025 11:27

A home in Kibbutz Beeri damaged during the October 7, 2023 attack (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

The libel of bleeding kids for matzos was a stroke of PR genius

At this year’s Ajax parade, the words, ‘in these days of rising anti-Semitism’, were spoken more times, I suspect, than at past events

4 min read

December 5, 2025 10:41

A mediaeval depiction of the William of Norwich blood libel (Image: Jonny Weinberg)

It’s probably easier to point out great lyricists who weren’t Jewish

From Irving Berlin down through to Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan and my own favourites, Dory Previn and Leonard Cohen, all have the same ethnicity. I’m exaggerating… please don’t write in.

4 min read

November 20, 2025 15:26