Sally Ann Howes(1930-2021)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sally Ann Howes grew up in a show business family led by her father,
famous English comedian/actor Bobby Howes,
her mother Patricia Malone and
grandfather, Broadway director Capt. J.A.E. Malone. She had her first
screen test offer on her 12th birthday and went on to star in several
films before she turned 20, including
Anna Karenina (1948) with
Vivien Leigh.
At 20, she received her first starring stage role in Glasgow in the
Sandy Wilson musical Caprice.
This led to other musicals including an 18-month run of Paint Your
Wagon opposite her father Bobby Howes at Her
Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket in 1953. This was followed by the plays
Romance by Candlelight, A Hatful of Rain (non-musical) and 148
performances of the musical Summer Song. She continued to make the
occasional film during the
1950's but the stage
was her main focus. In 1958 she accepted the role of Eliza Doolittle in
Broadway's My Fair Lady, taking over from Julie Andrews.
The role had been offered to her three times previously, but film and
stage commitments kept her from assuming the part that would skyrocket
her fame in America.
Just before taking on My Fair Lady, she married composer
Richard Adler, and he wrote the musical
Gift of the Magi for her. It aired on CBS TV in December of 1958. Adler
later wrote Kwamina for her, which she performed after her run in My
Fair Lady. It was a short-lived run of the musical, and she went on to
perform on Broadway in "Brigadoon", which earned her a Tony nomination
in 1963. Afterwards she starred in the critically acclaimed musical,
"What Makes Sammy Run" opposite
Steven Lawrence. Soon after she
landed the TV version of
Brigadoon (1966) co-starring
Robert Goulet and
Peter Falk which went on to win seven
Emmy Awards.
After she and Adler divorced in 1966, she began filming the movie that
would become a mega-hit,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
Despite her large volume of work before and after the movie, she will
always be most fondly remembered and loved around the world for her
portrayal as the very lovely Truly Scrumptious. Producer
Albert R. Broccoli wrote of her: "We
wanted a typical English beauty. And to me, Sally Ann represents that
ideal. She is also one of the finest musical comedy stars today, a rare
combination of the right kind of beauty and the right kind of talent."
Dick Van Dyke said of her in his
documentary "Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang": "They couldn't have
picked a better Truly Scrumptious than Sally. They came up with Sally
Ann and I heard her voice, and it was the richest contralto. She
auditioned with the Lovely Lonely Man, and I thought, my God, this girl
is great and then she was stunningly beautiful. She loved those kids
and they loved her, which I think comes across on the screen. They just
thought a great deal of her, and she spent a lot of time with them, you
know, between shots... telling stories and playing games during all
those long waiting periods."
Filming took place in England, France and Bavaria over 14 months.
Critics were mixed about the film, but children were fanatical about
it. The movie spawned a mass marketing phenomenon with everything from
Truly Scrumptious Barbie dolls, to Jemima dress patterns, lunch-boxes,
countless toys, and many other things all of which still enjoy a
thriving collectible life on the secondary market. The Truly
Scrumptious costumes in the film even sparked a mini-revival in
Edwardian fashions, especially reflected by designer Laura Ashley.
Unfortunately, the movie came out at a time when musicals were
beginning to be box office dead weight, including
Julie Andrews '
Star! (1968) and
Darling Lili (1970), which nearly
sank Paramount. This nailed the lid shut on filmed musicals for a long
time, leaving no filmed musical outlet for performers like Howes. Her
film roles became very sporadic after
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
She was a frequent and popular guest panelist on many game shows
throughout the 1960s, and even up until the early 1980s, and she made
several guest appearances on television series during the early 1970s.
However, the theatre called her back, and with the exception of a few
films, she has devoted her career almost entirely to the musical stage.
Her last appearance was in 1992. She remains very active in musical
theatre even today and is considered one of the grand dames of the
American and British musical stage.
Other musicals and plays she has starred in Camelot; Blossom Time; The
Sound of Music; King and I; Robert and Elizabeth; Man and Superman; I
Do, I Do; Hans Anderson; A Little Night Music; Cinderella; Where's
Charley?; James Joyce's The Dead.
She has sung at the White House for three US Presidents -
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson.
