The actor Jenny McCrindle, who has died of multiple sclerosis aged 46, gave one of her finest screen performances in the BBC drugs drama Looking After Jo Jo (1998), Frank Deasys four-part story set in the early 1980s. She stood out from the bleakness of a rundown west Edinburgh housing estate, with her dark hair dyed platinum blonde, as the vulnerable, Marilyn Monroe-fixated Lorraine, girlfriend of Robert Carlyles petty criminal turned heroin dealer.
After her release from a detention centre, Lorraine plans to adopt her Hollywood alter ego and head for the bright lights of London and a lookalikes agency. I grew up in homes just like she did, Lorraine says. I knew how she felt. Ever since I was little Ive always loved her and now Ive got this chance down south. However, the dream of escaping her grim reality never materialises.
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