Beryl Reid
This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(October 2018) |
Beryl Reid | |
---|---|
Born | Hereford,Herefordshire,England | 17 June 1919
Died | 13 October 1996 Wexham,Buckinghamshire,England | (aged 77)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1936–1994 |
Spouses | Bill Worsley
(m.1949;div.1953)Derek Franklin
(m.1954;div.1966) |
Beryl Elizabeth ReidOBE(17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967Tony Award for Best Actress in a PlayforThe Killing of Sister George,the 1980Olivier Award for Best Comedy PerformanceforBorn in the Gardens,and the 1982BAFTA TV Award for Best ActressforSmiley's People.Her film appearances includedThe Belles of St. Trinian's(1954),The Killing of Sister George(1968),The Assassination Bureau(1969), andNo Sex Please, We're British(1973).
Early life[edit]
Beryl Elizabeth Reid was born on 17 June 1919 inHereford,Herefordshire,daughter of Leonard Reid, an estate agent and valuer, and Anne Burton, née McDonald.[1][2]Reid was the daughter ofScottishparents and grew up inManchester,where she attendedWithingtonandLevenshulme High Schools.As a child, she established a lifelong friendship with Nancy Wrigley, the daughter of the prominent classical soprano, DameIsobel Baillie.Years later, Reid fondly recalled how Baillie would "tell us the most wonderful things...you can imagine nine-year-old girls goggle-eyed at six princes serenading her inHawaii!"[3]
Career[edit]
Leaving school at 16, she made her debut in 1936 as a music hall performer at the Floral Hall,Bridlington.Before and during theSecond World War,she took part in variety shows and pantomimes. She had no formal training but later worked at theNational Theatreand theRoyal Shakespeare Company.Her first big success came in the BBC radio showEducating Archieas naughty schoolgirl Monica and later as theBrummie,"Marlene."
Her many film and television roles as a character actor were usually well received. She reprised herTony Award-winning performance of alesbiansoap operastar inThe Killing of Sister Georgefor the1968 screen versionand was nominated for theGolden Globe Awardfor Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama. The tour of the play was not a success; people in shops refused to serve her and other performers due to the gay characters in the play.[4]
She was the subject ofThis Is Your Lifein 1976 when she was surprised byEamonn Andrewsin the car park of Thames Television's Teddington Studios.
In bothTinker Tailor Soldier Spy(1979) andSmiley's People,(1982) Reid playedConnie Sachs.ForSmiley's People,she won aBAFTAfor Best Actress on Television.
Between 1981 and 1983, Reid co-presented the Children's TV programmeGet up and GoforYorkshire Television,her co-presenter "Mooncat" being a green, talking, puppet cat. Stephen Boxer was her human co-star. After she left the show, it became titled simplyMooncat and Co.
In 1982 she was inDr Who,Earthshock Ep 2, 3 & 4, as Captain Briggs, when the Peter Davison incarnation of The Doctor first met the Cybermen.
Reid wrote anautobiographyin 1984,So Much Love.[5]
She played the part of an elderly feminist and political subversive in the 1987 television drama,The Beiderbecke Tapes.
She appeared in many situation comedies and variety programmes on TV including BBC TV's long runningmusic hallshow,The Good Old Days.
