Bold & Beautiful Alum Lesley-Anne Down Reveals Terrifying Childhood Ordeal

Bold and Beautiful actress’ bone-chilling day out with her mother.

The Bold and the Beautiful actress Lesley-Anne Down, who played Jackie Marone, came forward to give her account to the UK’s Mirror of a terrifying encounter she had as a child, at the age of 11, while out with her mother one day in Putney, South West London. Down recalled walking ahead, near her home, when a man tried to get her into his car. She explained, “When she [her mother] caught up, the man had stopped me, told me he needed a babysitter and we would call my parents when we got to his house.” The actress recounted, “I remember having one foot in the car,” and went on to describe how the scene played out. “Seeing my mother broke his spell. I screamed. My mother ran to me and told me to run to my father. He called the police. Of course, my mother couldn’t hold him… he was gone.”

More: Poll, is B&B’s Thomas Forrester worthy of redemption?

Down remembered how traumatized her mother was over the attempted abduction, which, in a chilling twist, came on the heels of the murder of another young girl of the same age and with a similar name – Lesley Ann Downey – that had been taken by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Downey’s body was discovered on Saddleworth Moor, Gtr Manchester, and was one of the infamous Moors Murders.

Lesley-Anne Down played the notorious character Jackie M on The Bold and the Beautiful from 2003 – 2012. Jackie ran a competing fashion house to Forrester Creations and was known for her clashes with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flanner), who slapped her and pushed her down the stairs, and for her love affair with the younger Owen Knight, who was played by Days of our Lives’ Brandon Beemer (Shawn Brady). Down also appeared on Days of our Lives, as Lady Sheraton, and on Sunset Beach as Olivia Richards. Prior to her daytime, she was recognized for her roles on Upstairs, Downstairs and The North and the South mini-series.