Betty Marsden(1919-1998)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Remarkable, unique, unforgettable Betty Marsden was one of Britain's
most talented comedy actresses, best known for her multiple roles in
the Kenneth Horne shows on BBC radio in the 1960s.
Betty Marsden was born in Liverpool on 24th February 1919, and appeared
at Bath Pavilion aged 11 as the First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's
Dream. She made her London debut later that year as the Prince in The
Windmill Man (Victoria Palace), a fairy play with music.
Gaining a scholarship for six years to the Italia Conti Stage School,
she first acted in the West End in Closing at Sunrise (Royalty, 1935).
Other pre-war West End work came in Basil Dean's production of Autumn
(1937), Ivor Novello's Comedienne (1938), and J B Priestley's morality
play, Johnson Over Jordan (1939).
During the Second World War she entertained the troops with ENSA, and
played in the war-torn West End in the American comedy, Junior Miss
(1943). In 1947 she won critical praise as the amorous Mrs Corcoran to
Alastair Sim's murderous medico in Dr Angelus and in Sacha Guitry's
Don't Listen, Ladies! (1948).
Then came 12 years in intimate revue. She started at the tiny Irving
Theatre Club in London in 1950-51 and went to the Edinburgh Festival
with After The Show. She was in her element, and in the 1950s spent
years at the Royal Court in Laurier Lister's Airs on a Shoestring
(1953-55) and its successor From Here and There.
In 1958 she appeared in a revue by John Cranko, Keep Your Hair On,
which was so disastrous that the gallery was filled each night by
audiences who wanted to take turns at making their own jokes at the
expense of the stage action. The plot hinged on a revolution in London.
Many scenes were for some reason set in a Mayfair hairdressers; she
made a brave attempt at a song called Crowning Glory.
In the 1960s she was at the peak of her career, appearing on BBC
radio's Round the Horne which co-starred
Kenneth Williams. She delighted
millions of listeners who never knew what she looked like, with her
radio characters, such as Daphne Whitethigh, the cookery expert, whose
delivery owed something to Fanny Craddock. And there was a regular
double-act with Hugh Paddick in the Brief Encounter genre. Much of the
dialogue in this spoof would be a low-toned, breathy exchange of the
remark "Darling".
Her most famous film role is without doubt the oblivious, guffawing
character of Harriet Potter, alongside other comedy heroes
Terry Scott and
Charles Hawtrey in
Carry on Camping (1969). They
make an exceptional comedy team throughout the film. In her later
years, she appeared in character roles on
French and Saunders (1987)
and Casualty (1986).
Throughout, the filming of
Carry on Camping (1969), Miss
Marsden suggested to fellow actress
Dilys Laye that she wanted to die with a
glass of gin in her hand.
In July 1998, 24 hours after moving into a residential home for old
actors, this is exactly what happened. Miss Marsden had been chatting
to friends in the home's bar when she collapsed and died. She was 79
and had been recovering from a bout of heart problems and pneumonia.
most talented comedy actresses, best known for her multiple roles in
the Kenneth Horne shows on BBC radio in the 1960s.
Betty Marsden was born in Liverpool on 24th February 1919, and appeared
at Bath Pavilion aged 11 as the First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's
Dream. She made her London debut later that year as the Prince in The
Windmill Man (Victoria Palace), a fairy play with music.
Gaining a scholarship for six years to the Italia Conti Stage School,
she first acted in the West End in Closing at Sunrise (Royalty, 1935).
Other pre-war West End work came in Basil Dean's production of Autumn
(1937), Ivor Novello's Comedienne (1938), and J B Priestley's morality
play, Johnson Over Jordan (1939).
During the Second World War she entertained the troops with ENSA, and
played in the war-torn West End in the American comedy, Junior Miss
(1943). In 1947 she won critical praise as the amorous Mrs Corcoran to
Alastair Sim's murderous medico in Dr Angelus and in Sacha Guitry's
Don't Listen, Ladies! (1948).
Then came 12 years in intimate revue. She started at the tiny Irving
Theatre Club in London in 1950-51 and went to the Edinburgh Festival
with After The Show. She was in her element, and in the 1950s spent
years at the Royal Court in Laurier Lister's Airs on a Shoestring
(1953-55) and its successor From Here and There.
In 1958 she appeared in a revue by John Cranko, Keep Your Hair On,
which was so disastrous that the gallery was filled each night by
audiences who wanted to take turns at making their own jokes at the
expense of the stage action. The plot hinged on a revolution in London.
Many scenes were for some reason set in a Mayfair hairdressers; she
made a brave attempt at a song called Crowning Glory.
In the 1960s she was at the peak of her career, appearing on BBC
radio's Round the Horne which co-starred
Kenneth Williams. She delighted
millions of listeners who never knew what she looked like, with her
radio characters, such as Daphne Whitethigh, the cookery expert, whose
delivery owed something to Fanny Craddock. And there was a regular
double-act with Hugh Paddick in the Brief Encounter genre. Much of the
dialogue in this spoof would be a low-toned, breathy exchange of the
remark "Darling".
Her most famous film role is without doubt the oblivious, guffawing
character of Harriet Potter, alongside other comedy heroes
Terry Scott and
Charles Hawtrey in
Carry on Camping (1969). They
make an exceptional comedy team throughout the film. In her later
years, she appeared in character roles on
French and Saunders (1987)
and Casualty (1986).
Throughout, the filming of
Carry on Camping (1969), Miss
Marsden suggested to fellow actress
Dilys Laye that she wanted to die with a
glass of gin in her hand.
In July 1998, 24 hours after moving into a residential home for old
actors, this is exactly what happened. Miss Marsden had been chatting
to friends in the home's bar when she collapsed and died. She was 79
and had been recovering from a bout of heart problems and pneumonia.