Personal life and death[edit]
She married twice, but had no children. Her second husband, Derek Franklin, was a member of theHedley Ward Trio.[6]An authorisedbiography,Roll Out the Beryl,was published by Fantom Films on 22 August 2016. Written by Kaye Crawford, it was the first biography of the actress and coincided with the twentieth anniversary of her death.[7]
Reid died at the age of 77 from severeosteoarthritisandkidney failure[1](according to some obituaries, she had developedpneumonia)[8]at a hospital inWexham,Buckinghamshire[1]on 13 October 1996, after complications followingknee replacement surgeryforarthritis.[8]
Filmography[edit]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1940 | Spare a Copper | Minor role | Uncredited |
1954 | The Belles of St. Trinian's | Miss Wilson | |
1956 | The Extra Day | Beryl | |
1960 | Two-Way Stretch | Miss Pringle | |
1962 | The Dock Brief | Doris Fowle | |
1968 | Inspector Clouseau | Mrs. Weaver | |
1968 | Star | Rose | |
1968 | The Killing of Sister George | June Buckridge | |
1969 | The Assassination Bureau | Madame Otero | |
1970 | Entertaining Mr Sloane | Kath | |
1971 | The Beast in the Cellar | Ellie Ballantyne | |
1972 | Dr. Phibes Rises Again | Miss Ambrose | |
1973 | Psychomania | Mrs. Latham | |
1973 | Father, Dear Father | Mrs. Stoppard | |
1973 | No Sex Please, We're British | Bertha Hunter | |
1977 | Joseph Andrews | Mrs. Slipslop | |
1978 | Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse | Matron | |
1978 | Carry On Emmannuelle | Mrs. Valentine | |
1981 | Late Flowering Love | (unknown role) | Short (segment: "Invasion Exercise on the Poultry Farm" ) |
1983 | Yellowbeard | Lady Lambourn | |
1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Mrs. Flynn |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1950 | Showcase | (unknown role) | (unknown episodes) |
1951 | Vic's Grill | (unknown role) | 6 episodes |
1955 | The Benny Hill Show | Various roles | Series 1 (3 episodes) |
1957 | Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper | Alice | TV film |
1957 | The Most Likely Girl | Arethusa Wilderspin | Series 1 (4 episodes) |
1960 | Someone Who Cares | (unknown role) | TV film |
1962 | The Dickie Henderson Show | (unknown role) | Series 4, episode 2 |
1963–64 | Bold as Brass | Bessie Briggs | Pilot & Series 1 (7 episodes) |
1964 | Comedy Playhouse | Mrs. Teresa Fanwyn | Series 3, episode 14 |
1965 | Who Is Mary Morison | Maggie | TV film |
1966 | The World of Wooster | Mrs. Wilberforce | Series 2, episode 7 |
1966 | Frankie Howerd | (unknown role) | Series 2, episode 2 |
1966 | Love Story | Kate Reilly | Series 4, episode 3 |
1967 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Miss Price | Series 2, episode 34 |
1967 | The Bruce Forsyth Show | (unknown role) | Series 2, episode 6 |
1967 | Before the Fringe | (unknown role) | Series 2 (4 episodes) |
1967 | The Very Merry Widow | Mrs. Breasley | Series 1, episode 2 |
1968 | Armchair Theatre | Hilda Capper | Series 8, episode 14 |
1968 | Comedy Playhouse | Irene Jelliot | Series 7, episode 2 |
1968 | Beryl Reid Says Good Evening | Various roles | Series 1 (6 episodes) |
1969 | Armchair Theatre | Mrs. Blaxill | Series 9, episode 8 |
1969 | Wink to Me Only | Rene Jelliot | Series 1 (6 episodes) |
1970 | BBC Play of the Month | Mrs. Malaprop | Series 5, episode 8 |
1970 | Father, Dear Father | Mrs. Brockbank | Series 3, episode 5 |
1969 | Cinderella | Ugly Sister Marlene | TV film |
1971 | The Misfit | Mrs. Low Road Jones | Series 2, episode 2 |
1971 | Father, Dear Father | Miss Pretty | Series 4, episode 3 |
1971 | Armchair Theatre | Ameila | Series 13, episode 8 |
1971 | The Goodies | Mrs. Desiree Carthorse | Series 2, episode 11 |
1972 | Alcock and Gander | Mrs Marigold Alcock | Series 1 (main role, 6 episodes) |
1972 | Late Night Theatre | Madame Thompson | 1 episode |
1973 | Smike! | Mrs. Squeers/Mrs. Steele | TV film |
