Keturah Sorrell
Keturah Sadler(10 September 1912 – 30 March 2012), better known by her stage nameKeturah Sorrell,was a British opera singer and later abackground actress.
Early life
[edit]Sorrell was born inMiddlesbrough,North Riding of Yorkshire, England to John W. Sorrell and Jenny Kennedy. She attendedMiddlesbrough High School.[1]
Career as a singer
[edit]She sang inGilbert and Sullivanproductions for theRedcarOperatic Society and studied after her marriage in 1939 at theRoyal College of Musicwhere she was encouraged byGeorge Dyson.[1]After graduating, she joinedSadler's Wells Operawhere she sang Esmeralda inThe Bartered BrideoppositePeter Pears.Other leading roles at Sadler's Wells were inThe Marriage of Figaro,Il tabarro,and Gretel inHansel and Gretel.[1]
In 1947, Sorrell became the principalsopranofor theIntimate Opera Company.[1]DuringWorld War IIshe toured with the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA), the precursor of theArts Council of Great Britain,and in 1950 she toured North America with Intimate Opera.[1]
Career as an actress
[edit]At the age of 68 she embarked on a new career in television as a supporting artiste or uncredited extra,[1]though on a number of occasions she was credited at the end of the programme.
Her first appearance was in a Scottish wedding sketch inNot the Nine O'Clock News.She was a regular on the 1990s British sitcom seriesWaiting for God,appearing in over 25 episodes as a resident of the Bayview retirement home. She also appeared inEver Decreasing Circles,The Bill,EastEnders,House of Cards,Law and Disorder,Drop the Dead Donkey,A Bit of Fry & Laurie,[1]two episodes ofBirds of a Feather,an early episode ofOne Foot in the Gravein 1990 as a participant in an evening yoga class,[2]as well as inVictoria Wood's television filmPat and Margaretin 1994 as a resident in an old people's home.[3]
Personal life and death
[edit]Sorrell's husband, Eric Sadler, whom she married in 1939, was a journalist. The couple had a son together, Paul K Sadler (born 1947).[4]Eric Sadler died in 1999.[1]
Sorrell died of natural causes in 2012, aged 99.[1]
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Keturah SorrellatIMDb
- RecordingThomas and Sally;Keturah Sorrell, Frederick Woodhouse, Stephen Manton, The Intimate Opera Society;KBOX
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