She is a naturalized U.S. citizen and resides in New York. She has been
married for over 30 years to Douglas Rae.
famous English comedian/actor Bobby Howes,
her mother Patricia Malone and
grandfather, Broadway director Capt. J.A.E. Malone. She had her first
screen test offer on her 12th birthday and went on to star in several
films before she turned 20, including
Anna Karenina (1948) with
Vivien Leigh.
At 20, she received her first starring stage role in Glasgow in the
Sandy Wilson musical Caprice.
This led to other musicals including an 18-month run of Paint Your
Wagon opposite her father Bobby Howes at Her
Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket in 1953. This was followed by the plays
Romance by Candlelight, A Hatful of Rain (non-musical) and 148
performances of the musical Summer Song. She continued to make the
occasional film during the
1950's but the stage
was her main focus. In 1958 she accepted the role of Eliza Doolittle in
Broadway's My Fair Lady, taking over from Julie Andrews.
The role had been offered to her three times previously, but film and
stage commitments kept her from assuming the part that would skyrocket
her fame in America.
Just before taking on My Fair Lady, she married composer
Richard Adler, and he wrote the musical
Gift of the Magi for her. It aired on CBS TV in December of 1958. Adler
later wrote Kwamina for her, which she performed after her run in My
Fair Lady. It was a short-lived run of the musical, and she went on to
perform on Broadway in "Brigadoon", which earned her a Tony nomination
in 1963. Afterwards she starred in the critically acclaimed musical,
"What Makes Sammy Run" opposite
Steven Lawrence. Soon after she
landed the TV version of
Brigadoon (1966) co-starring
Robert Goulet and
Peter Falk which went on to win seven
Emmy Awards.
After she and Adler divorced in 1966, she began filming the movie that
would become a mega-hit,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
Despite her large volume of work before and after the movie, she will
always be most fondly remembered and loved around the world for her
portrayal as the very lovely Truly Scrumptious. Producer
Albert R. Broccoli wrote of her: "We
wanted a typical English beauty. And to me, Sally Ann represents that
ideal. She is also one of the finest musical comedy stars today, a rare
combination of the right kind of beauty and the right kind of talent."
Dick Van Dyke said of her in his
documentary "Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang": "They couldn't have
picked a better Truly Scrumptious than Sally. They came up with Sally
Ann and I heard her voice, and it was the richest contralto. She
auditioned with the Lovely Lonely Man, and I thought, my God, this girl
is great and then she was stunningly beautiful. She loved those kids
and they loved her, which I think comes across on the screen. They just
thought a great deal of her, and she spent a lot of time with them, you
know, between shots... telling stories and playing games during all
those long waiting periods."
Filming took place in England, France and Bavaria over 14 months.
Critics were mixed about the film, but children were fanatical about
it. The movie spawned a mass marketing phenomenon with everything from
Truly Scrumptious Barbie dolls, to Jemima dress patterns, lunch-boxes,
countless toys, and many other things all of which still enjoy a
thriving collectible life on the secondary market. The Truly
Scrumptious costumes in the film even sparked a mini-revival in
Edwardian fashions, especially reflected by designer Laura Ashley.
Unfortunately, the movie came out at a time when musicals were
beginning to be box office dead weight, including
Julie Andrews '
Star! (1968) and
Darling Lili (1970), which nearly
sank Paramount. This nailed the lid shut on filmed musicals for a long
time, leaving no filmed musical outlet for performers like Howes. Her
film roles became very sporadic after
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
She was a frequent and popular guest panelist on many game shows
throughout the 1960s, and even up until the early 1980s, and she made
several guest appearances on television series during the early 1970s.
However, the theatre called her back, and with the exception of a few
films, she has devoted her career almost entirely to the musical stage.
Her last appearance was in 1992. She remains very active in musical
theatre even today and is considered one of the grand dames of the
American and British musical stage.
Other musicals and plays she has starred in Camelot; Blossom Time; The
Sound of Music; King and I; Robert and Elizabeth; Man and Superman; I
Do, I Do; Hans Anderson; A Little Night Music; Cinderella; Where's
Charley?; James Joyce's The Dead.
She has sung at the White House for three US Presidents -
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson.
She is a naturalized U.S. citizen and resides in New York. She has been
married for over 30 years to Douglas Rae.