Actress, having stitch in side, retired (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
mae west
'actress' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stitch in side retired' is the wordplay.
'stitch' becomes 'sew' (synonyms).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'side' becomes 'team' (a side is a sporting team).
'retired' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'sew' put within 'team' is 'tseweam'.
'tseweam' reversed gives 'MAE WEST'.
'having' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for mae west that I've seen before include "I acted" , "Source of innuendos" , "embraced many men in the main" , "life-saver" , "jacket found floating in the sea" .)