MARY STEENBURGEN - STEENBURGEN SWEARS BY CHARM SCHOOL LESSONS

Actress MARY STEENBURGEN hopes her children continue a family tradition of sending their kids off to a charm school - because she's sure it makes better people of the students. The BACK TO THE FUTURE III star, who plays a charm school teacher in her new film MARILYN HOTCHKISS' BALLROOM DANCING + CHARM SCHOOL, admits she hated attending extra classes as a child but now realises how important they were. She subsequently sent her kids to a charm school, even though they hated the experience too. Steenburgen explains, "I went to this little manners school kicking and screaming. That's part of the tradition. "We had to learn the waltz and the cha cha. I won the cha cha contest at the end of the class. "I sent my children kicking and screaming, and now they're 22 and 25 they go, 'Thank God you sent us. That was the coolest thing.' "I said, 'You hated me for sending you,' and they said, 'We had to say that, mom.' I'm sure they'll send their kids."