UNTIL JUNE 21, BATH: Mrs Warren's Profession, Monday until June 21, Theatre Royal Bath. TWIGGY Lawson the doe-eyed supermodel of the 60s and one of a clutch of stars who doesn't require the burden of a second name is back with a vengeance.

While her fashion and glamour career lasted just four years her fame seems eternal.

Rising from the ashes of a disastrous stint on ITV's This Morning the 53-year-old, who became the epitome of glamour with her stick-thin profile at the age of 17, has lost none of that magic sparkle.

Gone is the short-lived TV chat show career and it's onto bigger and better things in Peter Hall's revival of George Bernard Shaw's novel Mrs Warren's Profession a tale of sexual liberation, morality and class-warfare in Victorian England

Oonce again Twiggy has a battle on her hands to win over the hardened critics, with Brenda Blethyn receiving scintillating reviews as Mrs Warren during the play's West End stint.

One thing Twiggy has always been is adaptable and she aims to win over the doubters by injecting her own stylish energy into the role of a vulgar prostitute who pays for her daughter's education through the proceeds of her European brothels.

Twiggy said she was delighted to be called up for the role but recognised the daunting scale of the task.

"We are very proud of the production. With Peter Hall you kind of know what you are doing. He is one of the greatest men in the business. We have tried to work together for years but it has never worked out. When he rang about this he said he wasn't going to take no for an answer," she said.

"It was quite scary when I agreed to it. I thought 'What on earth have I said yes to'. It's been a long, hard slog."

It isn't the first time Twiggy has taken on one of Shaw's strong female roles, with the former supermodel starring as Eliza Dolittle in Yorkshire TVs adaptation of Pygmalion.

"There are similar traits within the two characters as both are strong woman fighting to get out of their environments. It is extremely perceptive. Shaw writes so brilliantly about women," she said.

"The novels are very ahead of their time. Perceptions are always changing. We as people who live now think very differently to the Victorians."

Twiggy remains one of the country's greatest exports with a booming career across the Atlantic. "I thank my lucky stars I have a career in both places. To work in the US is fantastic, as they love the Brits," she said.

"Because of what happened to me in the 1960s I became incredibly famous, incredibly quickly it was a whirlwind. I didn't plan to be a model and I certainly didn't plan to act or sing.

"At 16 I hated what I looked like. I was too thin and suddenly low and behold I was whizzed around the world."

Lancaster-born Twiggy was catapulted into the world's camera lens when a fashion editor saw her picture in a hairdressers' window. At the age of 20 she starred in Ken Russell's movie The Boyfriend and the rest, as they say, is history.

Cue a whirlwind of TV projects, musicals and turbulent relationships. Her first husband Michael Whitney, a recovering alcoholic, died 10 years after they met, leaving Twiggy caring for their daughter Carly.

But love appeared on the horizon 15 years ago in the shape of actor Leigh Lawson, whose actor son Ace lives in Bath.

Blissfully happy, the couple continue with their respective acting careers, stealing as much time together as the possibly can.

"We cope with our different lives pretty well. I get home every weekend and he visits too. England is not that big. Leigh always comes to the nice places. When you are doing a play your whole life revolves around it.

"Touch wood I feel pretty happy. It is always hard in this business. The business can give people up and it has done."

The Twiggy today is not that different from the innocent-faced teenager who was thrown headfirst into the razor-sharp jaws of fame. She has survived well and beaten off despair, setback and criticism.

What can you say? Twiggy Lawson is a true British fighting spirit.