1975 | BBC Play of the Month | Amanda | Series 10, episode 5 |
1975 | BBC Play of the Month | Maria Helliwell | Series 11, episode 4 |
1977 | Beryl Reid | (unknown role) | (unknown episodes) |
1978 | BBC Play of the Month | Victoria | Series 13, episode 3 |
1978 | Two's Company | Mrs. Shelton | Series 3, episode 3 |
1979 | Dick Emery's Comedy Hour | Ada | Special |
1979 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Connie Sachs | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
1979 | An Honourable Retirement | Mrs. Heysham | TV film |
1980 | Peter Cook & Co. | Various | Special |
1980 | Nanny Knows Best | Nanny Price | TV pilot |
1980 | Rhubarb Rhubarb | Home Owner's Wife | Special |
1980 | Comedy Tonight | (unknown role) | Special (sketch "Laughing Gas" ) |
1981 | Agony | Cherry Lightfoot | Series 3, episode 2 |
1981 | Worzel Gummidge | Sarah Pigswill | Series 4, episode 1 |
1982 | Doctor Who | Briggs | Series 19 (3 episodes) |
1982 | Smiley's People | Connie Sachs | Series 1, episode 3 |
1982 | The Irish R.M. | Mrs Knox | Series 1 (2 episodes) |
1983 | Cuffy | Matron | Series 1, episode 2 |
1983 | The Wind in the Willows | Mrs. Carrington-Moss(voice) | TV film |
1984 | The Wind in the Willows | Other Voices | Series 1, episode 1 |
1984 | Minder | Ruby Hubbard | Series 5, episode 4 |
1985 | Late Starter | Helen Magee | Series 1 (3 episodes) |
1985 | The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ | May Mole | Series 1 (main role, 5 episodes) |
1985 | Bergerac | Miss Broome | Series 4, episode 4 |
1987 | The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole | Grandma Mole | Series 1 (main role, 6 episodes) |
1987 | The Beiderbecke Tapes | Sylvia | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
1988 | The Comic Strip Presents... | Mrs. Moss | Series 4, episode 5 |
1988 | Sophia and Constance | Madame Foucault | Series 1, episode 4 |
1988 | Alexei Sayle's Stuff | Hettie | Series 1, episode 3 |
1990 | Boon | Pat Goran | Series 5, episode 12 |
1990 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Mrs. Mountnessing | Series 4, episode 9 |
1991 | Duel of Hearts | Lady Augusta Warlingham | TV film |
1991 | Perfect Scoundrels | Aunt Molly | Series 2, episode 4 |
1992 | Bunch of Five | Gran | Series 1 (2 episodes) |
1993 | Cracker | Fitz's Mum | Series 1, episode 3 |
1994 | Blue Heaven | Jeweller | Series 1, episode 4 (final role) |
References[edit]
- ^abcJonathan Cecil, "Reid, Beryl Elizabeth (1919–1996)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, Sept 2004available online.Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^Hayward, Anthony (14 October 1996)."Beryl Reid: Obituary".The Independent.Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^"Isobel Baillie -Never Sing Louder Than Lovely BBC Documentary 1984"– via youtube.
- ^Daily Telegraphobituary, also featured inChin Up Girls!(2005)
- ^So Much Love, 1984, Hutchinson & Co Hardback, ISBN 0-09-155730-5
- ^Fox, Larry (Lew) (8 December 2004)."Almost a prisoner".bbc.co.uk.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^Roll Out The Beryl!: The Authorised Biography Of Beryl Reid.ISBN978-1781962657.Retrieved7 March2024.
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ignored (help) - ^abMEL GUSSOW (15 October 1996)."Beryl Reid, Actress, 76, Dies; Gave Life to Varied Eccentrics".The New York Times.Retrieved13 June2012.
External links[edit]
- 1919 births
- 1996 deaths
- Actresses from Manchester
- Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners
- Deaths from pneumonia in England
- English film actresses
- English people of Scottish descent
- English stage actresses
- English television actresses
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Actresses from Buckinghamshire
- Actresses from Hereford
- 20th-century English actresses
- Laurence Olivier Award winners
- Tony Award winners
- 20th-century English businesspeople