WHEN I was a kid, everyone knew the phrase "You're soaking in it" and, of course the woman uttering those unforgettable words, Madge the manicurist.
The advertising campaign for Palmolive dishwashing liquid was, to say the least, a huge hit, running for 20 years from 1968.
The real woman behind the manicurist was actor and dancer Robina Beard, who recalls she was paid $15 to audition for the ad.
"In those days ... 'proper' actors did not do commercials - it was sort of the last straw," she recalls in her new book, My Life - You're Soaking In It.
"But the economic situation required that I at least audition for this role."
Audition done - and a fun time had by all - Robina toddled off, certain she would not get the job.
Of course, she was wrong. And the rest, as they say, is history.
There were to be three commercials in the year, and 'Madge' was to appear in point-of-sale advertising.
"It was a bit of a worry, career wise, but Sir Laurence Olivier had just done a Kodak commercial, so what was good enough for Sir Laurence should surely be OK for me," she writes.
It certainly was, with the money from the campaign acting as a buffer against being out of work in the theatre.
Of course, Robina's life has been much more than dishwashing liquid.
She has appeared in stage productions and revues, on our television screens - do you remember Barley Charlie, a sit-com set in an old garage/service station.
She was GTV9's weather girl five days a week while also choreographing for the GTV9 singing chorus, working with the channel's ballet - and doing comedy sketches with Graham Kennedy and Joff Ellen.
So many fun stories to be told of those times.
Did you know Robina met the Beatles - well, three of them?
Fast forward many years, and Robina Beard is still widely recognised as Madge.
She has also been a NSW Seniors Week ambassador and still treads the boards, so to speak, as a fitness and tap dancing teacher at The Coast Centre for Seniors in the Sydney suburb of Little Bay.
In 2011, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia and also received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Australian Dance Awards.
My Life - You're Soaking In It, by Robina Beard, $24.99 is available HERE
